Coimbatorian Of The Week
To this ‘77-year-young man,’ Thiruppugazh mama as he is called, to rest is to rust. An ardent follower of Swami Chinmayananda, he has no time to stand and stare.To him, retirement does not mean end of an active life. After being a victim of the great evacuation and pre-partition riots in Calcutta, an inmate of a refugee camp at Puri (Orissa) at the age of 14 and a beneficiary of a camp college (meant for those living in refugee camps) near Delhi, the son of an accounts officer of the Central Government, Ayyasamy Hariharan managed to post-graduate in Economics and retire as an Assistant Development Commissioner of Industries Department. “I know what poverty means as I have suffered the pangs of hunger in the Puri camp standing in the queue with an empty plate. All my children have studied outside the normal university system and they were helped when someone offered them lift. I have had to cycle even 13 kms to office as I was living outside Delhi because the public transport was so bad. Hence, I offer lift to anyone on the road. I have purchased a Maruti Omni to take more people because our family knows what going on foot means”, says Mr. Hariharan. He explains to G. Satyamurty how he is trying to contribute his mite to society, especially in terms of cultural and spiritual development. He was inspired by sangeetha vidawan S.R. Krishnamurthy who has proved his versatility despite his physical handicap.
“When healthy men say they are not lucky enough, here is a man without a hand or leg, proving to the world that what is required is not luck, not even hands but confidence on self. ” Mr. Hariharan, with a lanky frame and a bald head and a smiling face, is present in most of the spiritual and cultural activities taking place in Coimbatore. Though by strange turn of events he came down to Coimbatore in 1992, he has not only made this his own city but also has been one among those to spend all his time and energy in his quest for cultural and spiritual solace.
“When I started Sadhana Sadhan people asked me what it stands for. To me God alone is truth and God alone is real and every one aspires to reach such a power so that he can meet the natural end of life. Sasthras say that is it possible to reach God by means of dedication, devotion and discipline. It implies that God is a power who can be attained by certain conscious efforts. All these efforts which one undertakes with conviction are described as “Sadhana” and the one who dedicates himself towards this ultimate goal is “Sadhaka”.
This sathsang centre, constructed at Madhav Nagar, Vadavalli, amidst a verdurous cover and a lush green lawn, is meant to be a platform for all members of the community to meet and take part in various cultural and religious activities. “Ever since my Delhi days, I have been involved in various cultural activities. I was a founder-member of the Delhi Bajan Samaj, Tamil Sangham, and also Chinmaya Mission and a number of music sabhas.” He recalls how he organised the first yagna of Chinmayananda in Delhi and how the two accidents that he encountered while returning from Chinamya Mission had forced him to shift to Coimbatore from Delhi.
A firm believer, his sadhan hosts some spiritual activity or other every day. His first love is Thiruppugazh Nanbargal, a group devoted to popularising Thiruppugazh. The programmes in the sadhan include Bhagavad Gita, Narayaneeyam, Thevaram, Sundara Gandam, Upanishad, Bhajans, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa’s teachings, Ahstapathi and Namasangeerthanam. He has also set up a 240-ft acupressure walkway which has become quite popular. “The pebbles from Bhavani activate one from toe to head”.
After this one can use the sadhan to do meditation. “A society is judged from how it treats children, women and the old. Hence, apart from conducting classes for children and women, I have organised two non-residential camps of 5 days duration for senior citizens which set guidelines on how to manage their health and wealth apart from imparting them knowledge on spirituality”. His major worry is that there is none in most of the homes to tell moral stories to children.“It is the grandparents who have been rendering this. That slot has now become a vacuum now.Hence, in the sadhan we tell moral stories to children and also provide them confidence to communicate”.
Mr. Hariharan underlines the importance of value-based education. Chinmaya Mission has drawn up a separate syllabus for children in this regard. “Yes, there are even now good role models like former President Abdul Kalam. He also loves children. But it is nasty politics and the idiot box which are to the two major hurdles. When all study for employment, nobody wants to become a scientist. Education should be for knowledge. But honestly I don’t know how these concepts can be propagated.”
He is happy to note there has been quite a lot of activity on the fine arts front in Coimbatore. In 1992, there were just a couple of organisations. Now there are quite a few including Ayyappa Puja Sangham, Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan and Rajalakshmi Fine Arts, apart from the decades-old Ram Navami Utsav conducted by Binny Subba Rao family. Besides, he also organises Arunagirinathar festival and Tamil Music Festival thus providing a platform for all aspiring young students of music. In a nutshell, he firmly believes it is music that provides harmony to life. It is love that binds people. It is devotion that shows the way to God. “It is my hope that society which nourishes these values would prosper leading to the growth and prosperity of its nation”.
