Since time immemorial, man is ever chasing to know the nature. In spite of so much of advancement in science and technology, we are still trying to get to know about nature. I personally feel that nobody can understand the mystery of nature.
ಬಾಂದಳದ ಗುರು, ರವಿಕಿರಣಗಳ ನೀಳ್ ಕೋಲು |
ಇಂದುಮಣಿನುಣ್ಪು, ತಾರೆಗಳ ಕಣ್ಮಿನುಗು ||
ಚೆಂದದಂಗಾಂಗಭಾವದಿ ಮೊದಲ ಪಾಠವಿವು |
ಸೌಂದರ್ಯಗುರು ಪ್ರಕೃತಿ – ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ ||
As these lines from Mankuthimmana Kagga tell that, Nature is our best teacher. Each and every day, we are learning one or the other fact about nature.
I just want to share the unforgettable experience which I had with my family on 26th December 2004. It was a dreadful day for the people in several parts of Asia. Even though lakhs of people in Asia lost their relatives, assets which they had on that day; we had a great escape by the Grace of God and also from the divine power of Swami Vivekananda.
We left for Kanyakumari and other places on 24th of December 2004. We reached Kanyakumari on 25th of December in the morning. On that day we could not visit either the temple or the Swami Vivekananda Rock memorial. So we left for Thiruvananthapuram, Kovalam beach and other places.
We came back in the night to Kanyakumari. On 26th of December 2004, early morning, we went to see the sunrise in the Indian Ocean. We saw the sunrise at 6:20 am & it was a great delight to see the sunrise and also the merging on Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal. After that we had our breakfast and left to have Darshan of Goddess Kanyakumari. At 8:00 am we stood in the queue to visit Vivekananda Rock. It was a huge queue since it was Christmas vacation. We reached the rock at 9:00 am. While we got out from the ferry, which took people from shore to rock, there was a jerk which was unusual. However, we did not bother about it since we were in enthusiasm to see the rock.
After visiting the divine spots and the mighty Swami Vivekananda statue, we were overjoyed and thrilled meditating in the divine hall. Then we wished to go to the Thiruvalluvar statue which is near the rock through ferry. When we enquired for that, a security guard who was tensed told us to have a look at the sea which was in full violent mood.
So we had no other option but to postpone to visit the statue. The ocean had become rough and tides were unusually wore and hence they cancelled all the ferry services to the statue and to the shore. The ferries were destroyed due to the high tides.
At 11:30 am it was a great surprise to everybody on the rock because the sea almost became waterless around the rock and we were able to see the land area under the sea. Suddenly water started flowing from all directions and merged like a whirlpool which in turn became a huge tide and raised about 132 feet and hit the Thiruvalluvar statue and the rock with a bang. Immediately everybody ran helter- skelter and we could hear the hue and cry of the people. Everybody became anxious to reach the shore safely. At that time, we got calls from Bangalore and came to know about the disaster happened in Indonesia, Srilanka, India, which took so many lives & property, which we came to know that it was ‘Tsunami’.
Our dreams of reaching the shore safely shattered. We were praying god all the time. We were told by the authorities that helicopter will be put into service to evacuate the people from the rock to the shore. However that option was in futile (hardly a 5 minutes journey). We got food packets through the helicopter, as only drinking water is available on the rock. The authorities requested Fr. Leon Henson, to persuade the fishermen to evacuate people from the rock. However, Fr. Leon Henson was apprehensive about the safety of fishermen, but realizing the grave situation of 1000 people who were stranded on the rock memorial, Father convinced them to help us. They set out 3 fishing boats and sorties began. The fishermen went back and forth without rest. After sometime, further trips were cancelled, due to the roughness of the sea.
ಸಾದ್ಯಪಡದಾರಿಗಂ ನರಭಾಲಪಟ್ಟವನು |
ಶುದ್ಧಪಡಿಸಲು ತೊಡೆದು ಪೂರ್ವದೆಲ್ಲವನು ||
ಹೊದ್ದೆ ಹರಿಯಲಿ ಬೇಕು ಕರ್ಮಶೇಷದ ಪಟವ |
ಬುದ್ಧಿನುಡಿ ಸೈರಣೆಯೆ – ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ ||
By this time, sun was setting. We had spent the day from dawn to dusk, witnessing different moods of the nature. About 7:30 pm, our turn came to cross the sea in a small boat on the full moon night. When we were about to reach the shore, there were no anchors to stop the boat for the people to alight. Hence fishermen physically carried each individual to the shore. We were in tears by this gesture, which is unimaginable and invaluable. The fishermen who did this service were nothing but GOD. We were saved by God’s grace and the power of the holy place. We escaped death and had rebirth.
We are thanking God even today who was so kind to save us in spite of our so many bad deeds in life. By this one could come to conclusion that money is not at all a prime factor in life, but humanity makes the difference. I understood that caste, money does not matter in one’s life. In what way can we repay the fishermen who did such an invaluable act??
ಪ್ರಾರಬ್ಧದಲಿ ನಿನ್ನ ಪುಣ್ಯವಿನಿತಾನುಮಿರೆ |
ಸೇರೆ ಪಶ್ಚಾತ್ತಾಪ ಭಾರವದರೊಡನೆ ||
ದಾರುಣದ ಕರ್ಮನಿಯತಿಯನಿನಿತು ಶಿಥಿಲಪುದು |
ಕಾರುಣ್ಯದಿಂ ದಿವ್ಯ – ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ ||
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Few video clips of that day! Thank you for the person, who ever it is, for sharing these clips:
http://youtu.be/GmJNdBzXCcI
http://youtu.be/1OSlWoXf7sI
http://youtu.be/w-8Tp3y_Tes
Few video clips of that day! Thank you for the person, who ever it is, for sharing these clips:
http://youtu.be/GmJNdBzXCcI
http://youtu.be/1OSlWoXf7sI
http://youtu.be/w-8Tp3y_Tes
