Faith and Life

Last weekend, I had been on a pilgrimage with my family to Rameswaram. I have heard that Rameswaram is supposedly the biggest temple in India, although I haven’t been able to confirm that. The highlight of the pilgrimage was that we had to take bath in, or rather poured a bucket of,  water from each of 22 wells in the temple. The other highlight was the Meenakshi temple in Madurai which has 1011 statues.

Rameswaram is an island and is connected to the mainland through the Pamban bridge which is a structure of beauty.

According to the Ramayana, Rama and his followers built a bridge (sethu) from Rameswaram to Sri Lanka using stones, crossed the ocean and then he rescued his wife Sita from the demon king Ravana, Lord of Sri Lanka. On his successful return to Rameswaram, a lingam was installed and Rama worshipped Lord Shiva to absolve himself of the crime of killing Ravana. This lingam is one of the reasons why Rameswaram is considered a holy place for Hindu devotees.

In the long journey between Madurai and Rameswaram, I wrote a poem (if I can call it that):

Life is about breaking out…
Breaking from the routine
Breaking out from what is expected
Breaking out from your own expectations
Who knows where life’s journey leads to
But maybe it doesn’t matter
As long as you make your choices
And have no regrets.

Life is about freedom…
Freedom to choose
Freedom to live the life you dream of
Freedom to help your friends
Freedom to keep your family happy
Freedom to have a philosophy
Freedom to live by your rules.

Life is like music…
Every song has its appeal
So do opportunities
Every tune has its rhythm
So does our family
Every lyrics has its meaning
So do our values
Every album has its genre
Such as our nation
Every beat has a pulse
Such as each day
Every song has a beginning and an end
Life is like that
What matters is how you feel when the song is ending