hi guys,
just took a longer gap than expected for this article.
but could nt help. now, i wud like to present the more
interesting part we went through that day at the ice
house.
as the first section talked about the building itself,
we went on further to a section that talked about
indian history. "indian history" -- not that pedantic,
it was indian history as seen by vivekananda himself.
it was indian history that could give us strength if
we look back. a gallery that talked everything since
the time of the upanishads, everything that we need
know, not just to be proud of, but to remember, reckon
and may be rejuvenate. there were graphics that talked
about vyasas, bhaskaras, paninis, tansens, tyagarajas,
ashokas, ... so we had enough philosopy, since, math
and medicine. we had the power that no one had and we
still have though not to that extent. the power to
know the self, the power to relinquish it and the
power to go beyond it. havent u heard of buddhist
monks who immolated themselves sitting still, during
vietnam war, it is that kind of power, haven't you
heard of a priest who scared Alexander with their
power of self when he invaded india, it was that kind
of power. haven't you heard of thousands of saints of
nirvana who come out of nowhere to kumbh mela, whose
reference for space and time were just the sky and the
earth. it was that kind of power.
It is power that gives us insight to go beyond
observation-inference. finally help not to satiate
just the desires, but to satiate all the self. Apart
from this, i was happy to know we were doing good
mundanely too. great wealth, arts and armies enough to
have conquered the then worlds outside india. And one
more thing which you would be made to awe about in
that gallery is that, with all that we had, we hadn't
exhibited a bit of hegemony over others as the west
always did.
I just thought, where is all of that and what are we
now. where to look for. to go to the west, make money,
learn science, tech, gain accolade or to sit here and
mediate. just how about combining the best of both.
cant we have Einstein's coming out every other day?.
..ok. the next section was about vivekananda himself.
let me write about that in the next and finale of the
sequel.
regs
sam
recall first part
hi,
last week end an old college mate of mine was visiting
me after quite long time. we just thought why meet at
anyone's house but choose some public place. he
suggested that we go to ice house and then to beach.
this "ice house" or "vivekanadar illam" as it is
offcially called is a beautiful ancient building opp
to the beach. i had spent around 15 yrs in chennai but
never been there and this was the firs time. there was
a trivial entry fee of rs.2 and we were in. so much
interesting information i found there. basically the
building is around 130 yrs old and now it serves a
memorial for swami vivekananda for he stayed and
meditated there for around 15 days just before his
chicago convention.
there were different sections in the building
exhibiting about the building itself, indian
history,vivekananda's story and more. they had lots of
good information and surprsises. i used to wonder why
it is called the ice house. one display had the
answer. towards the end of the 19th century, a
merchant used to import ice all the way from uk in
ships and store it there salted. oops, they used to
import ice? and they they cud be stored for months?
that too in chennai???. i saw a pic of the building
when it was constructed. the beach was just next to
the building and waves lashing on it. now in just 130
yrs, the sea has receded by around 200 metres and we
have a main road there and a big strech of fine sand.
and just one more surprise about the building. i saw a
pic depicting its condition just before 1999 when the
state govt used to be responsible for it, lemme tell
u, it was nothing less than dilapidated. and then
ramakrishna mission took charge of it. now the
building is so good condition. but the irony is that,
the mission is paying to the govt rs. 30000 k per
month for all this service.
then we went on to contemplate the actual treasures of
the building.....mm, it is getting late. i have lots
to tell. i will cotinue in the next mail. till then.
take care. bye guys.
regs
sam
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