What, If Our Dreams Come True! An Uncommon Meeting with Lord Siva
“What, If Our Dreams Come True!” is an Epic-style novel written by me. It
is my first novel in English. It is my first full-fledged, published novel too.
What this novel is about
We all have dreams – both pleasant and unpleasant. Many psychoanalysts
say that dreams result from our deep-rooted memories, emotional impacts from our past experiences, and our desires. Many times, we wish if only our dreams really came true. Other times, we pray that
our dreams never come true.
We are all sensitive to things happening around us. This novel is an
outcome of my anguish, my aspirations, my dreams and my emotional disturbances over many events. I was inspired by many news reports, books and articles of a few famous authors and columnists, and
teaching from my gurus, to write this novel.
I believe, we can all collectively make this Earth, a better place to
live in. We only want to be inspired. We await a trigger. We are all connected in some way. Relationship is the most important thing in life, and I believe it is worthwhile sacrificing anything and
everything for the sake of relationship, though I myself struggle, imperfectly, towards this goal.
To achieve anything worthwhile, our physical, mental and psychological
strength alone are not going to be sufficient. One needs spiritual strength too. One needs Grace. One needs Blessings.
Now, this story is about Poorna Chandran….
Poorna Chandran@Poornan, the narrator of the story in the novel starts
off his life as a naïve, village teen, around the year 1945. Everything changes for him one day. He has severe stomach pain. Medicines fail to give him relief. All of a sudden, Lord Siva appears in
his dreams and promises to cure him instantly on a condition that Poornan meets with him in seven of HIS places. His stomach pain is gone. The village astrologer opines that Poornan shouldn’t ignore
Lord Siva’s ordain, lest he invites HIS wrath. So, on his advice, Poornan sets out along the banks of the river Tamirabarani – the perennial, sacred river of Tirunelveli District of Southern Tamil
Nadu – to meet Lord Siva.
His first destination is Courtallam, famous for its waterfalls, herbs
and siddhiks and most importantly, Chithra Sabhai, one of the seven abodes of Lord Siva. There, he encounters one siddhik who changes everything for him in his
life. Incredible, nerve-racking experiences happen to Poornan during his encounter with the siddhik.
Armed with his experience at Courtallam, Poornan moves on to six more
places along the river Tamirabarani. In each of these places, he has something, very significant, waiting to happen.
What happens in those places? You must read the entire novel to
know………….
Epilogue
It took nearly two and half years for me to complete this novel in all
respects. The novel took me to several small villages, towns, and temples along the river Tamirabarani and I gained richly from my visits, about my place.
The river Tamirabarani is, probably, the only river of Tamil Nadu to
originate, run through, irrigate and merge with the sea within the State of Tamil Nadu. I read with great interest a book “Tamirabarani Mahatmiyam” published nearly a century back, lent to me by
retired Professor Sri Sitaraman, one of my well-wishers in Tirunelveli. I read with great awe the mythological stories associated with the river. Another book “Tamirabarani Karaiyinile” written by
Sri Muthalankurichi Kamarasu gave me a lot of insight about the river and several pilgrim centers around the river. This book, particularly, encouraged me to visit the ‘Nava
Kailasa’ and ‘Nava Thirupathi’kshetras on the banks of the river. I was only stopped at Sernthamangalam along the river, beyond which, I was advised I
wouldn’t be able to go on my own as the river merges with the sea a few miles down the village.
I waited for more than a year to peep into the historic Chithra Sabhai
and its paintings at Courtallam, which was closed for a long time for renovation works.
An Islamic stranger, whom I accidentally met in a tea shop at
Kayalpattinam gave me very interesting information about the place and its surroundings that inspired me to pen a whole episode in this book.
In Cheranmahadevi, I had to wait for more than an hour for the temple
priest to arrive to open the Siva temple, just on the banks of the river. The railway bridge across the river, touching the temple and the greenery around it inspired me to write another whole
episode.
I learnt a lot from the priests of the magnificent Siva temples at
Brahmadesam and Tiruppudaimaruthur. The bathing ghat along the river Gadana, a tributary of the river Tamirabarani at Tiruppudaimaruthur inspired me to write another episode of
this novel.
I was awe struck by the architecture of the Siva temple at Brahmadesam,
built during the Rajendra Chozha period, almost a millennium back. The tall ‘Maruthu’ trees lined along the steep banks of the river at Ambasamudram formed a tantalizing arcade and lead one to the
other Siva temple built during the same Chozha times. This, along with the steep stone steps just outside the Siva temple at Papanasam inspired me to write another episode.
When I crossed the old check dam along the river at Srivaikuntam and
entered the town, I marveled at the uniqueness of the place – a holy place for both Vaishnavaites and Shivaites, a place where Lord Siva and Lord Narayana confluence – as a standing message about the
Oneness of God. A place where all souls merge into One – Vaikuntam.
Rather, I can now write another entire book about how I wrote this
novel.
I thank God for inspiring me to write this unique novel and I remain
blessed.
“WHAT, IF OUR DREAMS COME TRUE! AN UNCOMMON MEETING WITH LORD SIVA” book
is available on www.amazon.com as a kindle version and on www.pothi.com as print version.
I intend to serialize the novel through my website and one chapter will
be released every Saturday. I request readers’ to send their comments to info@tnneelakantan.com or neelkant16@yahoo.com