Date with Arunachala!

Well, I was just thinking the other day how Arunachala makes "a perfect Husband" :) you know... like He is always there protecting you against all odds, He is better than you in ALL possible ways, He accepts you as you are, He has His own great ways of attracting you to Himself, not to forget how much love He showers upon you when you go "back" to Him without making any noise :), without complaining... How perfect!! Man! Can anyone even remotely beat this?! Whatever they do, can they make you love them, if you happen to stray, and you would mostly return to Him with more Love than before, feeling sheepish, foolish for having stupidly strayed! :) How many times doesn’t He forgive and forget! The only thing He can "see" is that you are with Him. Nothing else matters, when we are with Him... How when we stray He appears stealthily when away from Him and makes us miss Him! Wow! What a perfect Husband material!! Just cannot get over it... :)

So, if He is the perfect husband, how would be a perfect date (Well, yeah, it started out as blog on date, but later I realized I had way too many songs for “us”

And I could accommodate right from “how it started” to the end of “first date” :P) with Him (Of course, it would be a love marriage!)? Wondering why I thought of this? Well, thanks to orkut. It has a question on dream first date in the personal tab of the profile :) So, was thinking how would the perfect date be... :) Of course, the date is very "dreamy", so I have lots of songs backed up in the mind, in a typical Bollywood ishtyle, starting from how He would "woo" me and how we meet at Tiruvannamalai on the first date... Its a great fantasy... dreaming of which I most of the times lose myself; it feels truly heavenly and of course, feels very very perfect! Ok, so, here would be the perfect love story between me and Arunachala... Please bear with the overwhelming list of songs... But I bet it wud be great for yourself too, if you could imagine urself in my place and play the songs I have listed (BTW, it has mostly Hindi and a couple of Kannada songs) alongside, as you come across in the "story"...

Well, to start with, it would be He who would be aware of my “presence” than me being aware that “someone” by name Arunachala exists! Slowly, He starts appearing in my dreams and I sing “Kanasalli bandavanaare!... And then, I would get to hear more and more about about Him, His Grace, His Majesty, His Love and what not! As I keep hearing more and more about Him, my heart would start singing, “Raahon mein unse mulaaqaat ho gayi… jisse darte the wahi baat ho gayi… ahaahaahahaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…. tere bin kuch nahi bhaataa hai mujhe, har taraf tu nazar aata hai mujhe...” :D and He replies with “Hoshwalon ko khabar kya…” in one of my dreams…

And then, He starts to court me! :) To start with, first He would sing like a college guy ;) (Just the way He starts with “our way” of sadhana and then steers us to Enquiry ;) ) He would woo me with the song (Kannada),” Thara thara onthara..." (Imagine Him singing the lines "ninnANe ninendu nange nange nangene", "ninna kangala pratibinmadalli naa bidde" to me!) While I would be considering His proposal, He would sing the more subtle, the "Suno na" song from Jhankaar beats... :) Could flaunting get any better than this, when wooing?!! As I keep pondering about it, he sings “chodo na mujhe yu bekaraaar sa..” :)

And, after due consideration ;) my heart would sing to Him, “Na na karte pyaaaaar haaye mein kar gayi!!...” and then, "rafta rafta haule haule dil ko churaaya tu ne dil ko toh pataa bhi na chala!..." and the rest of the lines of the song! And then, “Ale ale ale aleyo… modala saari edeyalintha ondu santhosha ondu eldeyalide!!... " Of course, I wont let Him know about it as easily... So, the duet "Hum aapki aankhon mein is dil ko basaa lein toh!! "... would start :)

And then, since I myself would be "weak" thinking of Him, I let it out, singing “pyar hua chupke se” to Him… And then, we both would sing duet on “antu intu preeti Bantu!!..." So, now that we are officially "going around", we would plan for our first date. I leave it to Hmim as to where He would want to take me on date… And then, I sing “tu… bin bataye, mujhe le chal kahin, jahaan tu muskuraaye, meri manzil wahi…” Apparently He drops a mail to Ramanashram from my mail Id and, Arunachala, working stealthily working in the minds of the Ashram officials' mind, would get the Ashram rooms booked for as long as requested.

As I get the positive reply from Ashram, as if to take part in my celebrations, it would start pouring… With the printout of Ashram (His “first” Love letter, you see ;) ) reply in my hand, singing in the rain, the song ”Paigaam laaya saawan…. Chaahat ka mousam aaya tanhaai sangh laaya, madhosh hain hum!!... jee karta hai pankh laga ke ud jaaoon mai… jaagi aankhon mein meri jaaga sapna…” and the rest of the song… :)

As I would be lost thinking about Him day and night, I sing songs like "Ravi neenu aagasadinda...", "ellelli nodali, ninnanne kaaNuve!!", "naa ninna mareyalaare"

As I spend my days with dreamy eyes, I start asking myself “kya yahi pyaar hai?!... dil tere bin kahi lagta nahi, waqt guzarta nahin!!...” :) My mom, of course, will be able to make out that something is “wrong” with me off late and asks me about it. I sing “kuch toh hua hai…” from KHNH and then sing “Mayani mayani meri pe teri bol rahaa hai kaa kaa… jogan ho gayi teri dulaari man jogi sang laagaa” :) She would not understand anything and just dismiss me off… :P

As the D-Day arrives, "Ae mere hamsafar ek zara intezaar" song would play in the background, with me packing my stuff to Arunchala, with dreamy eyes :) And then, when I start out from home, it would start to pour, prompting "saawan barse tarse dil" to be sung... the lines, "Ek mohobbat ka deewana dhoondhta sa phire... koi chaahat ka nazraana dilrooba keliye"!! Not to forget “Ek haseena idhar dekha kaise beechen hai… sach poochiye toh mere yaar, dono ka dil beikhtiyar(?) hai pehli baar, pehli bahaar mein!” :)

Then, I reach the satellite bus stand to board the sarige bus from Karnataka. The song "Zoobi Doobi parampam" playing in my excited mind! It would be truly looking as if the leaves, the rays of Sun, rain drops, the thunders and all are sharing my happiness, excitement and singing like my mind is... pagal stupid mann u see :) and not to forget, "jaise filmo mein hotaa hai, ho rahaa hai hoobahoo" :) As I near Tiruvannamalai, I can see Him from far and I go reverently "SreekanTha.... vishakanTha..." I become all the more desperate to reach Tiruvannamalai.... But He seems to be playing with me now, not pulling me to Him as quickly as I want Him to! :( I sing the song "Karedaru keLade? eke nannalli ee mouna?! "

And, then, I finally reach Arunchala… As I reach, with the strange excitement in my mind, my heart would go on singing “Hrudayadali idenidu! Nadiyondu oDide!!” :) As I would not know how to start the conversation even after the usual initial enquiries, He sings “Aao na…. sab gaate hain, sab madhosh hain, hum tum kyu khamosh hain!!...” :)

As I look lovingly at Him, my heart would sing… “ninna nodalentho, maatanaadlento… hELalonthara thara” Of course, this singing would be seen in my eyes, which would make Him sing “Aise na mujhe tum dekho… tumko mein churalunga tumse, dil mein chupaloonga”… I respond by sing “Gazab ka hain din dekho zara… hum bhi akele, tum bhi akele, amzaa aa rahaa hai…”

As usual, He would respond by making me want to go on Pradakshina around Him, with Him… As we start, it would start to rain, as though Lord Indra is pleased at our milana! And my beloved would start to sing ”Dekho na… “ from Fanaa, it would be a duet, with me and Him singing respective male and female lines… He would reply singing “Akele hain, toh kya ghum hai!!” :) And then, I would sing “Nee amruthadhaare… ” which would be solo… And then, “Mere haath mein, tera haath ho… tere saaso mein mujhe panaah mil jaaye, tere pyaar mein meri jaan fanaa ho jaaye!!...” – a duet…

And then, slowly the full moon appears, to give His respects to my Lord… So, we stop at a point, staring at him, looking into the eyes of the most Handsome, drowning in it and we sit in silence. Overwhelmed by the silence, by the Love, I would just not know, how to say what I feel about Him, how to thank Him for choosing me, for bestowing me such an awesome feeling! Making me feel loved, making me fall in love with someone just so awesome, so perfect… He flashes one of his charming smiles that would make me sing “Ee sundara beLadingaLa… “. He would then respond, singing with…”Kuch na kaho… samay ka yeh pal thamsa gaya hai!!.... aur is pal main koi nahi hai, bas ek main hoon, bas ek tum ho!!” wooooooowww!! And then “Mujhko khuda ne de diya pyaar tera jo saathiya, maano jaise mil gaya hai, jannat ka rasta!!” and the rest of the song… Wow!! I reply back singing to Him… “Aye kash ke hum hosh mein ab aane na paaye…. Bas nagme tere pyaar ke, gaate hi jaaye!!” Again, we sit at a place being tired... He sees me and starts to sing "Teri bindiyaa re.... aye haaye, teri bindiya re..." I join and we sing the duet... :) we start again for the pradakshina, singing "Loote koi mann ka nagar banke mera saathi....." As we go further on pradakshina, I would lean on His shoulders He sings "jotheyali, jothe jotheyalli iruve heege endu" as He completes the line, I join Him in the duet... And we complete our pradakshina for the day. As I lingere the last moments, I dont want to part from Him.... Telling Him "I dont want to go" in my eyes, I request for a dance with Him... I see sing the Hum Tum title song in the moonlite night at Arunachala, with Arunachala!!... I go back to ashram and try to catch some sleep… But how do I get sleep! What a splendid day it has been! I just don’t seem to get sleep. My heart sings “Mujhe neend na aaye…. Ho!!... Na jaane kahan dil kho gaya!!..."

The next day, of course, both of us are looking forward to have another Pradakshina… As He waits for me, He sings “KuNidu kuNidu bare…” :) and I reply back, singing “Aa moda baanalli tElADuta…”… As we continue with the pradakshina, we come to the point where He seems to be opening both His arms… As I lean on his broad shoulders, I sing “Jaadu hai, tera hi jaadu…” He just looks into my eyes and sings “Piya baavri…” I just feel so glad to hear that song from His mouth! So, He does know how much I Love Him, what I feel for Him, what he means to me!! Wow!! And I go on with “Hum tumpe marte hain… kya gali! kya shehar! Hum jahaan choDde!...“ and the rest of it. Then, all of a sudden, He walks away, as if He doesn’t care… but I know in Heart, what I mean to Him… :) so, I sing “Kabhi nee neem kabhi shehad… “ He joins me in the song as He sings “o…” in the song (starts at 2:23 minute of the song ;) ) I just run to Him and hug Him out of overflow of affection… :) As we start looking into each others’ eyes again, we sing “Aankho se tune ye kya keh diya!”… And we start with our pradakshina again… hand in hand, in the wonderful majestic silence both of sing “jo haal dil ka… ” mentally as a duet… :) Overwhelmed again by His Love, I sing “Endendu ninna maretu badukiralaare… Ee huuvaadare naanu parmaLavaagi, sEruve ninnoDalannu, bayasitaLAgi!...” He replies with “Tumse hi…”, as we continue with the pradakshina… I would be moved by the song, .and just lean on His shoulders, as we complete the pradakshina… My heart goes on "gangaa yamuna sangama... ee prema!!"...

As I start walking to my guest room of the Ashram, my Heart sings, “Dil Deewaaana bin sajna ke…”... I just can't leave Him... I run back to Him.... He understands... and I spend the rest of night at the foot of Arunchala, in His arms... He sings "tum bin jaaoon kahan!!!.... rahoge tum kaise hoke mujhse judaa...!!" and the rest of it as lullaby!!! As I nearly go into sleep, I sing "Tujhe dekh sona... tujhe dekh dekh jagna... mere yeh zindagaani sang teri bitaani... " and shed a couple of drops of tears...

And, as destiny would have it, the time with Him flies faster than the mind and its time to part… The mind goes on singing “Kurai ondrum illai”, even as the heart is sinking at the judaai ahead… As I start from the Ashram, I sing to Him… “Every night in my dreams, I see you, I feel you… that is how I know you go on…. “ He joines me when I come to the line”You are safe in my heart and my heart will go on!!!” As he comes to see me off to the bus-stop, my heart starts singing “Na jaane mere dil ko kya ho gaya”(from DDLJ)… He too is in a way, sad, sings “Dil kya kare jab kisi ko kisi se pyar jho jaye…” to which I reply by singing "cant help falling in love tih you" by Elvis Presely... :)

and then, the destined time arrives… we “part”. Along the way, I sing to Him... "O nallane savi maatonda nudiveya..." and the duet goes on as we reach the bus-stand. As I board bus back to B’lore, my heart sings, “Lambi judaai…. Chaar dino ka badi lambi judaaiii…. Lambi judaaiiii”… As the tanhayee increases, the songs "tanhayee " from DCH and "O saathi re..." play in the background.... And then, as I reach my home at Bangalore, I get to read the poem He has mailed… “Woh pehli baar, jab hum mile.... Ho gaya yeh dil deewaanaaaaaa…. Hota hai pyar kya isne jaana!!“ :) Ans I sing "neenaade baaLoge jyothi.... naa kande kaanada preethi!!" and the rest as a duet (His lines include "inu endendu novu ninagilla, bisillalli neraLaagi muda neeDuve!), as they say, is History :P

And that brings an end to the dreamy, starry date with Him... But its nice to even just imagine this... Whattan aweosome journey it was!!