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Auto biography of Shri Narayanapillai Velayudhan Nair Sir as confidentially shared by him with me(I believe he will pardon
me for reproducing the same on my web page for my reference)
My Journey From 1948 to KNOW WHERE TO NO WHERE
I was born on 26th March 1948 in North Paravoor, a beautiful town about 20 km west of Aaluva, as the eldest son to Smt.
N Rajamma and Sh. K Narayana Pillai. The family I was born in was Kanattu, one of the then familiar Nair families of North
Paravoor. On 28th day of my birth, as was customary to name the new born, I was named Velayudhan after Lord Velayudhan/Subramanya
of Palani. When my mother was pregnant, it seems she took a vow to name her first child as Velayudhan if the child happens
to be a male one. Not My Journey From 1948 KNOW WHERE TO NO WHERE
I was born on 26th March 1948 in North Paravoor, a beautiful town about 20 km west of Aaluva, as the eldest son to Smt.
N Rajamma and Sh. K Narayana Pillai. The family I was born in was Kanattu, one of the then familiar Nair families of North
Paravoor. On 28th day of my birth, as was customary to name the new born, I was named Velayudhan after Lord Velayudhan/Subramanya
of Palani. When my mother was pregnant, it seems she took a vow to name her first child as Velayudhan if the child happens
to be a male one. Not only that the child will be taken to Palani for the Annaprasa ceremony. My parents fulfilled my mothers
vow and I was given my first morsel of solid food at Palani. Being a Sreekrishna Devotee, it beats me why my mother took a
vow to name me, her first child as Velayudhan and did my Annaprasam at Palani. We never visited Palani thereafter. I wonder
what might have prompted my mother to take such a vow. It just happened that way! I still do not know why I titled this wandering
thoughts of mineas a Journey. As I sat, with our newly acquired Lap top, to give some word meanings to my wandering thoughts
on my life, opened a Word Document in the Lap Top and started Keying in and to save the document, a name needs to be given,
The Title My Journey from 1948 Know where to No wherejust popped up in my mind, and I decided to go by it. Though the destination
frontier No where is not in sight of, I still continue my journey to that NO WHERE, with the hope of reaching there, sometime.
Let me take a caveat at the outset for I have no pretention of, whatsoever, as a writer, who can effectively communicate with
very ordinary people through my writings; So, if anyone is trying to make any sense out of my writing, they are at the peril
of losing their faith in their intelligence. If somebody wants to ignore my warning, so be it. Go ahead
At the age of 73yrs., as I look back, my Journey of Life has been wonderful though not so Fulfilling in the eyes of an
average middle class educated man, like me. Much waters have flowed, muddy, clear and mixed, in the last 73 years, yet the
Life seemed so ephemeral; every minute, nay second, I continue to live in this mortal frame is adds- on bonus. Worldwide Pandemic
COVID 19, which shook the whole Mankind around the Globe, when people were/ are forced to stay indoors, a proposition many
of us think, was/ is Lunatic but was/ is the Only option to keep the Virus at bay and an Opportunity for all of us to have
an impartial/unbiased review of our lives. Even after more than a year Outdoor social intimacy caused(unseen) virus homicidal
holocaust, We seem to have not learnt the lessons the Nature is trying to teach. Humanity... The so called advanced scientifically
brained population that we are or we claim that we are, have been completely unarmed and made to surrender to a virus which
is not even visible to the advanced modern man and has a life span of only 20 seconds in an ordinary soap solution. Though
seemingly weak, the Virus has wiped out lives of millions of hapless victims all around the globe. All our life we are engaged
in constant struggle to keepour lives kicking and going and what all we do and do not do is all for To keep The Life, but
have fallen flat in front of a micro-micro virus, which is having the last laugh at our Vanity Bloated Ego. Has the so called
Scientifically Bent Minded Modern Man, ever paused to think of the Impermanence or the Ephemeral Nature of human life, which
can get blown out before we take the next breath. No, we have no time for such philosophical thoughts and have A Lot of Things
to be done before going to Sleep, seems to be every bodys reflex reaction. Poor We, Permanent Sleep can come at any moment!
What are we busy at? why are we running at a break neck speed, and to where? Aggrandizement seems to Be-all and End- all for
the MODERN MAN. The Most Advanced seem to have been worst hit by the 20 second life spanned invisible virus. Where has the
Might and Right of the Powerful gone in front of the 20 second life spanned virus. Hey man realize the Truth that you are
as significant or as insignificant as the COVID 19 virus for Mother Nature. For The Nature or in the Overall system of Universe
or Macrocosm, man, as we think of ourself, is not even comparable to COVID19 virus as an important superior species to be
a preferred over the virus. Realize the fact that We are not Different from Nature and is a Part and Parcel of Mother Nature
where there is no distinction among the infinite number of Living and Non-living Creation of Nature. ALL are but ONE SINGLE
ENTITY. It is for all of us to Realize this TRUTH RIGHT HERE AND NOW. I think it has been a rather lengthy Prologue to my
story of Journey:
My story is sort of an autobiographical narration of series of experiences which I believe have/had bearing on my Journey
forward. I would be as chronological as I can in my narration. I would like to, broadly divide the Journey, into two sections
1. Objective Education where all the efforts are/ were focused on educationfor gainful employment, food, shelter and clothing.
The 2nd section is of Subjective Enquiry, in which I am still in pre-nursery, struggling hard to find my bearings.
Section 1. Objective Education.
By Objective education, what I mean is collection of Information/Data, which many call as knowledge, no quarrel on this
score, required for survivalin this world by way of getting job/s ,making enough and more money, amassing wealth, both movable
and immovable, bring up family/s, parenting children, educate them only to become doctor/engineer/MBA and send them to The
one and only one Swarga Rajyam in earth, The U S A, after or before they are paired of their own choice or of parents choice(ed)
arrangement. Then pull up ones collar, if one still has a straight shoulderthat has not stooped by then, expand ones circle
of influence in the so called society, make oneself judiciously visible and invisible wherever and whenever required, lead
a royal lifeof eat, drink , and make merry, and not to forget ones last bit Duty of rearing ones Swargarajya born green
card holders grandchildren to expand the Vansha Vruksha ,if ones children want .With change of time, and with ever fast moving
Technological advancement, the mode, style, approach ,modules or models etc. of education have changed/changing, but the Basic
goal or the Only Goal of education ,in my humble opinion, remains Roti ,Kapada aur Makan. People might violently react to
this opinion of mine or even call it Blasphemous on The Institution of Education. Even after achieving the goal of education,
R, K, & M, most of the people seem to be not happy and contented, and feel miserable. In the common mans parlance, the
uneducated, and the highly educated, both seem unhappy and miserable, the uneducated uncomfortably miserable sitting in his
humble, (understandable) the Educated, in Chinmayananda Swami's words, comfortably miserable in his luxurious air-conditioned
palatial house, with glasses and bottles, and melancholic music playing to drown his miseries. Both are miserable for what
they do not have. It is not my intention to criticize or give opinion on the modern-day educational system/s for I am no educationist.
But terms we loosely use as Educated, Uneducated, I feel, has a cleverly concealed prejudice for English medium education
over any Indian Language Medium of Education or Preference for Western type over traditional Indian type of education. It
is a fact that many of our ancestors, who were Uneducated in the above context seem to have or were Wiser than the current
Educated population. The current trend or Fashion in India, more specifically to State of Kerala, is Anything of Ancient Indian
is Unscientific and people who are Proud of their Indian Heritage are branded as Sanghees, without even understanding the
Word meaning or the Deeper meaning of the term Sanghi. The contempt with which these Political-Media conglomeration uses the
term Sanghi is beyond all civilised ethical decency I can only Pity them and quote Jesus Father forgive them for they know
not what they do. To continue my story During my good old (Objective Education) days, the conventional route/ beaten track
was of School, Collegiate education, secure a qualifying degree, seek /get a job, marry, build a house, either before or after
marriage, Parenting children, educate them, marry them off and finally Settle Down in life, what is left of IT. The End. SHUBHAM!!!
How did I pass through my Objective Educational Odyssey? Please follow me, if one is not already bored.
As for my early childhood memory, like any other child /toddler, it is Nature's design to erase all memories from
mind, (or the Mind was/ is so pristine that no impressions of experience/s were/are saved to be able to retrieve at our sweet
will at a later period in time), from conception,9-10 months of incubated development, the so called agony at child birth
and first gasping for life air for survival, the post-delivery acclimatization pangs , the pathetic external dependency for
survival, only crying mode of communication for wants, needs, rest, sleep, discomforts, and what not the survival pangs of
a vegetative organism as it were ,to a stage where the Indriyas become operational and the Mind starts its ordained control
center duty. As soon as the control center starts its function happens to be and the &pProcess of Recording starts and
Memory Files of Un imaginable Bytes are created. From then on, I started my job of what, I am not sure. Everything around
me and about me at that initial stage of Memorable life were wonderful and awe inspiring except for thirst and hunger. Sleep
used to be deep and dream free, for how long, I dont remember till one night a vivid dream occurred, which even at the age
of 73 plus when I think of, I relive it. The dream was that I was high- speeding through a thick black and dark empty space
and was weight less, occasionally seeing/witnessing bright spots of lights in a thick black background and also saw/dreamed
quite a number of large diameters cycle wheels type objects spinning very fast pass me by my side as I continued my high-speed
travel to nowhere. This was my first ever remembered dream. This dream might have happened when I was 2 or 3years of age,
an age imagination of a cycle wheel or space travel was impossible. In North Paravoor, during 1949-50 the bicycle was a luxury
and were a rare sight on the roads then. If dreams are caused by impressions of ones waking experiences, as opined by the
experts in this field, then my space travel dream needs explanation, for I had at that age no such waking state experiences
to bank on for my dream. One other remarkably experienceI had when I was 8 or 9 years old was sort of Near Death Experience,
N D E. It was something like this. I had contracted Jaundice and the same became very serious. One night my condition became
very serious, and I stared to lose my consciousness and my parents were worried. I was lying in my fathers lap with my mother
at his side. I suddenly felt that I was falling in a deep and dark abyss at a fast speed and I was crying loud and calling
out hold me, hold me, hold me.I could hear my father, faintly, assuring me that he is holding me, but I kept on falling, falling
and falling , for I do not know how long and everything stopped for me. When I woke up, or regained consciousness I was still
lying in my fathers lap with Dr. Nayakam holding a big Syringe, sitting by his side. All of them looked worried and my mother,
a very bold lady, was wiping her tears. Later I came to know from my mother that my condition was becoming worse and my uncle
went and brought Dr. Nayakam, who was our family Doctor. He administered some sort of injection on me and I slowly came back.
This, even today is fresh in my memory. Then coming to waking state experiences, my earliest memories were of my child hood
days with my maternal Grand Mother. Every morning after I get up, I used to go round the compound of our house, Kanat, with
my Grand Mother who used to sweep the fallen dry leaves of many a tree in the compound and light them. The smoke rising from
the burning, in the early morning mist in the rising Sun rays draws up light bluish changing patterns presenting a beautiful
sight. In the evenings Grandmother used to tell stories from Ramayanam and Maha Bharatam of which SreeKrishna Leela used to
be my favorite. In the evening, as sun sets, my mother used to chant Naama Snkeertanams, mostly of Krishna Bhajans and we
children were instructed to chant along and thus evening chanting, called in Malayalam as Naam Japickal after lighting Nila
vilakku has become habitual for me. Most of the Keertanams used to be in praise of SreeKrishna or of His Stories and this
made me a devotee of Lord Krishna/Guruvayoorappan. There is a SreeKrishna temple, Kannankulangara, near to our house Kanattu,
and I used to go to the temple almost daily. Just looking, more correctly put, as gazing, at the Vigraha, beautifully decorated
(Muzhukkappu) by the Melshanti (Chief Priest) with pure Sandal wood Paste, floral decorations give the Idol a Living Divine
appearance. The Idol is a beautifully carved image of Chathur Bahu Vishnu and after Melshanti's artistic sandal wood paste
application The Idol comes Live as Divinely Beautiful Smiling Krishna, taking ones gaze from the Idol is difficult. I remember,
even today, me gazing at Krishna without batting my eyelids. For me standing in front of the Falgpost(Kotimaram),my favorite
spot for Darshan, gazing at the image of The Lord used to be an Experience in itself. When my mother used to ask me what I
have asked the Lord, I never had an answer, for the simple reason that I never thought of asking anything except gazing silently,
with Thozhukai, repeating some if HIS names that I have byhearted. As I had no answer to my mother's querries, she used to
tell/advise me to pray to the Lord for Bestowing me with Benevolent thoughts and intellect and to lead me in the right path.
My mother's This (Right) advise had a lifelong effect on me that even to this day, if at all I visit any temple or places
of Worship, unconsciously this prayer taught by mother comes up from my heart. It dawned on me, only late in my life, what
my mother taught at that tender age and the purport of Great Gayatri Mantra are identical (Dhee Yo YoNah: Prajodayaat). There
used to be discourses (we used to call them Vaayanas in the Temple by learned personalities like Guruvayoorappadasa Swamikal,
Kallayi Vshnu Namboodiri,etc. on Krishna Leelas ,which had attracted me very much. Listening to stories of Sreekrishna from
Bhagavatam, Mahabharatam, Narayaneeyam, from such eminent scholars was so elevating that I started longing for the Darshan
of the Lord. In North Paravoor, one other temple I frequented was Mookambika Temple. It was known, at that time, as Dakshina
Mookambika (presently Panachikkad Devi Kshetram is known as Dakshina Mookambika). On Vjayadashami day every year, I used to
go to Mookambika temple, early in the morning for Vidyarambham. What an experience it used to be!! Participating in the Utsavams
and 40day Mandala Vilakku celebrations in these temples were Great Experiences in themselves. Watching Night long Kathakali
during Kannakulangara and Mookambika annual Utsavams were my favourites. I was very fortunate to have watched the Great Performance/s
of Kalamandalam Kathakali Veterans like Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair, Ramankutty Nair, Pallippuram Gopalan Nair, Kudamaloor
Karunakaran Nair, Vazhenkata Kunju Nair, Mangulam Vishnu Namboodiri, Harippad Ramakrishnan, Kalamandalam Rajan, Gopi Aashan,
Champakkulam Pachu Pillai, Kottackal Sivaraman etc. along with percussionists like Kalamandalam Krishnankutty Poduval on
Chenda, Appukutty Poduval on Maddalam Varanasi Brothers, Kalamandalam Keshavan etc. Singers like Takazhi kuttan Pillai, Kalamandalam
Shankaran Embranthiri, Kalamandalam Hyderali,Thaneermukkam Viwambharan etc. Kathakali recital used to be for 2-3 days, starting
on 6th day of Festival in Kannankulangara Temple where as in Mookambika it used to be a one-day affair, of 7th or 8th day.
I consider myself very fortunate to have had such a wonderful childhood. During my childhood days in North Paravoor till my
S S L C in 1962-63, sort of laid the foundation of Krishna Bhakti in me and paved my way ahead, to be followed up later in
my life. (In the 2nd section ‘Subjective Enquiry). I will be failing in my duty if I do not remember Bharati Amma
Sir who guided and taught me The Malayalam alphabets and Kochu Paulose Sir who initiated me into Mahabharatam and Ramayanam
Through stories in both the Epics, taught me cycling, took me for my first ever Boat cruise and Railway journey and exposed
me to various inspiring stories of people, places etc. As soon as I completed my SSLC examination, my father, who was a senior
teacher in our school was transferred to Kozhikode, as the Head Master of Basic Training School and all of us had to shift
to Kozhikode from North Paravoor. (For me that was the end of my stay in North Paravoor, from 1948-1963.) So, my further studies,
in college/s were in Kozhikode. I had my one-year Pre-University collegiate education in St. Josephs College, Devagiri, Kozhikode
and two years of Three-year Bsc. Course in Sree Guruvayurappan College in Kozhikode. (I did not complete BSc course as I left
the course in second year in pursuit of better engineering course). From 1965 to 1971 I had studied in J C College of Engineering,
Manasagangotri, Mysore for my mechanical engineering degree course.And thus finally I took B E in Mechanical Engineering from
University of Mysore in the Year 1971.For me I have completed my Bread winning Education I was greatly relieved from the
drudgery of mugging up education with no interest or understanding of the subject. Had it not been for my Father's burning
desire to make me an engineer and a compassionate Lecturer Sri Siddalingappa, who drilled into my brain the Final Year Engineering
Subjects of Theory of Machines, Heat Engines and Machine design, and helped me scale the dreadful and impenetrable examination
wall, unscathed. Before I conclude my Objective Education, as is the practice in the corporate world, one needs to make a
self-assessment before being considered for promotion, and being an ex-corporate person, let me make self-assessment report
on my ‘education that the child will be taken to Palani for the Annaprasa ceremony. My parents fulfilled my mother's
vow and I was given my first morsel of solid food at Palani. Being a Sreekrishna Devotee, it beats me why my mother took a
vow to name me, her first child as Velayudhan and did my Annaprasam at Palani. We never visited Palani thereafter. I wonder
what might have prompted my mother to take such a vow. It just happened that way! I still do not know why I titled this wandering
thoughts of mine as a Journey. As I sat, with our newly acquired Lap top, to give some word meanings to my wandering thoughts
on my life, opened a Word Document in the Lap Top and started Keying in and to save the document, a name needs to be given,
The Title My Journey from 1948 Know where to No where just popped up in my mind, and I decided to go by it. Though the destination
frontier No where is not in sight of, I still continue my journey to that NO WHERE, with the hope of reaching there, sometime.
Let me take a caveat at the outset for I have no pretention of, whatsoever, as a writer, who can effectively communicate with
very ordinary people through my writings. So, if anyone is trying to make any sense out of my writing, they are at the peril
of losing their faith in their intelligence. If somebody wants to ignore my warning, so be it. Go ahead
At the age of 73yrs., as I look back, my Journey of Life has been wonderful though not so Fulfilling in the eyes of an
average middle class educated man, like me. Much waters have flowed, muddy, clear and mixed, in the last 73 years, yet the
Life seemed so ephemeral; every minute, nay second, I continue to live in this mortal frame is adds- on bonus. Worldwide Pandemic
COVID 19, which shook the whole Mankind around the Globe, when people were/ are forced to stay indoors, a proposition many
of us think, was/ is Lunatic but was/ is the Only option to keep the Virus at bay and an Opportunity for all of us to have
an impartial/unbiased review of our lives. Even after more than a years Outdoor social intimacy caused(unseen) virus homicidal
holocaust&, We seem to have not learnt the lessons the Nature is trying to teach. Humanity. The so called advanced scientifically
brained population that we are or we claim that we are, have been completely unarmed and made to surrender to a virus which
is not even visible to the advanced modern man and has a life span of only 20 seconds in an ordinary soap solution. Though
seemingly weak, the Virus has wiped out lives of millions of hapless victims all around the globe. All our life we are engaged
in constant struggle to keep our lives kicking and going. and what all we do and do not do is all for To keep The Life, but
have fallen flat in front of a micro-micro virus, which is having the last laugh at our Vanity Bloated Ego. Has the so called
Scientifically Bent Minded Modern Man, ever paused to think of the Impermanence or the Ephemeral Nature of human life, which
can get blown out before we take the next breath. No, we have no time for such philosophical thoughts and have A Lot of Things
to be done before going to Sleep, seems to be every bodys reflex reaction. Poor We, Permanent Sleep can come at any moment!
What are we busy at? why are we running at a break neck speed, and to where? Aggrandizement seems to Be-all and End- all for
the MODERN MAN. The Most Advanced seem to have been worst hit by the 20 second life spanned invisible virus. Where has the
Might and Right of the Powerful gone in front of the 20 second life spanned virus. Hey man realize the Truth that you are
as significant or as insignificant as the COVID 19 virus for Mother Nature. For The Nature or in the Overall system of Universe
or Macrocosm, man, as we think of ourself, is not even comparable to COVID19 virus as an important superior species to be
a preferred over the virus. Realize the fact that We are not Different from Nature and is a Part and Parcel of Mother Nature
where there is no distinction among the infinite number of Living and Non-living Creation of Nature. ALL are but ONE SINGLE
ENTITY. It is for all of us to Realize this TRUTH RIGHT HERE AND NOW. I think it has been a rather lengthy Prologue to my
story of Journey:
My story is sort of an autobiographical narration of series of experiences which I believe have/had bearing on my Journey
forward. I would be as chronological as I can in my narration. I would like to, broadly divide the Journey, into two sections
1. Objective Education where all the efforts are/ were focused on education for gainful employment, food, shelter and clothing.
The 2nd section is of Subjective Enquiry, in which I am still in pre-nursery, struggling hard to find my bearings
During my &good old (Objective Education) days, the conventional route/ beaten track was of School, Collegiate education,
secure a qualifying degree, seek /get a job, marry, build a house, either before or after marriage, Parenting children, educate
them, marry them off and finally Settle Down in life, what is left of IT. The End. SHUBHAM!!! How did I pass through my Objective
Educational Odyssey? Please follow, if one is not already bored.
As for my early childhood memory, like any other child /toddler, it is Nature's design to erase all memories from
mind, (or the Mind was/ is so pristine that no impressions of experience/s were/are saved to be able to retrieve at our sweet
will at a later period in time), from conception,9-10 months of incubated development, the so called agony at child birth
and first gasping for life air for survival, the post-delivery acclimatization pangs , the pathetic external dependency for
survival, only crying mode of communication for wants, needs, rest, sleep, discomforts, and what not the survival pangs of
a vegetative organism, as it were ,to a stage where the Indriyas become operational and the Mind starts its ordained control
center duty. As soon as the control center starts its function I happen to be and the Process of Recording starts and Memory
Files of Un imaginable Bytes are created. From then on, I started my job of what, I am not sure. Everything around me and
about me at that initial stage of Memorable life were wonderful and awe inspiring except for thirst and hunger. Sleep used
to be deep and dream free, for how long, I dont remember till one night a vivid dream occurred, which even at the age of 73
plus when I think of, I relive it. The dream was that I was high- speeding through a thick black and dark empty space and
was weight less, occasionally seeing/witnessing bright spots of lights in a thick black background and also saw/dreamed quite
a number of large diameters cycle wheels type objects spinning very fast pass me by my side as I continued my high-speed travel
to nowhere. This was my first ever remembered dream. This dream might have happened when I was 2 or 3years of age, an age
imagination of a cycle wheel or space travel was impossible. In North Paravoor, during 1949-50 the bicycle was a luxury and
were a rare sight on the roads then. If dreams are caused by impressions of ones waking experiences, as opined by the experts
in this field, then my space travel dream needs explanation, for I had at that age no such waking state experiences to bank
on for my ‘dream. One other &remarkably experience I had when I was 8 or 9 years old was sort of Near Death
Experience, N D E. It was something like this. I had contracted Jaundice and the same became very serious. One night my condition
became very serious, and I stared to lose my consciousness and my parents were worried. I was lying in my father's lap with
my mother at his side. I suddenly felt that I was falling in a deep and dark abyss at a fast speed and I was crying loud and
calling out hold me, &hold me, hold me.I could hear my father, faintly, assuring me that he is holding me, but I kept
on falling, falling and falling , for I do not know how long and everything stopped for me. When I woke up, or regained consciousness
I was still lying in my fathers lap with Dr. Nayakam holding a big Syringe, sitting by his side. All of them looked worried
and my mother, a very bold lady, was wiping her tears. Later I came to know from my mother that my condition was becoming
worse and my uncle went and brought Dr. Nayakam, who was our family Doctor. He administered some sort of injection on me and
I slowly came back. This, even today is fresh in my memory. Then coming to waking state experiences, my earliest memories
were of my child hood days with my maternal Grand Mother. Every morning after I get up, I used to go round the compound of
our house, Kanat, with my Grand Mother who used to sweep the fallen dry leaves of many a tree in the compound and light them.
The smoke rising from the burning, in the early morning mist in the rising Sun rays draws up light bluish changing patterns
presenting a beautiful sight. In the evenings Grandmother used to tell stories from Ramayanam and Maha Bharatam of which SreeKrishna
Leela used to be my favorite. In the evening, as sun sets, my mother used to chant Naama Snkeertanams, mostly of Krishna Bhajans
and we children were instructed to chant along and thus evening chanting, called in Malayalam as Naam Japickal after lighting
Nila vilakku has become habitual for me. Most of the Keertanams used to be in praise of SreeKrishna or of His Stories and
this made me a devotee of Lord Krishna/Guruvayoorappan. There is a SreeKrishna temple, Kannankulangara, near to our house
Kanattu, and I used to go to the temple almost daily. Just looking, more correctly put, as gazing, at the Vigraha, beautifully
decorated (Muzhukkappu) by the Melshanti (Chief Priest) with pure Sandal wood Paste, floral decorations give the Idol a Living
Divine appearance. The Idol is a beautifully carved image of Chathur Bahu Vishnu and after Melshantis artistic sandal wood
paste application The Idol comes Live as Divinely Beautiful Smiling Krishna, taking ones gaze from the Idol is difficult.
I remember, even today, me gazing at Krishna without batting my eyelids. For me standing in front of the Falgpost(Kotimaram),my
favorite spot for Darshan, gazing at the image of The Lord used to be an Experience in itself. When my mother used to ask
me what I have asked the Lord, I never had an answer, for the simple reason that I never thought of asking anything except
gazing silently, with Thozhukai, repeating some if HIS names that I have byhearted. As I had no answer to my mother's querries,
she used to tell/advise me to pray to the Lord for Bestowing me with Benevolent thoughts and intellect and to lead me in the
right path. My mothers This (Right) advise had a lifelong effect on me that even to this day, if at all I visit any temple
or places of Worship, unconsciously this prayer taught by mother comes up from my heart. It dawned on me, only late in my
life, what my mother taught at that tender age and the purport of Great Gayatri Mantra are identical (Dhee Yo YoNah: Prajodayaat).
There used to be discourses (we used to call them Vaayanas) in the Temple by learned personalities like Guruvayoorappadasa
Swamikal, Kallayi Vshnu Namboodiri,etc. on Krishna Leelas ,which had attracted me very much. Listening to stories of Sreekrishna
from Bhagavatam, Mahabharatam, Narayaneeyam, from such eminent scholars was so elevating that I started longing for the Darshan
of the Lord. In North Paravoor, one other temple I frequented was Mookambika Temple. It was known, at that time, as Dakshina
Mookambika (presently Panachikkad Devi Kshetram is known as Dakshina Mookambika). On Vjayadashami day every year, I used to
go to Mookambika temple, early in the morning for Vidyarambham. What an experience it used to be!! Participating in the Utsavams
and 40day Mandala Vilakku celebrations in these temples were Great Experiences in themselves. Watching Night long Kathakali
during Kannakulangara and Mookambika annual Utsavams were my favorites. I was very fortunate to have watched the Great Performance/s
of Kalamandalam Kathakali Veterans like Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair, Ramankutty Nair, Pallippuram Gopalan Nair, Kudamaloor
Karunakaran Nair, Vazhenkata Kunju Nair, Mangulam Vishnu Namboodiri, Harippad Ramakrishnan, Kalamandalam Rajan, Gopi Aashan,
Champakkulam Pachu Pillai, Kottackal Sivaraman etc. along with percussionists like Kalamandalam Krishnankutty Poduval on
Chenda, Appukutty Poduval on Maddalam Varanasi Brothers, Kalamandalam Keshavan etc. Singers like Takazhi kuttan Pillai, Kalamandalam
Shankaran Embranthiri, Kalamandalam Hyderali,Thaneermukkam Viwambharan etc. Kathakali recital used to be for 2-3 days, starting
on 6th day of Festival in Kannankulangara Temple where as in Mookambika it used to be a one-day affair, of 7th or 8th day.
I consider myself very fortunate to have had such a wonderful childhood. During my childhood days in North Paravoor till my
S S L C in 1962-63, sort of laid the foundation of Krishna Bhakti in me and paved my wayahead, to be followed up later in
my life. (In the 2nd section ‘Subjective Enquiry). I will be failing in my duty if I do not remember Bharati Amma
Sir who guided and taught me The Malayalam alphabets and Kochu Paulose Sir who initiated me into Mahabharatam and Ramayanam
Through stories in both the Epics, taught me cycling, took me for my first ever Boat cruise and Railway journey and exposed
me to various inspiring stories of people, places etc. As soon as I completed my SSLC examination, my father, who was a senior
teacher in our school was transferred to Kozhikode, as the Head Master of Basic Training School and all of us had to shift
to Kozhikode from North Paravoor. (For me that was the end of my stay in North Paravoor, from 1948-1963.) So, my further studies,
in college/s were in Kozhikode. I had my one-year Pre-University collegiate education in St. Josephs College, Devagiri, Kozhikode
and two years of Three-year Bsc. Course in Sree Guruvayurappan College in Kozhikode. (I did not complete BSc course as I left
the course in second year in pursuit of better engineering course). From 1965 to 1971 I had studied in J C College of Engineering,
Manasagangotri, Mysore for my mechanical engineering degree course.And thus finally I took B E in Mechanical Engineering from
University of Mysore in the Year 1971.For me I have completed my Bread winning Education I was greatly relieved from the
drudgery of mugging up education with no interest or understanding of the subject. Had it not been for my Fathers burning
desire to make me an engineer and a compassionate Lecturer Sri Siddalingappa, who drilled into my brain the Final Year Engineering
Subjects of Theory of Machines, Heat Engines and Machine design, and helped me scale the dreadful and impenetrable examination
wall, unscathed. Before I conclude my Objective Education, as is the practice in the corporate world, one needs to make a
self-assessment before being considered for promotion, and being an ex-corporate person, let me make self-assessment report
on my education
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SHRI N.V.NAIR SIR
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