Friday 21 July 2017

KAILASH REVISITED


Seeing his parents go through hardship and sufferings to provide the basic needs of the family, he made a resolve to bring change to their lives and standard of living. Hence Balamurugan worked his way to complete his degree and landed a job as an accountant with a multinational company that had 17 branches all over the world and 28,000 employees. He moved up the corporate ladder fast and achieved his target. He became successful in no time.

But Erai for reasons only known to him had a different agenda in the workings. When the company shifted hands, he was laid off. All this came as a blessing, as he now had an opportunity to do some soul searching. In 2011, he signed up to follow some regulars to Mount Kailash. After training for three months at the local Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) during the weekends, walking through the jungles and hiking its mountains some 10kms daily and climbing the 272 steps at Batu Caves some 15 times every Wednesday, he was ready to make the journey to Lord Shiva's land. With 35 of his comrades and the sherpas guiding them they started their journey to meet Lord Shiva.

Balamurugan is an excellent storyteller. Coupled with his sifu, guru and guide, Kailai Bala's raw footages and coverage of the trip, they actually brought us to the place and time of the journey. Traveling by vehicle and later on foot, they finally reached Kailash the abode of Lord Shiva. Balamurugan was mesmerized and stupefied at what he saw. He had his mind blown away, realizing how small and young he was in comparison with the majestic mountains that were in existence for ages. 

He had started his journey without any assurance or surety that he would be back; that he would return alive. But after several near misses crossing the dangerous terrain, he made it back in one piece to tell his tale.

Returning from Kailash and taking on several jobs, today with Agathiyar's blessings, Balamurugan has ventured to produce Pure Virgin Coconut Oil and Siddha medicinal ointments, moving away from numbers and statistics.