In praise of selfless deeds
Acts of faith come in all forms – including service to people in need
THAIPUSAM is as good as over, and in Penang, the chariot is on its way back to the kovil veedu in Penang Street.
Me, I am unwinding by the Batu Ferringhi beach, basking in the same sun that burned down on me a day earlier.
The wounds from the piercings have, as expected, healed. There are a few barely discernible marks on the forehead and arms, and the only remaining effects are the aching muscles.
It would have been worse if not for The Star’s gym instructor T. Selvamuthu who had me working the right muscles a month before Thaipusam.
As I expected, it was exhausting but a friend in Penang was right. There was not much fun.
Apparently, there had been some sort of violence a day earlier and many thaneer panthal were ordered to be closed down. The music died.
The festival may have been huge but the festivities were limited – to about half a kilometre or so along Jalan Utama.
Still, there were many vivid memories. I was a kavadi bearer, but I was just one of many. There were so many others who left me awestruck.
There was this man, apparently a Singaporean, with a breathtaking kavadi made with lots of silver.
Another man was even more amazing. He climbed the 500-odd steps to the hilltop temple – on his knees. It must have been very, very difficult. I suffered even though I walked up to the new temple.
However, the ones who impressed me the most were the volunteers. They worked in groups of eight and 10 and they carried the infirm, the disabled and the old up and down in pallanquins.
One group would carry the “passengers” up 25 to 30 steps, pass him or her onto the next group and run back to their stations for more.
Each person was passed on like that until he or she reached the destination.
They worked all day. It must have been really tiring.
Theirs, I dare say, was a greater offering to God than any kavadi or milkpot.
It is, at the risk of sounding corny, the milk of human kindness at its best. A real service to people and to God.