At the Feet of Bhagavan

Bala looks into Bhagavan's eyes

Balanandaswami (Bala) looked into the eyes of the young swami. (This was the same one whom Jagaswami had troubled so much). Their eyes met. Something happened.

Bala felt he was looking at his real father for the first time. He also strangely felt he was looking at himself. For the first time, i see my self, he thought. He fell in love with the young swami. Tears welled in his eyes.

He fell at the feet of the young swami, pressing his cheeks in.

Bala prostrates at the young swami's feet

Later when he got up, and sat down, he saw the little fox cub was there, too. Fluffy, the little fox, cub had curled up in Mum Lionesses lap. and for once, Om cub didn't seem to mind giving up the best place in the house to someone else. In fact he was only too happy to do so.

Fluffy was picked up by the cubs one by one (snatched from Mum Lioness), and put on their own laps. He was being pulled and fought over, and seemed to like it for a while but finally got a bit tired of having one cub pull one leg, and another pull the other. And so he snapped a bit, and the cubs took a step back in mock fright.

Then Mum Lioness gave Bala what must have been the most important lesson of his life. She taught him how to pick Fluffy by his neck and carry him. He tried it carefully, and all giggled at his earnest attempts. Then the cubs insisted on following.

Bala picks Fluffy swami

After a while, Fluffy had had enough of being picked by the neck and had to signal his displeasure with a cute growl. He told the cubs that henceforth they would be charged for the privilege of picking him up by the neck. Charged about one iddli per pick. Tiru feigned shock at this with his signature open-mouthed, eyes-popping, jaw-dropping look of shock. The other cubs imitated him. Fluffy refused to go back on his words or bargain, even though the shocked look was very convincing.

Tirucub fakes disbelief

Then the cubs and Bala sat around Fluffy licking him and kissing him. His bat-ears were one favorite, and so was his wonderfully bushy tail. But what they loved the most was his long nose. It always looked a little bewildered (frankly so did Bala's). Finally, Fluffy decided he had gone from moist to soggy to dripping, and any more kissing and the cubs would be dehydrated!

As they turned to go home for lunch, the young swami asked them all to come in the evening, as he was going to tell them a story!

Back home, Tiru was telling Bala (and Fluffy swami), you see that tree there, on which you used to spy on us? Bala nodded innocently. You would not believe that Spotty used to spy on us from the same spot! It seemed like ages ago to both Spotty and Bala. Om said, hopefully moah and moah people will spy on us from that lucky tree, and become our friends.
Aruna then said, I am going to put a charm on that tree so that only those who are Bhagavan's devotees, or about to become his, can climb it. He muttered Om thrice and the charm was on.

The cubs then took Bala for a round of the house showing him all the pictures of Bhagavan. Pizza aroma wafted in from the kitchen. Each room had Bhagavan's pictures. Somehow Bala knew that the sage with the white beard was none other than the young swami on the hill.

Later over lunch, Bala addressed the cubses mother as Aunt Lioness, but Spotty insisted that she be called Mum Lioness by all. We can say goodbye to the "Aunt" thing now, he declared.

Om then began telling Bala about pradakshina. They all planned to do a pradakshina the next day, most likely along with Bhagavan. One by one they all fell asleep at Mum Lionesses feet.