Tiravannamalai Beckons: The Traffic Cop
Prologue and chapter 1/17
The year was 1998. I was in the last semester at grad school, working towards a master’s degree in computer science.
It was a busy semester. I had to complete my research, start working on the thesis, take a mandatory qualifier test to prove that I indeed knew what a master level graduate should know, and I had to complete coursework along with a bunch of projects.
In all this busyness, I woke up one day with unbearable stomach pain. A series of doctor appointments and procedures ensued. To cut a long story short, after six months, I was lighter by 12 Kgs, had a diagnosis of Crohn’s Disease, was on heavy steroids, and had completed all the university work except the thesis.
Unfortunately, I did not take sufficient rest when my body needed it and paid the price by being mostly confined to bed for the next ten months.
But those ten months turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Through some strange coincidences, I read a book called Autobiography of a Yogi. This wonderful book touched me at a different level and kindled in me a thirst for reading more about spiritual seekers and masters.
Being in bed gave me the opportunity to read several other books in those ten months. Among these was a book called A…
