It's all in the SUN

The weekend of 29Th and 30Th Nov 2008 were two memorable and glorious days for me and my friends Tanmoy, Muntuli, Jay and Nimmoo.

While Mumbai was burning under the after effects of the terror attacks, 5 of us drove down from Bangalore to Calicut to meet up with a delightful 72 yr old "young" man. Mr. Hira Ratan Manek.

Believe me, I don't Hero-Worship anyone. I don't believe in it and I think it's foolish. However, this man is really special and we ought to listen carefully to what he has to say. Read on to know what's so special about him that he finds a place on my blog :)

All was not well before the trip began. I had just got my car back few days ago after having left her for 15 days at a workshop in Mysore following a messy highway accident. I was still a bit shaken up about the whole thing and little scared to drive on the highways. No train tickets were available and bus was not feasible because we wanted to take a break in Mysore. And I hate traveling by bus. Its too tiring. Chennai was under threat of cyclone and some part of the city was experiencing water logging. What if the same story applies to the Calicut coast too? Mysore(en route to Calicut) had heavy rains. Bangalore hadn't seen sunlight almost the entire week. The weather was really gloomy. I was not sure how the roads of Kerala would be. From my past experience, during rains, Kerala ends up with more potholes than roads. One of my friends who was to travel with us was not well. I gave her time till 5 PM on Friday to recover from her illness and join the rest of us :). Dad was very angry and disappointed that I was making a "fun trip" when India was in a state of war with the terrorists.

I was really upset the whole of Friday. To go or not to go was the question. Lots of things going against us. What if its heavily raining on the ghats. What if the roads are blocked? Was it wise to travel when there have been massive terror attacks just a few days back in Mumbai? What if this, what if that. My usual broken record of negative thinking and doubts.

Like they say "There can be 100 reasons to stop you from doing a thing. Just one reason is enough for you to go ahead and do it". And that one reason was this question I had running in my mind all this while: What if all that this old man is going to tell us is really true? What if it works? I really wanted to see this man in flesh and blood before I make a decision.

I called my friends and asked if they wanted to drop the plan considering the unfortunate events happening around us. Everyone was ready to go. Everyone had the same question in mind. What if it works and is true ? Lets meet the man "in real" and see what he looks like. BTW, Jay who was ill till afternoon was all set to travel by evening. She complied with my get-well deadline. :) (Read The Power Of Intention by Dr. Wayne Dyer. It works).

So off we went.

Mr. Hira Ratan Manek.

That's the man. HRM, as the Western world calls him. I heard about him almost 3 years back from a good friend Chaitanya. I didn't believe Chaitanya when he told me that Hira Ratan Manek lives only on Sunlight. Later I learnt he drinks water too. So Mr. HRM has only water and Sunlight on his daily menu :). And occasional tea, coffee etc to satisfy others. If that's not enough, he claims that he can teach others also to do that. Well, actually living on sunlight is not the real purpose. The real purpose is to achieve absolute 100% health of mind and body using Sunlight through a process called Sun Gazing or Solar Healing or Sun Yoga.

Don't you already think that this is too good to be true and I am a fool to believe this and write it on my blog ?? Same pinch !! I had the same opinion in the beginning. I thought HRM is just another "Guru" misleading people in the name of health and spirituality like many do in India. But I am glad I was wrong.

Well, remember, very smart people said things like "There's no need for more than 5 computers in this world" , "Why would anyone want to use a telephone to talk to someone far away. Telephone is a useless invention" etc etc. And what's the truth about these statements now, which looked very true when they were made? You get my point, don't you? So hang on a while before you pass Sun Gazing off as quackery.

You might wonder why I am making this look like a big event. 5 people met one old man over a weekend. So what ? Is it such a big deal?

Our meeting him is not a big deal at all. But in "today's world" having people like HRM around us is for sure a big deal. He has one quality (which actually is a summation of many other qualities) I greatly admire and respect him for. "You can't corrupt him". HRM doesn't want money, he doesn't want fame, he doesn't want followers, he doesn't want to establish an organization or institution on his name, he doesn't want to write and publish fat books. His only purpose is to propagate the Science of Sun Gazing (also called Solar Healing) to as many people as possible. His single minded dedication and devotion to this one cause without expecting anything in return is worthy of praise. How can you corrupt such a person?

Now, why do I call HRM an old young man? You have to meet him to know why. Old because he has lived 72 years. Young because age hasn't caught up with him yet. (Except for his bald head and white hair). :)

To know more about what this is all about, visit his website www.solarhealing.com
You can also watch his videos on YouTube. Just search for "Sun Gazing" or "Hira Ratan Manek" on youtube.com

The 2 hours we spend with him and his family will remain fresh in our memories for a long long time. Down to earth, generous, happy, genuine, graceful are some of the adjectives we would give to Mr HRM and his family. It was surprising to see that all 5 of us who were tired after the journey were bubbling with energy by the time we finished talking to HRM.

Having said that, the big question : Are we going to do Sun Gazing as suggested by HRM ? Isn't it dangerous to look at the Sun? Well, we've decided to go against "popular opinion", risk our retinas and give this a try for 6 months. We have already started.

And we have fallen in love with the Sun already !!

If you are interested to know the results, ask me one year from now. Or watch out for my upcoming posts.