As a bachelor I was staying in lodge at Vepery in Madras. One day I woke up suddenly after midnight for no specific reason and an intense desire arose in me to go and meet some person. I did not know who the person was and where the place was. Suddenly the name Sankaracharya of Kanchi flashed in my mind. I did not know the importance of Kanchi other than that, that there were some great religious institutions in Kanchi. I did not know how far Kanchipuram was from Madras, though I had seen buses plying which had Kanchipuram nameboards. So I guessed rather unreasonably that the place might not be too far away.

I could not sleep afterwards and I had to go for duty early in the morning. But I took my bath, and at once left for Broadway bus-stand and reached there before 5 a.m. I enquired about the bus to Kanchi and about Sankaracharya. I was told that Sankaracharya was staying in Tenambakkam at Little Kanchipuram about half a mile from Varadaraja Perumal Koil and advised me to catch the first bus which was going via that place.

I reached the Varadaraja Perumal Koil at about 7 a.m. or so and easily found the way to Tenambakkam. I saw a small temple, a small tiled house with attached well and all nearby. There were some attendants moving about and on enquiry I was told that His Holiness was observing silence for long and there was no regular darshan. Sometimes once in three days according to his wish. However His Holiness was said to have given darshan that morning to some 15 to 20 minutes back.

Then Swamiji appeared at the door near the well. I was much excited. I stood up, did pranams and again stood up with folded hands and I was getting lost in a trance. I had lost my body consciousness and everything was bright and I felt that I was weeping loudly. After a few minutes when I regained my body consciousness I was still weeping. I saw the saint with a raised hand blessing and He retired to His room and sat down there again.

Once Swamiji was camping at Orikkai village near Kanchipuram some years back. There was not much of a crowd and His Holiness was sitting in the palanquin. My wife, daughter and myself did pranams and His Holiness talked to us after 18 or 19 years and we were wonder-struck when He asked about my tiny village some 800 kilometers away in Kerala and we heard everything sitting at His feet on sand. This was the greatest experience I ever had in my lifetime.

I requested His Holiness Sri Jayendra Sarasvathi Svamigal of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham to permit me to start an organisation, which He graciously gave. Hurriedly, I wanted to get the blessings of Paramacharya. I approached Kanchi Math with the necessary papers like letterheads and reached there by 8 O'clock or so at night. His Holiness Paramacharya evinced great interest and patiently went through the notices, using a torch-light as the electric bulb burning in the room was dim and also even changed His spectacles to have a closer look at the papers. In due course, I was kindly permitted by Him to start some more organisation in Kerala with different aims. I am neither a V.I.P. nor a man of importance. The Sage of Kanchi has taken the human form to take us to the non-dual Supreme. The Saint is an ocean of compassion for all irrespective of caste, creed, nationality, power, position, richness or scholarship.