On the way home from Rangammal Hospital decided to stop off at Kafe Ram and get a take away rice lunch. Here is the auto rickshaw with very nice driver Gandhiban. Kafe Ram belongs to the Bose Compound, which itself has a very interesting history. One of the most fascinating aspects is that the still living owner of the huge nearly 7 acre Compound which is less than a minute from Ramana Ashram, is that Maya Ramakrishna used to walk on Arunachala Hill with Sri Ramana Maharshi when she was a young 14 year old girl. She has lots of interesting memories of that time.
The view from Kafe Ram is absolutely amazing. In front is a recently built Shakti Temple and in the background a wonderful view of Arunachala.
In the small restaurant, lots of photographs of Saints and Gods and some interesting signs and quotes.
The below quotation from Aldous Huxley says:
"The World is an illusion but it is an illusion we must take seriously, because it is real as far as it goes and in those aspects of the reality which we are capable of apprehending, our business is to wake up. We have to find ways in which to detect the whole of reality in the one illusory part which our self-centered consciousness permits us to see. We must not live thoughtlessly, taking our illusions for the complete reality, but at the same time we must not live too thoughtfully, in the sense of trying to escape from the dream state. We must continually be on our watch for ways in which we may enlarge our consciousness. We must not attempt to live outside the world, which is given us, but we must somehow learn how to transform it and transfigure it. Too much 'Wisdom' is as bad as too little wisdom and there must be no magic tricks. We must learn to come to reality without the enchanter's wand and his book of the words. One must find a way of being in this world while not being in it. A way of living in time without being completely swallowed up in time."
Really interesting roof and bric-a-brac at the small, rustic restaurant.
And now to behind the scenes and a visit to the restaurant's small little kitchen.
And lots of chapati making!
Arun, Maya Ramakrishna's son, once told me that his mother visited Sri Sathya Sai Baba and during an interview, Sri Sathya Sai Baba started talking to her about her walking excursions with Sri Ramana Maharshi on Arunachala Hill. Now, that lady must have some amazing karma!
