( Jottings - Slice of life - 198, The passing away of Sri Jayendra Saraswati, social activist and a sage - in that order respectively)
( Jottings - Slice of life - 198, The passing of a social activist and a sage - in that order respectively) In the emotion charged atmosphere of Sridevi’s unexpected death last week, one more death happened quietly, without as such fanfare as hers. Of course, the man who died was not an actor, or politician or public icon in the sense Sri was, but in his own way, he did create a bit of drama and excitement - enough to rock a spiritual establishment ,which traces its way back to Adi Shankaracharya , the reviver and resuscitator of Hinduism centuries ago. Swami Jayendra saraswati, the 69th Pontiff of the Kanchi Kamakoti math, died peacefully this Tuesday at a hospital at a good age of 83. His tenure as head of one of the most popular and revered spiritual hubs, consecrated by Shankara himself, was strange in many ways. To understand his position and place, one needs to trace the origins of Shankara’s maths across the country, and what they stood for. The date of Adi Shankara has al