Burrday 2014!

I wrote this piece while waiting at a client site for 3 hours! In a way, thankful to them :)

***********

So yet another birthday passed by. Yes, I am going to join the gang of 30+ soon :) And that does make me feel a bit old :( but I console myself by justifying that as we grow older, we tend to go closer to becoming a child. ( A 60+ seems to be more like a child to me :P). But anyways, I feel young, hopefully look young too ;) So I turned 29 on this 12th October. Yes, 29. (A rant on the comments people make when you turn 29 will follow later).  I knew  that Art of Living students and volunteers especially Dimple will plan a surprise again like they did last year. And I was in no mood for any surprise. I came back to Delhi last Sunday after 10 days of travel and needed a Sunday by myself. So to imagine people coming in at 12 am or early morning to wish you was not something I was keen on. And I tried my best to spoil their plan. The first thing that is done these days to plan for a surprise is – to make a whatsapp group of the gang :D And I tried to make one of the “surprise” gang members my ally to spy about the plan. Hehe.

Anyways, I poured cold waters on their late night or early wishing plan. And felt really proud of myself (Blush!). Since my birthday fell on a Sunday, I did the long Sudarshan Kriya in Guruji’s voice in the morning. It was wow! To start my birthday with it was like a precious gift. Then I went to a place ( a temple) where I’d been going since childhood..a place where I used to converse with God..used to share my problems..show my gratitude. Before Guruji entered my life, the devi in this temple used to be my savior. She still is but now she’s sent me the physical presence of a Master :) And to honestly confess, earlier I used to go every month there but since past few years, my visits have decreased and though don’t remember precisely, I may not have been there since a year :(

So on my birthday, I thought of doing things which were pending and which I wanted to do. After the kriya, I went to this temple and guess what! I got éclairs in Prasad :) Guess divinity also knew it’s my birthday and gave sweets:) The feeling was wow. When you know the divine mother is hearing you, looking at you, talking to you, there is a fullness that dawns in :)

And I came back home by 12 or so and wanted to rest and do some work. I thought I was successful in shooing away the bacha log. I had made a dinner plan with them so I though all is settled and I have good time for myself till 7 pm. But then these guys were sharp:) They banged in in the afternoon! And I was shocked! I seriously did not expect anyone to come in the heat. And since I never imagined they would, I was in my shorts and T Shirt! Hehe. They did not give me time to even dress up. They came , sprinkled rose petals ( for a moment I felt am I getting married?? ), put a garland and the crown and then the cake cutting ceremony. First 3 came and slowly and steadily others joined them. It was sweet of them to think of me so much and plan everything. Malvika made a card herself. Subhav got something beautiful made.  More important than what they got me, I was overwhelmed by their gesture.  It spoke volumes about how much they love me. At times I question myself , “ Do I really deserve it? It must be some good karmas”

It is purely their love for the Guru element. And this guru tattva is given by my master, our Master – Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. I know all this love , adulation has come from him. It has changed it’s shape over these years. Some people have gone by, some new have come in. But the connection that has happened with all is because of Gurudev. Thank you Guruji. Words will fall short. And you keep on giving me gifts time and again and make me feel special when I really require it  :)

And had a good time with these guys for few hours. After they went, I did another pending thing which is close to my heart – writing :). And my mother is so smart. She came and gifted me something which I had bought for myself few days back! Kitni kanjoos maa hai meri :P But she is adorable :)

I pledge to write a post atleast once a week. There is so much to share, so many events to jot down still. Oh! My Mumbai trip and meeting the beautiful people there! In the next post!

Keep Smiling J

Swati 

Wish come true! Navratris 2014 with Gurudev! :)

It's been a week that I've come back from Navratri Celebrations at the Bangalore Ashram and I have such beautiful memories to share :) The melodious voice and Bhajans I heard in satsangs there still resonate in my mind...the moments spent with Sri Sri are priceless...the energy and the aura of the Ashram made me slip into meditation effortlessly..But I've been lazy to share the beautiful moments I guess. 

I last went to the Ashram in February 2014. It doesn't seem too much of a time but for me, these 7 months seemed more than a decade!! How I've longed to spend some time in the lap of this grace. So many times Guruji came to Delhi but I just couldn't go to meet him. I guess the longing had to reach it's peak. That's what the divine plan was. So this time I was clear- come what may, I am going to attend Navratris in Ashram with Guruji. I don't care about anything else but I will go. Job jaye toh jaye, paisa jaye toh jaye. Since 2009 I've been wanting to attend it yaar. But every year some issue used to crop up, sometimes money, sometimes health, sometimes job. Thanks to the movie Ek Villian about which I'd written here, I was clear that I HAVE TO fulfill this wish this year itself.And by grace, it happened :)

The very first day of attending Ganesh Homa at the Ashram...the moment the bhajan " Om Namaha Shivaya" was played, I had no control over me. My eyes said my state..I had been longing BADLY for these moments with Gurudev..and the endless tears were in utter gratefulness. A thought came to my mind then, " The Guru will intensify your longing to an unbearable level and will then satiate it to an unimaginable level" <3 nbsp="">

So attended the homas, satsangs. There were certain challenges too. We did not get accommodation in the Ashram so stayed in the city and commuting used to take time ( and consume money as well! :P)..but there were sooo many people at the ashram ! Priyanka and I used to sit at the back, meditate, listen to the chants and watch Guruji on the big projector screen.  There were thousands of people so watching from the back, either we were not able to see Guruji  or he used to look so tiny :) Projector screen helped in seeing him closely :) But after a day when the main homa got over (Nav Chandi Homa), I became a little upset. A thought came " What's the point of coming here? If I have to watch Guruji from so far on a screen, I might as well would have stayed back in Delhi and watched the live web telecast!" 

And I honestly pledged - I will not come next time. I was confused about something and had written a letter in the morning which i wanted to give to Guruji. But I didn't want to put it in any basket but give it to him in person. The thing was troubling me quite a bit and I wanted to find an answer. So I had these 3 letters in my bag - one mine and rest 2 of others. I chucked the whole idea of meeting Guruji. I had no hope. I was upset with him. And 3 of us, who had come together from Delhi, went to find an accommodation nearby. ( We wanted to shift closer to the Ashram). And lo and behold! It was as if the Guru was reading my thoughts and knew that now is the time to pamper a bit...we came to know that Guruji's car is about to come and there were hardly like 20-30 people there! I means out of 1000s, 20-30 seem nothing! So i stood in the queue. Though I was upset with him, but just the thought that I might get to meet him surpassed everything. And then his car came...and how beautifully he took the letters from my hand..those were the moments of surrender and contentment...the moment i heanded the letter to him, I felt relieved. I did not get my answer immediately but the faith dawned that i've told him. Now when the time comes, he will guide me. And in those few moments, I was content fully and felt my trip was worth it :)

Post that everything seemed bliss. Even though I wanted an appointment with him and didn't get it, I was happy and content. Attending homas in his benign presence and listening to his knowledge with evenings soaked in satsang was utter bliss. I did some garba too! :) Grateful to the master for making it happen. Navrtaris 2014 shall always be remembered:)

Keep Smiling

Swati :)