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 :)