Tirunelveli Halwa - A Story

I was taking a bal chetana shivir ( free yoga/pranayam course for children) few days back at Banglore. It was organized by a beautiful couple I met recently, Harish and Seema. As the course progressed, I shared with the children the following story of mine ( which happened few years ago) ,on the last day of the course.

"Once I was at the Ashram and I was rushing for lunch. Meanwhile, I saw a lady carrying lot of luggage with great difficulty. She was going towards old ashram which is a detour for me. Neverthless seeing her struggle, I helped her till her Kutir and said "Jai Guru Dev". She said wait a minute , searched through her bag and pulled out a sweet packet. She insisted I accept it. That was "Tirunelveli Halwa". She told me its a special halwa you get near Chennai and she was carrying few packets for the Ashramites. And I said in my mind "Wah Guruji" and remembered what Guruji says " Seva karoge tho meva milega". That day I had a sweet tooth and craving for sweets from the morning. :-)"

So I concluded the 'bal chetana' course with this story followed by dinner with the children. As I was about to leave, Seema the host of the course gave me a token of love for taking the course. With her permission, I opened the gift. Can you guess what it is?

"Tirunelveli Halwa" nicely packed. Seema had no idea I was telling this story on the last day and we are in Banglore not Tamilnadu. You think its a coincidence? :-)   Well.. Jai Guru Dev.

You and me...

I saw Guruji in my dream last night. Sometimes I see Him in my dreams, but I do not remeber it very clearly. Last night it was so clear and I woke up with a smile. It feels wonderful. Thought will share my feeling in few words: probably prose and not a poem:-)

Hope you enjoy.
Jai Guru Dev!

You saw me and called me
You held me and kept me close
for few moments though it felt like
an eternity

whatever small botheration I had
I shared You listened and blessed
and I saw the burden lifting away
like a cloud lifted by the Sun

I woke up from the dream
fresh like a flower
with a smile on my face
and frangrance in my heart

my heart feels light like a feather
feels warm like a baby
dearly held by its mother
intimate with the whole universe

Its absolutely wonderful to be with You
let alone be in my dreams
but trust me when I say
each moment felt real more than reality

Shiva Rathri

I got a call from my office just a day before Shiva Rathri to attend a meeting at Mumbai on Feb 12th. (The day of Shiva Rathri). I made some quick travel arrangements.

I felt like seeing Rudra Pooja. For a moment I thought I will carry the Rudra Pooja VCD with me so I can see it while I am travelling or after I reach Mimbai. However considering the way office presentation/ sessions are planned I thought it would be impossible. So I did not pack it for my travel.

I reached Mumbai around 1 pm. I worked on the presentation little bit more sent it across to my boss and started to the hotel where the session was happening. My session at the hotel was at 4pm. On my way to the hotel from the guest house I happen to see a banner of Art of Living annoucing Rudra Pooja at 6:30pm with Swami Sadyojathaji and Manikanthanji. I reached the hotel only to find out after an hour that my session was postponed to the next day morning and I could join the group for dinner at 8PM. I was so happy, immediately I called the directory to get the Art of Living number and figured the Rudra Pooja is happening just 5 min from the Hotel. Needless to say I went and attended the Rudra Pooja followed by few bhajans and went back to the Hotel for dinner.

Incidentally my colleagues sang Ram bhajans and Karnatic music as part of the informal gathering during dinner. Someone even recited poems on Self Introspection in Hindi (quite unusual for a corporate set up - don't you think?)

Now, Guruji says Nothing is a Coincidence Here :-)

Lucky Me!

This is a small incident which happened, when I went for the Pancha Maha Bhoota Kshetra trip with Guruji. We were travelling in the bus and the bus had mic for announcements, bhajans. However the mic was not cordless so we had to go to the first row of the bus (almost near the driver seat) to make an announcement or to sing a bhajan. That day morning I went to share what Guruji spoke in Telugu at Kalahasti.

I finished translating and was coming back to my seat, when the driver put a real suddent break. In no time I was flat on my back in between the two columns of the bus. It was a hard fall. But to my surprise and to the surprise of the fellow passengers I got up like a spring. Really. No bruises, nothing happened. It was as though I got up from a flower bed. I felt grateful. And I thought, ofcousre I am with Guruji -this is so obvious - He caught me from falling.

But today after almost two weeks of returning from the trip - I was watching a TV show and came across a guest on the show, who injured his spinal cord during a sport and is paralysed to a great degree. Ofcourse he is helping many now and is an insipration and hope for lot of children.

Then once again this incident came up in my mind and felt grateful at the thought of how I was saved, And how I have been taken care every minute from so many situations, events and people - some known and mostly unknown.

When ever one 'feels' lucky truly from the heart, it is quite fulfilling. This is one of those moments. Lucky me! :-)