Celebrate

Wrote this poem yesterday, and read it to Guruji in satsang... :)

Life is a chance to celebrate,

Lets not waste it and be frustrate,

Anger, greed, lust & hate,

Shows that mind is in a stressed state,

Serve, sing, dance & meditate

And keep the mind in centered state.

YES!+ JAM

The idea of YES!+ JAM was conceived when some of my students from Vellore Institute of Technology ( Sanchit, Sakshi, Vibhor & Shubam ) met me at the asrham. We decided that lets have an event where lots of students come over to a place... They get some music, they enjoy and then join in for a YES!+ course starting in a day after that... They were finishing with their exams on 17th feb and so the tag line.... "End the exam with YES!+ jam"...

17th feb... 'Ishant' a brilliant singer from bangalore, a few people with him and me reached Vellore... The stage was set, and we were expecting about 300 people... Well, the program started with some film songs, but the crowd was still not moving... People started coming but were sitting faaaaar away... People were so stiff and sitting with this expectation to impress them ! At its peak there were about 270 - 300 people... But then they started leaving... I attempted to talk, hoping that it may stop them, but it was a mistake ! We started off a bhajan, and more people started leaving... Thats when I caught myself... I thought to myself... Why was I looking at people who are leaving! I should rather talk to people who are listening to me! So, I gave a short pep talk, and started a meditation ! By now there were about 100 people left... Then Ishant started with some bhajans ! And finally it caught on !!! People started moving & dancing to the tunes of Raaaaaa.....dheeeee.... By the end people were singing & dancing with the bajans and it was rocking! People were shouting for " We want more! "... Thats when I came back and said... more, in the next YES!+... Few volunteers came and shared their experiences about the course... Gave them a little more idea about YES!+ and called it a day!

At the end... I asked the volunteers, how many people registered for the next YES!+ ? the answer was 5 ! We had about 15 people in total who were joining the course and 1 day to go! Volunteers had worked really well for the YES!+ jam, and were tired ! Although the 'JAM' did end in high spirits ( with whoever was there till the end )... The volunteers were not in such high spirits ! Instead of coming with me for dinner most of them left for their hostel rooms... Actually only 2 volunteers (Govind & Sidharth) joined me... So, the 'JAM' band, the 2 volunteers and me had our dinner... After the dinner, the 'JAM' band left to return to bangalore... and the 2 volunteers also left for their hostels ( actually they were with me much beyond their 'in time' )... Thats when I realized, my accommodation was not arranged... The volunteers told me that I could go to the lodge where i usually stayed... So, I went there and it was 'jam packed', there was another lodge next door which was also full!

It was 11 pm when I was standing all alone on the road side. I had two bags with me, a back ache, nowhere to go, dead tired ( my day started early morning from bangalore ), a flop 'YES!+ JAM' behind me, 15 participants in the next course ! Things were obviously not happening the way I wanted, but I don't know why, I was still calm and relaxed, deep within I had this feeling "AALL IS WELL"... I was feeling so sure that Guruji was with me every moment ! To be continued....

Ringa Ringa Roses :)... Pocket full of poses...

Continuing from the previous post ( Ringa Ringa Roses )... I called up Ganesh... He sounded quite intense and told me that he had checked in the neighboring village, and also near the kitchen ! There are no flowers! Thats when I realized that it was NOT a prank !!! Now, there were hardly 20 mins and.......

Suddenly, I asked... what about flowers from Guruji's place ? He said.... " oohh.. I forgot about it totally !" He then called up where Guruji stays and asked 'Pursu'... Ganesh called me back and told me that Pursu will arrange, you go and collect... Now, to go to that place and come back would take a lot of time... So, I first called rajiv ( who was staying very close to that place ) who would go on his bike and get it! Then I thought... Why not, I only run and get it ! So, I called Rajiv again and told him that he didn't have to bother, I would just need his bike on the way back and I ran !


As soon as I reached there... I see Guruji in his morning walk dress, walking around... I don't know what happened but I felt shy, and hid behind a pillar... As I peeped from behind the pillar, He saw me and gestured me to come to him... As I walked up the stairs... He had both his arms open and gestured me to come to him... As I went closer... I started smelling fresh roses! He said... " oohh so you have come to take roses !"... and then hugged me really tightly... Then he said... "Am I not a rose ?"... I didn't know what to answer ! Then he said... "smell me ... don't you smell rose ?", he brought his arm close to my nose... and said... "smell... smell"... Right from the time I was walking up the steps I could smell roses and didn't know where it was coming from... , and now he was bringing his arm even closer and I realized where the fragrance came from! That was ONE experience ! Then he came to the point... He said..." hmm... roses kahan milenge... Ganga mein " ( where will we find roses... maybe in Ganga Kutir )... Just while he was saying this... Pursu ( whom Ganesh had spoken to... ) signaled that roses were just there ! And then... Guruji went inside, and Pursu followed him, signaling me again and again... Now, suddenly I realize I still don't have the roses ! I called up Pursu, but he wouldn't pickup the phone ! I went around and didn't find the roses wherever Pursu signaled... And then I met Ganesh... He was standing at the gate... The security guard was letting him go in at all ! He couldn't get through to Pursu ( who would have let him in by telling the gaurd)... and Ganesh was basically pissed off ! According to him Pursu had arranged flowers and kept it there... Pursu was also signaling that it was close by... But Guruji said... Ganga... Now, Ganga was atleast another 15 mins ! Ganesh also said that he had already been to Ganga, and it was closed... But then I thought... If Guruji has said Ganga... Then, I'll go to Ganga... The moment I was clear and we ( Ganesh and me now ) got ready to go to Ganga... One guy came running, telling the security guard to give the flowers... Apparently Ganesh was standing at the gate for 5 mins fighting to get inside with the guard who had the flowers !!!
Thats when this thing got clear in me again... You just follow what HE says... and things will fall in place! Ganesh and me rode back to the course venue, where I handed over the flowers to Swamiji, gestured goodbye to him and left the room ! As I walked out of the place, I looked at the time... It was 6:21am... I figured out I would have taken exaclty 25 mins for the job!!!

As the day passed, I thought about all that happened that morning... I realized, that for the past few days, I had been really wanting to meet Guruji... And HE had been royally ignoring me! The day and time, where I had the least expectation... He met me royally!
I opened my 'esatsang daily sutra' that very day and I read this:
"All that you are craving for, all that you are hanging on to, it comes to you anyway, automatic. But you have to let go. You are holding your fist tight. Why not open your hands? And you'll see the whole sky is in your hands."