A Dream come true ....

Jai Gurudev !!

Just a couple of days back, I came across a new experience .
Just next to our office premises is located, one super speciality hospital by name , "Columbia Asia Hospital ".


That was yet again a busy afternoon office hours post lunch . An intermittent  alarm just caught our attention , making us to think , "Is it a mock drill session conducted by our ISO personnel to face any fire emergency situation ?"
But the alarm kept on repeating with regular intervals. Soon the news spread that a fire broke out in Columbia Asia Hospital . "Oh ! MyGod !" ...A Fire in the hospital would invite for more complications with many patients especially ICU patients, who will be in a critical stge of immobility. I just prayed ," Please save the people from this situation!"  and ran out to see what's happening .

Could see many people standing outside the hospital and the patients are being carried out in stretchers and wheel chairs and even in sofa sets too. Patients were immediately moved in ambulances to other hospitals .We could see lots of ambulances plying with the emergency alarm on. People were seen stressed .The hospital employees were seen in full action , conducting emergency meeting and helping out the people , bringing the situation under control.

A Just born baby , whose eyes are yet to be opened was being carried by its father to the car , to be taken to an another hospital , the mother still unconscious after her delivery . It was a disturbing sight , a stressful situation, but nicely handled by the authorities .Soon the fire engine came and put down the fire in the basement , which caught by the short circuit in the electrical wires . The hospital being centralised AC, the smoke had spread throughout the building via the AC duct pipes. Without any casualities , the saga ended .The hospital was shut down for a day or two and started fucntioning normally after that.

And the interesting part which I keep wondering is , the picture of the streamline of ambulances rushing somewhere  had struck  my dreams ,a few days before this incident and that I shared the same with my colleagues too. Is it what they call as intuition ?!
Does it re-iterate the fact that , each and every happening in this world is all pre-planned to its utmost accuracy ?!



Love & smiles...

Diwali Breakdown !!

Jai Gurudev !!




Diwali



This Diwali , we had been to our native place to celebrate with our parents . The family reunion during festivals especially during Diwali is something more gratifying for everyone. Infact that makes the celebration complete , we can say !

With all the train tickets booked months in advance for Diwali holidays, people who do not plan their trips well in advance will have a very tough time. This we experienced during this trip.

We had been in our car to our native place. After enjoying the Diwali , we started off on Diwali day itself after Ganga snaan and special Diwali breakfast to Bangalore.On the way back ,we had purchased many items which are exclusively available in our native place like boiled rice sack  for Rice and Idli preparation, Garlic, Dhall varities , vegetables like babana flower, banana stem , Palm root , groceries like horsegram , Palm Jaggery etc etc .. Almost the car was jam packed , with little place for my son to sit. So much full with iems . On the way , we had taken diversion to visit the family deity in a village , performed pooja to our heartfull , had a wonderful lunch at our relatives house and again continued the journey.

When we reached Salem , we started hearing a sound in the car . The AC had stopped working. We could very well feel the heat of teh mid day sun . Then when we stopped to check what had happened , we noticed the coolant had dried up perhaps there was a leakge . Somehow we drove down to the nearby petrol bunk and tried topping up the coolant. But still that didn't work , the temperature indication was still showing high. The car which was moving a bit also stopped . Any attempt to start the engine went in vain. The radaitor kept boiling . The metal sheath lining had damaged causing the water and oil to mix as a result.
Then , we find ourselves standing in the middle of the Highway road , inside the car , in the midst of lots of luggages. The next day , need to go to office/school.

Since it happened to be Diwali Day ,we could see each and every shop shut down , no mechanics could be spotted anywhere.We were left stranded . Somehow my husband managed to arrange for a mechanic through his local friend with so much difficulty. He seemed to have appeared from nowhere , soon checked the engine status and towed our vehicle to his shop nearby. He said, the repair would take another two days as the lathe shops are also closed for Diwali .All my worry was how to carry all the things back home.

I was thinking , "Oh ! what a bad Diwali day !! Will He not come for our help ? Will the car not be repaired
immediately in no time ?!"

Luckily the mechanic said on reading my worry lines that  he would take care of the things .We felt relieved and left the non perishable items in the car itself . Then the mechanic managed to drop us  to my husband's friend's place .There we rested for a while and when we were about to leave , I was taken aback on looking at the front of car which the mechanic had used to tow our car to his shop and drive us back  . At that moment, only thing that was visible in my eyes was those few words written in the front side of the car .

"Om Shri Shirdi Sai Baba Saranam !!"

Oh ! Baba !! You have appeared in time , when we were facing the most difficult situation and you had taken pains to pull us to reach the destination without us having to suffer a single pain , which we had never expected it !!
Jai Sai Ram !!


It so happened that I was observing  the Nine week Sai Baba Vratha , performing the Nine Thursday pooja . That was the the eighth Thursday , which I had to perform the Puja. How Sai has helped in time !!
I was very much moved !!


Guruji Sri Sri Ravishankar always says , "When you are in the path ( spiritual ) , you are always well  taken care of !!"


Jai Gurudev !!

Love & smiles...

A Gala Evening in the slum ...

Jai Gurudev !!




Slum Satsang



Today we had been to one of the slum in our neighbouring area for a Satsang from our Art of Living Center , Bhuvaneshwari Nagar .This is part of the Diwali Satsang in Slum. Devotees in our area doante for such noble causes  time and again Just before the onset of Diwali ,  we had distributed around 50 sarees /T Shirts /Diyas /Toliet articles like soaps , Paste, Toothbrush etc to each family rather each hut in two of the slums . We have not had the bhajan and food distribution that time.
Today , our center teacher Mr.Gururaj and his wife Mrs.Romna had conducted few simple pranayama sessions followed by the Ram Dhyaan mediattion for the slum dwellers there  . Next , we had sung a couple of Bhajan songs , which the people had recited enthusiastically along with us . This time the active participation of the people including the kids and men was comparitively high.


I would like to give a brief description of the slum in these areas and the people living there.
The people who live there are basically from North or interior Karnataka , who speak Kannada in Belgaum style dialect  and are mostly involved in construction works . Both men and women leave for their work in mornings and come back in nights . Small kids will be carried along with them to work. After work , the women make Jowar Rotis , thin and tasty ones along with Brinjal curry or Ridgegourd curry or Cabbage curry in the firewood stove. The main ingredients they use in curry is Peanut or groundnut powder. And one more thing each hut would be built on a small mound , made artificially with a door made of  tin or just a screen cloth . The inside of the hut is kept very clean , well organized and tidy. The same hut is used as kitchen, living room and bedroom too. We can see the wooden planks fixed on all sides inside the hut over which they place the vessels and things.Even women and kids will be neatly dressed . Only thing is that the surrounding areas outside the hut will not be clean. One more important thing is that they are very disciplined in their lifestyle unlike the upper class people , well behaved , friendly and very honest too.


When we entered the slum today evening , it was almost half past six. Sun had gone to bed already. Without any light , we couldn't see anything inside. Thought how the people over there live. Soon when we started the satsang  , our visibility increased gradually  , thanks to the rising moon. The moon light right on top of our head ,surrounded by a few bright stars created a beautiful ambience, with the cool breeze . The high rise cooconut trees on all sides seen in the fainted light added beauty to the scene. The kids really enjoyed the satsang . Infact, I felt as though the temple has been brought amidst them in a time when they had least expected it.


This was followed by the food distribution , home made by our volunteers , Ms.Neha & Chanda aunty group.The menu included sweet , Puliyogare/Tamarind Rice, Appalam /Papad , Banana and Payasam /Kheer. They came in queue and collected the food . Not to mention they thoroughly relished the food .


And we also distributed some used clothes which we had taken along with us to them .We left the place , bidding them good bye , uttering loudly , "Jai Gurudev !!" with our heart full  . You know the contentment of heart will happen only when we give and not when we take  !!


Many many thanks to our beloved Guruji ...His Holiness Sri Sri Ravishankar !!

Love & smiles...

Baba as Narayan !!

Jai Gurudev!!

Last Thursday, I had been to Sai Baba temple at my area. Infact that's a house converted to temple . The family dwelling in that house has converted their hall into the sanctum santorum . And the speciality here is Shri Sai Baba is idolized in the form of Shri Maha Vishnu , standing under the Adisesha  . The Pujas are also  performed in a very orthodox , Vaishnavite way , with Bhajans , Prasad  , Mantra chanting , Flower decoration, reciting of Shri Sai Sat Charita , Maha Mangal Aarti etc,, Very nice to participate in the Thursday puja of Sai Baba and to be a part of the whole process . So enchanting and mesmerising , that it induces me to visit every Thursday . Thursday being a very auspicious day for the Guru , it adds to the speciality of the celebration that happens there.
We can call it as no less than celebration , because we can see that whole process is being carried out not by one or two persons , but a collective of 15 plus , including men and women , kids and elders alike ...that too with lots of fervour and devotion .
Infact I felt a wave of Devotion in the ocean of Divinity at that instant !!



A quote rather an anecdote was said  spontaneously by the prime person , who conducted the puja, supposed to have been inspired by Baba's subtle presence  ...

"Our Life is like that of a Boxing game !!
We are indeed boxers . By being in this spiritual path , it's not that we will not get to face any problem .
Problems do come , like how a hit or blow comes to the boxer . And it's the boxer's timely presence  and capability , both mental and physical , that would cause him to resist the attack.

There will be times, he may have to fall down. But immediately , he bounces back with enhaced energy and will power to fight against the opponent.
In the whole process , he not only gets stronger and stronger , but gets more and more joy on the gain of every point  . "

What a plain truth it is !!

Thinking on those lines  ...munching the truth in my mind ... a day or two scrolled by...
That saturday , I had to face an opponent ( ofcourse I mean the destiny )...I had cut myself , aittle deep cut in my left hand palm with a knife, while trying to cut something , resulting in a few sutures , unable to move the left hand.  I couldn't carry out my normal routine with both hands .Only one hand doing every thing from A to Z. Now I'm operating the keypad also in one hand .
But u see , I remember that boxer story , thanks to Baba , I could very well place my opponent ( the unfavourable events ofcourse !) at bay and still am able to post an article in the blog !!
Here I have pocketed one more point to my account , no doubt !!

Jai Sai Ram !!

Love & smiles...