Amma’s Sydney programmes were held in the gymnasium of the Sydney Boy’s High School. At the end of Devi Bhava, around 6 am, after Amma had left for the airport, the hall was still bustling with activity. Everything from the rented sound-system and stage to the supplies for darshan, bookstall, flower-shop and other various departments had to be packed up and taken out of the hall. While a devotee brandishing a vacuum cleaned up the carpet covering the wooden floor, piles of filled boxes and supplies began to form in various corners of the hall.  They all had to be loaded into a rental truck to be taken to storage.  All this was being done by about 50 or so devotees who had remained behind to help. Tired, hungry, but filled with energy from the end of Devi Bhava, everyone contributed to the efforts.

Amidst all this bustle, in a room just off the main entrance to the gym and next to the tables where the snack shop had just been, about 20 high-school boys had arrived and were lifting weights as part of their morning routine before school. As the morning went on, the number of devotees remaining began to thin out, as many had to catch their own flights home or had other obligations. Looking at the huge piles of boxes awaiting loading into the truck, one devotee came up with an inspiring idea. Why not ask the students to help? Sure enough, he walked right into the gym and challenged the boys with an even better way to work out: “Why not give us a hand and get a real workout?” he asked. Within minutes, a troupe of about 30 or so boys trotted into the hall, formed a chain, and began passing boxes to one another from the hall to the truck just outside.

Before they began, one devotee told them briefly about Amma and the programmes that had just been held in the hall.  They were also told that their help was a form of selfless service.

The boys seemed to enjoy the task. Not one complained that they were being pulled away from their normal workout. They were laughing, joking, and just being boys.  Work that would have probably taken more than an hour wound up taking less than 20 minutes and the hall was soon empty.  Maybe it was the lingering energy from Devi Bhava, which had ended just over an hour before. Maybe it was their innocence.

In the end, the boys were rewarded with huge pieces of chocolate cake, which they happily devoured. Who knows though… for sure they were also rewarded on a much deeper level.

Ram
Sydney
17 April 2008