25 Mar 2009, Bangalore

That was a solemn Shani puja evening in Bangalore. Amma was giving Satsang prior to Puja instructions.

The translator was translating, and Amma, having nothing to do, started throwing Her enchanting love glances at the little children in the audience. The front-ramp was tightly occupied by little children and young students of Amrita institutions. Behind them in the huge open-air auditorium, there were rows of chairs for those doing puja.

Amma’s love glance first fell on the little kids right under Her nose. Amma signalled one of them to come up to Her.

With him rose a group of kids from the area. The whole group ran up to the stage, and took places as close to Amma as possible. Close? Not just close to Amma, but all over Amma!

Amma was calling and who could resist the divine pied piper’s call? Soon kids from all over the huge gathering quietly rose from their seats and  ran up to the stage. Amma was calling, and so who could stop anyone from going up?

Soon about fifty-sixty little boys and girls found themselves in Amma’s close proximity, disturbing everyone and everything on the stage, except Amma.

Amma was the happiest. She beamed and beamed. The photographers and videographers were the next happiest.

Amma, the all-knowing Guru, was also guiding the translator, as and when necessary.

At one point Amma stretched Her left hand and placed the palm by Her side on the Peetham. It was just a casual thing. Just as Her hand became available like that, lo and behold, the dozens of kids were now bending over-sitting or standing- in order to touch it. Even press it, massage it… Soon the little devils were bending over Her, rushing, pulling and pushing  even from other sides.

No one wanted to concentrate on Satsang when Amma was in such a beautiful leela-mood. But soon Amma wanted to draw everybody’s attention to Satsang. Amma took Her forefinger to Her lips and looked at them as if asking the little ones not to make noise; even pointing to the translator, as if to say, “Shhhh! Dont disrturb her. See, she is reading!” And they obeyed.

When Amma wants it that way, it will become that way. Soon the solemnity returned and the Satsang went on in Kannada translation.

– Sandhya