Swimming with Amma

17 May 2009, Amritapuri

Yesterday was a festival. Amma’s US tour starts in a two days and Amma had called all to the swimming pool. She had just finished days of continuous Darshan spending time day and night to talk, console and uplift her many children. Amma’s Darshan is so special for the Ashramites and those of the last days more special as none  would get a chance so special otherwise. It had been just Amma and the person. So after all those days of continuous room Darshan, when one hears Amma is calling us out to swimming, excitement broke its bounds.

The first session was with the girls. With Amma, the pool was occupied with the girls who yelled in the happiness of being in that very presence. Each bout of yell grew stronger and stronger and after some time as boys waited, a bhajan started. Bhajans indicated that the session was getting over and excitement broke out amongst the boys. There was a intermittent “Mata Rani ki.. jai”.

The boys came in all ranges of age. Most of the boys undressed into a simpler mundu-shorts-towel dress in front of Achan’s house and as the patience seemed waning they started trickling in to see Amma even while the girls were trying to get out all through a small door.

Inside the pool, Amma, seated on a white plastic chair at the very edge of the deep end of the pool, had actually been surrounded by many boys already and the scene looked like what is described in Bhagvata as Sri Krishna and the gopis.

Amma started asking each one whether he knew swimming and then pushed him into the pool. For the one who knew, they prostrated in front and then took a jump with a symbolic nudge from Amma. For the ones who didnt know, there was a big floatation ring and then N-ji who served to help them reach to reasonable distance so they could stand on the feet.

Amma made everyone feel special. To one, She asked about how much he knew swimming, to another about how good he was in diving, to another was a remark if he was courageous enough, on another Amma made us all smile saying his stomach was already a flotation vest and so on. One incident was that last year K was jumping in with the ring around him. Our K wanted to do his prayerful sign by lifting both his hands palms folded and Lo he had gone inside the water with the flotation ring on the top of the water. N-ji had to swim to bring him up. Amma reminded us all that and playfully coaxed him to dare. K out of full faith was so eager to jump that he almost did. Amma pulled him back and with such force that he almost  sat down. Later she got him to wear a ring and a nudge.. splosh.

Amma appreciated those who jumped gracefully and one such person got a double thumbs-up. To another Amma reminded him about not drinking water while swimming as he had drank some pool water out of anxiety last year. It was amazing to see how she connected with each of her many spiritual children.

One person was a university researcher and was an ashramite there. He prostrated before Amma to get her blessings and told her that he did not know how to swim. Amma told him “PhD and yet.. Do you know how many Phd’s Narada had…62” Amma was refering to the Sage Narada, who is considered as a wandering seer, traveling the world and spreading his knowledge to all. Puranas tell us that Narada used a tambura and moved about in the universe singing the glory of the Lord. It is said that this only symbolic, Narada is represented as any human being, the spinal column representing veena, the nerves or the nadis as the strings and the breathing in and out as constant contemplation of the Divine Name. Amma was probably teasing that even after the education of living, one could be a toddler in the actual education of Life. What is beautiful is that Narada Muni’s example suited that child of Amma who actually worked on neuroscience as his area of research.

The rest of the swimming pool seemingly filled up soon and after some time Amma started talking about one of her early experiences in swimming with her Sanyasi disciples. Two swamis were almost drowning in a river and that Amma and another Swami jumped in to haul both of them out. While Amma was trying to catch and drag the drowning Swami. He held on very tight all around her making them both incapable to swim. She had to actually kick him away and then drag him by hair to the shores. Amma laughed at several other stories and it was so wonderful.

Amma then started singing “He giridhara gopala” and followed by “Srishtium Niyae” both in the top of her lungs. Amma the started a new bhajan “Ananda rupini Ammae” (Mother who is embodiment of bliss..) Since most of us didnt know the lines of this bhajan it was just Amma and few other bramacharis. Amma slowly got up wore her footwear and gracefully walked alongside the pool. It was past 2:30am and we were all blissfully excited and sleep was far off.

O Mother dear, How beautiful is this Life in Thy hands!

– Shyam