Paris Devi Bhava, 2010

There were two notable special needs children in Paris. One blonde be-speckled boy kept storming the stage during bhajans to get to Amma. He tried every mode of ingress and at meditation time, he finally managed to elude his parents and the security people to slip onto the peetham beside Amma. She welcomed him and tried to make him form padmasana with his legs and put his fingers in chinmudra. Failing, she slipped into what was clearly a deep state of concentration. The boy slithered around the peetham, but Amma clearly sank deeper and deeper into her meditation. It was a beautiful lesson in the state a controlled mind can reach. It was also a lesson on how much determination we should have to reach the goal. That boy was determined to reach Amma and he succeeded no matter what obstacles were put in his path.

Another special needs young girl had been dancing all night around Amma. At the end as Amma was showering flowers, she danced right in front of Amma, which was also in front of the musicians. She waved her hands, blew kisses to Amma and gave her the thumbs up sign. Her parents tried to get her to dance to the side, but she refused, pointing to Amma and to herself and making it clear that she would only be content if she were directly in front of Amma and her energy field.

When Amma came out after Devi Bhava she spotted the boy standing below at the edge of the stage. She invited him to come up and he clambered over the edge, only this time to become distracted by the mounds of flower petals at this feet. I thought that this is just the way we get distracted from the Goal by the transitory beauty of the changing world.

He began kicking the petals on the people below, but Amma reached for him, took his hand, kissed him and the young boy melted into Amma. He kissed her back and put his arm around her and then stood standing arm and arm with her. Little Siddarth, not to be upstaged, slipped under Amma’s other arm and stood there grinning and planted a kiss on Amma’s other cheek. It was such a touching scene that those not already crying due to the joy of Devi Bhava, or due to the grief of her departure, also found tears coursing down their cheeks.

Then Amma saw the dancing gird, gave her loving looks and beckoned her to come up to the stage also, but she was too far away to reach Amma. She blew kisses at Amma and gave her the thumbs-up sign and it was clear that she and Amma were closely communicating. Some of the devotees commented, that these children, limited in so many ways seemed to have an unlimited relationship with Amma.

( Lalita Sahasranamam – No 944: Om abala-gopa-viditayai namah. Salutations to her who is well known by all, even by children and cowherders.)

Rta