During Devi Bhava in Berlin a devotee brought Amma a traditional Indian sweet, kozhakatta. It is a healthy sweet made of steamed rice flour with coconut and sweetening inside. (Many of us were first introduced to this sweet in Calcutta, when Amma spontaneously made them herself for the tour group and local volunteers.) Amma showed a lot of interest in the sweet and shortly afterward she told the kitchen to make 1000 of them. This was 3 a.m. in the morning! The staff jumped into action and had a lot of fun setting up an assembly line to make the required number. We found out that there are two types of kozhakatta. The type made in Tamil Nadu is looks more like a dumpling with a pinched top and has a filling of dried grated coconut, lightly sweetened with sugar. The Kerala version is a round ball, with a more coarsely chopped coconut sweetened with jaggery nestled inside. It was the Tamil Nadu version that the staff became experts in making in the wee hours of the morning. We knew that this boded well for a stop with Amma on the way from Berlin, Germany to Houten, Holland. But would it be with the staff alone on the road, or would it happen at the hall?

Cold rainy weather was a gift to the Holland program volunteers as Amma did not stop on the way. She arrived at the venue and went immediately to the dining hall where she was ensconced high on a table, easy for everyone to see. The volunteers were so happy and surprised to have this rare and unexpected chance with Amma. Amma looked really glorious and patiently passed all the plates to the hundreds in the hall, and, of course, each plate had two kozhakattas! Before we began to eat our feast, she asked us to remember all the “children” who weren’t here and were sad and to pray that their stomachs would also be filled. She also mentioned to remember some staff members whose vehicle had broken down and were missing the event. As always, she reminded us not to think of our own enjoyment only, but to remember others.

Amma had more surprises for this program. At the end of the first day’s program which was an all day program stretching nonstop from 11am to after midnight, Amma had the young children on tour dance to Tandam Tananna! Then she joined them as one irrepressible curly haired 3 year old danced around her. It was such a joyous and uplifting moment that it was hard to go to sleep that night!

“mangalangal bhavichitan tozhutituka-loka mangalattinay nityam namichitam-tai tai Tandam tanannai tanai tandani…

Bow down for blessings and auspiciousness in one’s life and also for the whole world.

Rita S,
Houten, Holland – Europe Yatra 2013