25-09-2009, 2.24 P.M

Amma’s birthday is the most celebrated event for the whole Amrita family. It is not only an opportunity to be part of the birthday, but also a golden chance to serve thousands at once. For the massive crowd pouring into Amritapuri from all over the world, several thousands of devotees, students and Amrita facultys’ have joined hands to make Amma’s birthday celebration a great success. One of the main area that function actively round the clock during the celebration day is the Kitchen.

Br. Prakash who is in charge of the food preparation and supply for the celebrations has it all planned. He says,”we expect over two lakh people to visit us during the coming three days. We are expecting a crowd of more than 25000 today itself even before the celebrations have started. Already, six truck loads of vegetables, twenty two tons of rice and two truckloads of provisions have been brought to the make- shift kitchen at the university building of Amrita”.

Many devotees, staff and students of Amrita have volunteered to work at the kitchen department. Over two hundred women are working at the vegetable cutting section and over two fifty women are posted at the cooking section. They will work with a shift system of fifty per shift. Over five hundred have signed up for serving food.

The atmosphere at the kitchen is always filled with enthusiasm and the women keep singing bhajans to keep up the energy level. They are never tired even when their shift has ended.

Amma’s love and her enthusiasm to mankind have inspired several thousands of students to volunteer for Seva. This is one of the finest examples of true and selfless Seva, leading us to wonder whether they love AMMA more than how much AMMA loves them. Our salutations to these volunteers.

– Shabana Mohamed Shani & Krishnaraj