Meenamba, the Mother of fish

Her name is Meenamba which means ‘Mother of fish‘. She is an Amritapuri resident from the West.

I saw Meenamba in the breakfast line the other day, and greeted her with a casual “Good morning! How are you?” She looked back, as her face lit up, and answered: “It’s amazing that you asked me this, right now. Something incredible happened to me earlier this morning! It is really unbelievable!”

We took our food and I stood with her for a few minutes as she was sharing with great excitement the amazing event that she had just lived…

Because of seva needs at Amritapuri, Meenamba had not been able to go on the last North India Tour with Amma. She stayed back, and of course she eagerly listened for any special news recounted by those returning from the tour. The day before, one of Meenamba’s ashram sisters had shared with her a very special moment that saw Amma literally sit on the person’s lap during a tea stop! Meenamba was very inspired by the story and that morning she was strongly thinking of the memorable experience shared by her sister.

So, back to what Meenamba had started sharing:
“I was really feeling down since a few days and certainly needed an inspiring interference from Mother… I had gone to the other side of the backwaters early morning and was crossing back by boat when the most magical thing happened…” Meenamba’s face was shining with excitement as she was speaking. Her eyes were big and her hands as expressive as her words: “All of a sudden, a big fish, about 40 cm long, literally jumped out of the water, came flying through the air and landed on… my lap! It took me a moment to realize what was happening. The shock was so strong that I fell backwards off my seat… As soon as my mind understood what was happening, the fish had leaped back in the air, and plunged into the water on the other side of the boat…”

“I still can’t believe that this really happened! The boatman and the other passengers on the boat were laughing and giving me their biggest smiles. The boatman said he had never seen anything like that happen before, and he was totally bewildered when I said that my name was ‘Meenamba’! He said that the fish was a really big one. To describe how big it was he said that it would sell for more than 300 Rps in the market.”

“I kept thinking: ‘Is this a dream? Is it possible? And it landed on my lap!!!’ I can still hear my friend’s enthusiastic voice on the boat yelling: ‘No, no… This can’t be a fish. It is Amma!!!’ How could this simply be a coincidence?”

Correct, Meenamba. Nothing is a coincidence around Amma. It was Her no doubt. She gave you your name, anyway, and now you know better why She did. I can imagine Her bursting into laughter when She returns to Amritapuri and you go up to Her to tell your story…

A fish, flying out of water and landing on the Mother of fish’s lap, as she was missing her own Mother’s lap… as simple as can be, no?

Yes, as simple as can be, in the very place where the One Mother, of the fish, of Meenamba, of the backwaters as well as of the minds of the writer and of the readers, was born…

Priyan, from the backwaters, Amritapuri