Author: Amrita
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Call of Nature – call for Awareness!
Amma always reminds us how important it is to have awareness in each and every action of ours. The following incident reminded me just how important it is to put Amma’s advice into practice in everyday life. It was during a spiritual programme with one of Amma’s disciples in Dublin, Ireland. It was my duty
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Fabric Painting Classes
Out of all of Amma’s relief programs in Uttarakhand, the Vocational Training Centers have been the instant success story. Standardized curriculum from Amachi Labs, delivered by laptop made it possible to implement the classes so quickly. This week I attended the final session of the Fabric Painting Class in Guptakashi. This was the second batch
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Chandrapuri Village Before and After
Chandrapuri where we have started Amma’s housing projects, is actually two villages on opposite sides of the Mandakini River that were once connected by a beautiful cable bridge. Batwadi Village, where we are building houses, is on the east side and Chandrapuri Village is on the west bank. This week, a family has shared rare
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Batwadi Bhajans
After a full day of carrying sand and stones up the hill to the village pipal tree, our Japanese students postponed their bath and dinner to climb the hill once more for bhajans with our local ladies. The only word to describe the Batwadi Bhajan Band is “ecstatic”. They love any excuse to sing and
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Child’s Play
Today is Sunday. On Sunday children around the world usually like to enjoy their day off from school and relax…but not the children of Batwadi Sonar. As soon as the Japanese students showed up to do seva this morning, all the village kids were waiting for them. Most of the kids got to help a
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The chain gang
Today was the Japanese students’ first full day of seva in Uttarakhand and the task of the day was getting rocks and sand from the riverbed up to the village of Batwadi Sonar in preparation for building them a community hall. Sand and rocks are some of the main raw materials used for building new
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Everyone loves a parade
The single road in Chandrapuri is crowded on a normal day. Add three bus loads of Japanese students, every school age child, banners, drums, trumpets, garlands, and you have true chaos. Soon the local children started to slip through a narrow lane between buildings. The parade began, up the steep path to the secondary school.
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Japanese student volunteers arrives
Last night the Japanese student volunteers arrived in India after a long flight from Tokyo. After a few hours rest in the Delhi Amrita Vidyalayam, began their long journey to Uttarakhand. As soon as they stepped off the train in Dehra Dun they met by the City Magistrate Mr. Girishji, honored as official state guests
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One house, many pujas
Although we have already done a large groundbreaking puja for this house, another simple puja with just the workers is done before the brick masons begin. Om Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu three times, prasad for everyone, and the walls start to rise. – Scotti