Soon after Devi Bhava ended at the MA Center in Germany, we began the drive to her program in Houten, Netherlands. We passed through charming small towns with their steeply roofed, two story houses with wooden shutters and window boxes and down through spectacularly beautiful forested hills to the flatter farming country below. Fields of […]
Although there are many health, nutrition, and educational deficiencies in Indian villages, I am always struck by the things that are healthy about village life. Many smart, happy people have emerged from modest village roots. I am staying in an AmritaServe adopted village, Hadiabad, Bihar, with the R.P. Singh family. Three brothers, their wives, children […]
Musahar is a caste originally known as the “Rat Catchers”. Although they no longer practice that craft, they are still severly marginalised. Their village of Ratanpur is one of two Amrita Serve adopted villages in Bihar. Huts are made of mud. Pigs are raised and roam everywhere. Many children go unwashed even though there are […]
The first Amala Bharatam I witnessed was two years ago. The Indian ladies did as they do everywhere. They swept the path beautifully clean of dirt and leaves, but seemed oblivious to litter just inches away in the gutters. More recently, I was in Indhpur, Himachal Pradesh for a cleanup. These ladies had watched several […]
Meera Devi has four children. The first died in an accident at age four. The second, from health problems at 10 months. Third is Chahat, age nine. She has “mind problems” which have gotten better with expensive medicine. And number four is Simran. She has had developmental problems from birth but is a delightful child. […]
There was great excitement when a program at the MA Center in Germany was listed in the schedule for the Europe tour. This beautiful ashram is a favourite with devotees and it would be the first time Amma would have a program in her own place in Europe. The anticipation was validated by the high […]
Paris! Just the name evokes impressions of sophistication, the Arts, vibrancy and glamour! Yet the people here are far from superficial. Their enthusiastic and heartfelt response to Amma and interest in meditation and service was truly moving. Even though we were not able to see any of the attractions of Paris, just being here gave […]
The program in Wnterthur, Switzerland seems to be the Center Point of Europe. The crowd is very diverse. Four nearby countries are well represented: Italy, Germany, Austria and France. This was reflected in the backdrop which featured Amma’s motto, Love and Serve in 5 languages-German English, French, Spanish and Italian. The translation on the screen […]
18 Oct 2015, Chandigarh The two day, first ever, IAM program was held in Panchkula district of the Union territory of Chandigarh. The name Chandigarh is a blend of “Chandi” and “Garh”. Chandi refers to Goddess Chandi, the warrior form of Goddess Parvati (consort of Shiva) and Garh means fort. The name is derived from […]