Category: interesting
selected posts because its interesting
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Dying is cowardice
7 Sep 2008, Bihar The second day of camps. We went to Banmankhi – opposite in direction to Bhawanipur where we went yesterday. It was a camp of ramshackle huts – made of bamboo and plastic in most part. Again the same scenes of poverty and lack. When we reached there and were setting up a sort of enclosure for our doctors a few of the local people came over to talk. Maybe the colour of our clothes held some special meaning for them. Stories of how the water rushed in at mid-night, how they all scrambled for their lives,…
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First day in the camp
6 Sep 2008, Bowanipur, Bihar After lunch the medical team set out for the first medical camp to be held at a place called Bowanipur. Though, only at a distance of 40 kms, it took about 75mins to reach there, as the road was not always good. In many places the roads have been washed away and in some places the river is flowing across the road with a strong current. In one place the bridge had become so weak that it had tilted to one side and whenever any vehicle crossed it, they had all the passengers get down…
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The Servant of Lord Muruga
The Servant of Lord Muruga – Pithukuli Murugadas Tonight’s bhajans were something special in several ways. As Amma arrived on stage there was an elderly sagely looking man waiting for her there. Many might have been wondering who this person was. He was no other than the great bhakta, composer and singer Pithukuli Murugadas. For those who don’t know, he is a living legend in Tamil Nadu and beyond. He was born in 1920 as Balasubramaniam and showed great devotion towards God from a very young age onwards. When he was 15 years old he took part in some anti…
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Blessed are we
18 Jul 2008, Amritapuri Today the ashram celebrated Guru Purnima with various programs starting from the morning. At 8 am, Swami Turiyamritananda Puri performed the puja to Amma’s padukas, with the ashram residents chanting Vedic mantras and Amma’s 108 names. Each resident lined up to bow to Amma’s padukas and to offer some flowers, and then received the prasad of unniappas, payasam, and some other sweet. After a talk by Swami Jnanamritananda Puri, Amma’s father, Suguna Acchan, as he is called, gave a wonderful talk. He talked about his experiences with Amma from her childhood. He said that when Damayanti…
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Alps to Amritapuri on Bike
From the Alps to Amritapuri, on his… bicycle! Being at Amritapuri for 2 or 3 weeks while Amma is on tour in India, is a most precious and valuable opportunity to get in touch with your inner self and enjoy most precious moments of blissful peace. When Amma is here the place is a boiling pot, heated up daily by Amma’s intense ‘all-directional’ Shakti. When Amma is away, and most of her disciples and ashramites with Her (Which is the case for the Indian tours), this place, where She grew up, where She ‘experienced’ the most exalted mystical bhavas, and…
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swimming in memories
20 jan, bhavani, bharata yatra 2008 on the way to pondicherry we stopped at bhavani river. bhavani opens a flood-gate of fond memories. bhavani is a fascinating place. this is where amma started swimming with the children who travel with her during indian tours. during the yatras ‘bhavani stop’ was an unavoidable one. amma used to stay here (many times we stayed here 24 to 48 hours ) during the trips. we would the rent a room, pour buckets of water and clean it for amma to stay. there was no good lodging facility. the small rest house would be…
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Tsunami Memories
26 Dec 2007, Amritapuri While I thoroughly enjoyed the entertainment during this year’s Christmas Eve program, I was also very aware of the fact that the anniversary of the tsunami was fast approaching. I remembered how I had experienced exhilarating joy watching the fire dancer during the 2004 Christmas Eve program, not having a clue that thirty-six hours later something so traumatic was going to happen. As I sat on the sand at the beach last night (Christmas Day), tsunami memories started pouring into my mind. Tears running down my cheeks I remembered…. * Being at a bhajan practice at…
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Moonlit Mood, Morning Archana
Yes, going back, to the more earthly set up of the beautiful Amritapuri ashram. There were only the huts in which we stayed, with Amma’s Darshan hut around to the west side of it. It was a full moon night; time was well past 11pm, maybe nearing midnight. There was a power failure, and unlike nowadays, there weren’t any generators to keep the lights and fans on. Well, there were no fans in our huts those days. They weren’t required, as we never felt any need for that – neither for the heat nor for the mosquitoes. Both these weren’t…
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Divine Plan
4 sep 2007, amritapuri It has been so wonderful to listen to Srimad Bhagavatam. Bhagavatam is a Purana written by Sage Vyasa depicting the incarnations of Lord Vishnu. A Malayalam translation of the original text is sung during Krishna’s Birthday Celebrations in Amritapuri. I had never heard such clarity, such musical tone, and nice voice. Amma was not there when a woman on the stage started reading the Bhagavatam describing the situations of the birth of Lord Krishna (usually there will be some cultural programmes, then Amma will come on stage and the Bhagavatam starts.) As the Bhagavatam reader was…