Category: Interviews
interviews with diff personalities
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Hundreds of tabla players finding rhythm
Tabla is relatively new as a musical instrument in India. Traces of its first origin go back to just 300 to 400 years. Since then, going through a continuous evolution in the shape of the instrument and its tuning and usage, it has become an essential instrument in the Hindustan traditional classical music. Tabla is prevalent in spiritual bhajans and the romantic ghazal songs. In the early days, as Amma was singing devotional songs with her first disciples, tabla was one of the musical instruments that were part of the instruments used by the group of musicians singing with her.…
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Anju against all odds
‘Being a woman in a man’s world is never easy.’ This refrain is heard time and again. The story of Anju Singh bears testimony to this statement. With Amma’s grace, by taking part in the AmritaSeRVE program, she has been able to overcome all odds and transform not only her own life, but those of others in her village as well. Anju has taken tremendous efforts to coach children who dropped out of school in Alirajpur village, Juna Kathiwada district, Madhya Pradesh. Anju was not a ‘born’ social worker. Hardships – both economic and social – forced her to discontinue…
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It’s all about working with the right attitude
“Being an atheist, I had never known what values were in their true sense until I met Amma.” Mr. Sairam, Income Generator of Amrita SeRVE greeted us with this strong statement in a freewheeling chat, wherein he conveyed the idea behind AmritaSeRVE and how, through an amazing transformation effected by Amma, he became a part of this program. This mind-set is the result of a transformational meeting Sairam had with AMMA on 26th September 2015. Even as a young entrepreneur in Andhra Pradesh, he did not feel entirely satisfied with the line of work he was in and sought answers…
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From basic education to technology, a dream coming true
On this auspicious occasion of our beloved AMMA’s 63rd birthday we got an opportunity to interact with Mr. Subhash who is the coordinator of Amrita SeRVe – Koduru Village, Telangana. Mr. Subhash described the AmritaSeRVe initiatives going on in his village. They have constructed a Shiva temple in the village, but he says “Our whole intention was that ‘Shakti’ should come to this village and make this village develop.” And, they felt that Shakti may come through the medium of a good spiritual organization. During that time, Ashram (MAM) was also considering adoption of this village. The initiative started with…
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Gitamritam – Learning by Doing
Most of us are familiar with the Bhagavad Gita as an insightful dialogue between Lord Krishna and Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Arjuna, the valiant and noble warrior faces immense conflict internally as he heads off to battle his Kaurava relatives. It is right then that Lord Krishna guides him, and shows him the purpose of his Dharma Yuddha while revealing to him the ultimate truth of life. However the depth and sheer complexity of the text have not made its teachings readily apparent to everyone. The Gitamritam camp intends to address this issue and a variety of other…
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We are here to kidnap Amma
Vaishnavi and Valsala are twin sisters. They are from Amrita Vidyalayam, Davengere (Karnataka). They came as part of a group from their school to visit Amritapuri and get Amma’s blessings. It was their first meeting with Amma. The meeting just blew them away… “There is so much energy, so much love, I feel like crying, I don’t know what’s happening” said Valsala. But it seems that just meeting Amma was not enough for these two bold sisters… They wanted to keep Amma with them! Therefore, they came up with a plan and unveiled it when they came back to Amma.…
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Manju’s Story
I came to the ashram in 1991 with my parents and sister, when I was 3 years old. I had met Amma when I was 2 in the US. We lived in Amritapuri for 7 years and I did home school. When I was 10 Amma said we should go back for my and my sister’s education. During my first visit back to the ashram (2005) Amma told me to be a doctor and in my second visit people suggested I study at the AMRITA Medical School (AIMS). I went to visit it and fell in love with it. The…
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Spiritual education is more important than my regular education
Marco Gabriel Reyes Grieves is currently visiting Amritapuri ashram for a period of 14 weeks with his parents – his father is Mexican and his mother is American. Marco is from Mexico where he lives in a small village right next to one of Mexico’s most famous archeological sites, the ancient city of Teotihuacan with its 2000 year old pyramids, temples and altars. The family decided to visit India after hearing many stories from friends who had visited the country and had had positive life changing experiences. Marco’s father had a longtime wish to stay in an ashram, and when…
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Everything is One
26 Sep 2015, Amritapuri Mrs. Bexci P. Britto, Assistant Professor at Bishop Appasamy College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore, who was at the ashram for the first time, shared her experience about meeting Amma. “A few things are inexpressible in life and they go by the term “zing factor”. I had such an experience here today. It was a fulfilling experience. Amma spends hours at a stretch meeting her children, yet makes it seem like an effortless job. I have neither heard of nor seen any other god-men or god-women doing the same. Witnessing this here today directly, right in…