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May stay in Prashanti
Nilayam
June 18th-20th, 2005
Sairam All..!
Here is an account of my 3 day stay at Parthi. I thought I'd
send this to you as it happened but I didn't have time. So, here
it is..
June 18th -
After lunch, around 12:30, we left for PSN to join my niece in
the primary school into grade 1. My plan was to go to BLR the
next day and meet Swami and have darshan. But, when we were on
our way at around 1:00 PM, I received a call from my cousin
saying Swami had left for PSN about an hour back. We weren't
very sure if it was true or if it was one of those rumours.
Anyways, we proceeded on. As we arrived in the suburbs of the
city, we saw festive decorations and banners tied on the roads.
Our doubts began to melt away and we slowly came to realize that
Swami had actually left for PSN..! A little later, as we passed
by the institute, we saw students coming back from the mandir.
We stopped and asked one of the people there if Swami had
arrived or not. He replied that Swami had already landed in PSN
and that they were heading back from the mandir after having
Swami's darshan. WOW. What a coincidence..! This reminded me of
the incident that happened when we first landed in India. Quick
recap of this - When we landed in Mumbai, we got news that Swami
left for PSN from BLR and then stayed only for an hour and came
back to BLR. We were sad when we heard the first part as we had
a connecting flight to BLR in the next couple of hours. Our
intention was to see Swami first and then only proceed on. But,
when we heard Swami came back to BLR, we were overjoyed and we
felt Swami came back just for us..! Now back to PSN on June
18th. So, now too we felt the same way.
After getting down from the car, we saw people forming lines for
Darshan. So, instantly I went in and sat in the old students
section. We waited for about an hour. I could sense the
restlessness amongst people. People were getting a little
cranky. And the hot afternoon sun added to the already existing
frustration. Suddenly the OMMMMMMMs reverberated through the
hall. The music too started playing. All the heads turned
westward. Slowly, the Toyota Porte glided in gently at about 0.5
MPH. Now I could see the joy in people's faces. The mood changed
all of a sudden. Lo..! It felt like a cool breeze of the arctic
in the highlands of the Amazon. The car made a slow turn to the
left and into the main stage. We were sitting right across the
passage. The car came forward and halted. I could see people
moving in front and beside me. WOW. My excitement level shot up
to an all time high. Swami wanted to drive past the old students
block! So, we made way for the car and Satyajit drove the car in
the slowest of the speeds. The car passed right by me. I was in
the first line. I could very clearly see Swami's face, radiating
in all its effulgence. The car was right in front of me. It was
so close that the distance was less than 5 feet..! This I
thought, was one of the best darshans I ever had. Now the car
turned left and went off into the gents and then onto the ladies
side. Suddenly to all our astonishment, the car made an U-Turn
and came back into the old students section. This time, there
were not many old students as a significant number of them left
after the first round not expecting Swami to come back. So, I
managed to get on the other side (Swami's side of the window).
Again the car came right in front of me. This time, much closer
than before. I was at the pinnacle of my excitement. The car
just glided past me. Now the distance was so close that if I
stretched our my hand, I could touch Swami's window. If the
window was open, I could easily touch Swami's body..! So, with
due devotion and reverence and with folded palms, I was kneeling
and watching Swami's car, enjoying every millisecond of it. Boys
next to me were shedding tears of joy at this greatest
opportunity of Hs darshan. Yet another surprise - Swami looked
directly into my eyes with that innocent smile of His..! This
was a real feast to my eyes. Something I was longing for two
long years. I had His darshan to my utmost satisfaction. What
else can I ask for now? HE had granted me His darshan from a
distance of less than 2 feet AND he looked at me..! After it all
ended, I said in my mind, one BIG Thank You to Swami. I am so
grateful and thankful to Swami for giving me such a good
darshan. My body was filled with a sense of gratitude and
thankfulness to Swami.
Now Swami slowly went back into His residence through the ladies
side. For me, it was time for another blissful enrapture.
Bhajans ! It was sharp 9:00 AM. There it
came...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM..It was none other than our own
current "Parthi nightingale" - S. Ravi Kumar. The OM was so
sharp and clear that it had the power even to crack the biggest
of the mountains. The Ganesh bhajan started "Tumho Vigna
Vinashaka Ganesha". Here is the bhajan that everyone was waiting
for - the second bhajan. "The harmonium cued "Nataraja Hey
Tripurari". Then began Ravi with the first line "Nataraja..".
Such beautiful lines masterfully woven into a fabric. Simplicity
at its pinnacle. This was the best 4 minutes of the whole bhajan
session. Then followed all the other bhajans. It was time for
"Om Jaya Jagadisha Hare..".
Thus ended June the 18th 2005 in Prasanthi Nilayam.
June 19th -
People were gathered in lines from 6:30 AM onwards. Time ticked
away and no sign of Swami's darshan. It was 9. Bhajans started.
People felt this 30 minute bhajan session substituted for the
darshan this morning.
June 19th Afternoon -
Aha. As you probably have figured out, it's Darshan time. Veda
started with "Sahasra Sirsha Purushaha. Sahasraksha
Sahasrapaat..". I felt these two lines were the most suitable
ones for the introduction. I imagined in a movie how the hero is
introduced. Same way, here too, those two lines offered the best
introduction to Swami. And yes, Swami did come out in the car.
This time, he got out of the car and sat on the dias. (He did
not stand up and walk. The car had an detachable seat that could
be moved around with its wheels. The Veda chanting continued for
about 10 minutes and then when it stopped, people were bringing
out mics. The whole Sai Kulwant hall was taken by utter
surprise. People waited and watched reminding themselves of
Swami's quote "Love my Uncertainity". This was no festival. So,
people were ruling out the option of a discourse. Amongst this
thinking, the mics turned on and we could hear voices. Swami
wanted to make an announcement. Prof. Anil Kumar went up and
Swami started speaking..! Wonder of wonders. This time no
"Premaswarupulara..". This talk by Swami was not a very pleasant
one. As you might be knowing, something has been in Swami's mind
for the past 2 months that no one to date is able to fully
comprehend it. Something somewhere was going wrong. Swami spend
the first half explaining how we should serve the mankind and
how education must be put into real use. After all that, here
came a thunderous announcement. Tomorrow (Monday) there will be
a Grama Seva kind of a thing that will be started in the
morning. This is a project of magnanimous scale. Swami invited
everyone to be a part of this project. He said food will be
prepared in humongous quantities and distributed with water to
people. He said the halls will be so full that devotees will not
even have space to sit. He said "students who are present her
today are very lucky. This is a rare opportunity. Embark upon it
with all the will and faith". Swami even called primary and
secondary children in the hall itself and assigned them tasks
individually! He said every person above age 10 should
participate in this. In short, this was a very surprising
announcement of humongous magnitude that will be undertaken by
everyone, not just students in the next coming days. Swami said
that the work will begin tomorrow itself (Monday). And it truly
has. This morning I saw warden, GSS sir and other faculty
members presenting a draft of the activity. The survey has
already begun today. The real work will begin very soon. In
fact, this was such a surprising announcement on huge scales
that it even appeared on the local media today. Work has begun.
You will hear more about this in detail soon...
June 20th -
Swami came out around 8:10 AM. Veda continued on for 15-20
minutes. The draft for the project was presented to Swami. After
staying for some time in the hall, Swami left. He then came back
for bhajans and stayed for a while.
Thus ended my short 3 day trip to PSN which was a very great
one. Once again, thank you Swami for letting me have your
darshan and be a part in your mission. The same afternoon, I
came back to my home town. I will be going back to PSN on June
26. This time I will be there till July 9th. Will try to keep
writing. Until then, Sairam..
--
WAmP,
Aneesh
Source:
http://sss340.tripod.com/pnnews/pnews-4.htm
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