The studentship begins... along with the honor of becoming a Guru Puja Pundit!

Every time I visit my ultimate holiday destination, the Art of Living HQ near Bangalore, India, am in for a surprise...  Sometimes its a new grand structure which has come up in the ashram campus... at other times its a group of travelers coming from some far corner of the world to attend some course... and so on... When I reached ashram this last time in October 2012 for the Guru Puja course, I was in for another surprise... A group of more than 200 devotees from various European countries had come to  ashram, occasion being the Vedic Wisdom Program which was attended by more than 150 Europeans.
During the program these fortunate men got a chance to get initiated by the thread ceremony (Upanayan) and learn how to chant vedic mantras and perform vedic pujas. I was quite impressed by their interest in learning India's gift to the world - the VEDAs. I was already aware at the time that Bawa Dinesh and a few other senior most teachers of the Art of Living had recently participated in the Upanayan Sanskars held at the ashram. This initiated a sankalpa in my mind to get initiated by Upanayan Ceremony... to learn the Gayatri Mantra and become eligible to study the vedic knowledge. I wasn't sure how I could take a week long off from work to go and attend the program in Bangalore ashram. So I just prayed that it happens in Pune sometime soon and  moved on with the life...


Come 2013, and suddenly the good news that Upanayan program will be help in Pune that too in my area and only one day leave at office is required to attend the program!!! This is called GRACE. I immediately enrolled for the event and was one of the 40 fortunate people to receive the initiation.
Little did I know then what was it to be like to be initiated with one of the most revered Vedic mantras - Gayatri Mantra. The program turned out to be the most fulfilling and purifying experience ever, and our preceptor made sure that we learnt to perform the Sandhya Vandana in the best manner possible.
However there was no spoon feeding as far as the meaning of each & every verse & ritual is concerned . This is common in the Art of Living programs where "experience" is of higher importance than the theory. So the search for the in depth knowledge of the Gayatri Mantra and its practice began as I adopted the regular practice of this newly learnt Sadhana in my already busy schedule. And one by one amazing facts about the Gayatri Mantra started unfolding in front of me. Suddenly I realized how Guruji has been taking me to the highest goal of my life in such a subtle and simple manner!!


In the month of March, after the Upanayan program, I had the opportunity to experience Shakti Kriya with the master at Bangalore Ashram, immediately followed by Gurupuja Phase 2 program with Bhani Didi!!! Becoming a Gurupuja pundit was really an icing on the cake. Here is the snap of my first Guru Puja performed inside Vishalakshi Mantap.

notice the golden glow around the padukas kept inside the asana vessel?

Jharkhand tribal students visit to Pune & Mumbai in Jan 2013

Last month witnessed the visit of students of AOL tribal schools in jharkhand to Pune. In all 23 students along with 1 teacher and 3 staff members traveled the breadth of India to meet their friends & well-wishers on the other side of the country for the first time in their life. This is an account of the historic trip which was made possible by the efforts of the volunteers of Art of Living in Pune...

It all began with an idea to spread the awareness about the tribal education project among the devotees from the Art of Living family in Pune. And soon the dream of a couple of volunteers in Pune became a reality... in the 2nd week of January 2013, the students from the tribal schools in Jharkhand began their journey to visit a distant city in the map of India to meet their family members... This was the first time the students were leaving their homes on a journey so far. They had not even boarded a train before in their lives. On the day of arrival the kids performed in a concert at the famous Yashwantrao Chavan Auditorium in front of a massive crowd of Art of Living devotees waiting to see these kids in action… 

And this was first time in their lives that these kids performed on any sort of a stage! The performances were great, and they were hugely applauded by the audience. The messages given through the skit plays and dances were clear & loud about environment, ecology, and humanity. Their fluency of Hindi & English languages and their knowledge of Sanskrit (there was drama performed entirely in Sanskrit!) was a thing to be appreciated. Mejor Tudu a small 7^th standard fellow was great at his performance with his sharp memory & wit. Also, there beautiful folk dances performed by the girls which gave a glimpse of the rich tribal culture. The specialty of these dances was that the dancers themselves were singing, tapping, and performing simultaneously. There was no recorded background music played for them! The kids simply won everyone’s hearts, and at the end everyone wanted to speak with these children and nobody wanted to leave the auditorium even after 10pm!!! The next day students visited the Volkswagen automobile factory near Pune! Theirs was the batch with 10000th visitor to VW plant. So they were felicitated on the occasion by the plant head with a souvenir of in the form of a miniature car model!

From here the students went on to visit the Katraj Snake Park & Zoo. The large sized pythons excited them and they were watching many of the animals for the first time in their life. The next stop was the Film and Television Institute of India. This visit was very exciting for the children. Here the kids got to know everything about movie making… what is a theater, what are sets, how people work there, details of acting etc. They got to see the studio of the first movie of India, i.e. “Raja Harishchandra”. Also, they watched the movie “Kungfu Panda 2”, and got to know the theme of 'inside peace'! All in all the day was very exciting for them which filled them up with lots of new knowledge and fun.

Next the children visited a Railway Museum and were excited to know in more details of how railways operate, and what different types of railways are. After that the children had a test of their strength with a night trek of a local fort, Sinhagad. During the trek they learned about varieties of flora and fauna. Their night stay was arranged on the fort itself under the vast star filled skies…

While returning from the fort next morning, the students visited two army centers, DIAT (Defense Institute of Advanced Technology), and MILIT (Military Institute of Training) at Khadakwasla near Pune. This visit opened a big box of learning and entertainment for the children. They learned about various military weapons including missiles, guns, artillery, tanks, fighter planes, and bombs. They also tried their hands on tanks and fighter planes by boarding them. The library at DIAT just awed them with its vast collection of books. 

Another highlight of the day was their second stage performance in a different corner of Pune, at Sanghvi. Children exhibited their skills to the locals through dance, skits and songs. They got a huge applaud for their performances. Yateen Joshi, the main coordinator of the program gave the audience an overview of the project and explained various avenues of how we could contribute to such a noble cause.

The day five marked a visit to an Information Technology Park, and some of the renowned IT corporate houses viz. Persistent and Cognizant made this trip quite memorable for these children. They got to learn about the IT industry in general, and infrastructure, the facility and the quality of life. That sowed the seeds in their minds to excel in academics to build their own bright future when they grow up. This was followed by a visit to a rural school nearby Pune. They interacted with the students there, learned about their facilities and education system. Next was visit to Pune University and a session on Solar Technology. 

This was very important and interesting visit for the children. A tour to Solar Energy department in University of Pune awakened future scientists and social workers in these children. They got to learn how solar energy can help solve day to day problems of cooking, heating and electricity. A very nice education was given in simple to understand way for these children. The evening ended with dance and drama stage performances by the children in another center in Pune, at Aundh. The audience there whole-heartedly appreciated skills of these children by active participation.

The next two days the kids visited Amchi Mumbai with our volunteers! Mumbai visit was very exciting for these children. Journey via India's first express way, Pune-Mumbai is always an experience in itself, and the children were not an exception to that experience. The ghats of Sahyadri entertained them with their beauty. After reaching Mumbai, kids spent the entire day at the Nehru Science Center. This day became a lifetime memory for the children. The film on Amazon valley at the planetarium took them through the variety of nature at Amazon. This was followed by a film on dinosaurs in a 4D theatre! Followed by these films, a tour of various sections of Nehru Science Center gave them an outlook of many things from science providing a huge learning. The sections on human body, physics, astrology, ancient science, history, missiles, chemistry, mathematics etc. enhanced the knowledge of these children by leaps & bounds! In the night, a trip to Juhu Beach was like a climax. The children got to see the sea for the first time, moreover, playing on the beach in the midnight and later enjoying ice-cream and ice-cola on the beach was a memorable experience for them.

Next day was a visit to Mumbai’s Elephanta Caves. This was their first journey by sea. Riding on the deck of a motor boat is an incomparable experience, and this was what the children had. Not only that, they did not realize when they reached the destination while looking at the massive commercial and naval ships around them in the Arabian ocean. What else can be more interesting than to have breakfast basking in morning sun on the deck of a boat? All these wonderful experiences were possible because of the efforts taken by the team of Art of Living devotees in Mumbai.

At the end of the week on Sunday the kids started their journey back home form the Pune railway station. They took a lot of sweet memories and valuable knowledge back with them. While leaving the kids shared their feeling with the Pune team saying they never thought someone from a far corner of the country would give them so much of love and comfort. After reaching home, they all expressed their gratitude to the Pune team with letters containing their experiences together with beautiful paintings. 

One man who is changing the world...

Bliss in Arosa... Sitting close to the master

My experience about the days spent with Gurudev His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji at Arosa, Switzerland and Bad Antogast, Germany. The event was a six days package featuring part II course in the presence of the master, commentary on Isha Vasya Upanishada, and Guruji's birthday celebrations at the German ashram...

These were by far the best days of my life so far…

The main attraction of this event – Guruji’s commentary on Isha Vasya Upanishada was an experience one can never forget in life. One day 1 of the course I went through the entire book which contained the verses in Sanskrit & their translation in English. Although I consider my understanding of both the languages to be fairly good; I did not understand the meaning of most of the knowledge these verses offered to the mankind… And the last day of the course Gurudev imparted the complete gist of these verses to us in just a couple of deep meditations. It was a superb experience to witness how much knowledge was communicated in silence by just sitting in the presence of the master. At the completion of the guided meditation on the last day of the course, the atmosphere in the meditation hall sounded so much pure and divine, I felt like the place and the people in the hall were transported back to the ancient times when only truth, divinity, and beauty pervaded on this planet.

The volunteer team in Europe deserves a huge applause for their unprecedented dedication towards making sure that all the arrangements worked smoothly and each one of us had a wonderful time with the master. The course venue, the stay and transport arrangements, the food… everything was just so perfectly organized. We were given the opportunity to visit the peak of alpine mountains in a gondola ride with Gurudev; as well enjoy the glory of a boat ride in the tranquil lake Luzern with a special meeting with Guruji!

At the German Ashram I got the feel of what the term ‘One World Family’ really means… there were people from all corners of the world… some had come from countries I had never even heard of before! The moment I entered the German ashram, it felt like coming home. The ashram campus was glowing with the beaming smiles of beautiful people gathered to celebrate the birthday of one man who is changing the world.
The birthday celebrations on the eve of 13th may were a great display of how Guruji’s love is bonding together people from all backgrounds and religions to celebrate life on this planet.

I consider myself to be very fortunate to get a chance to be part of this amazing program. It was a “journey towards the self” in a true sense…

A visit to Kapshi village

THE VISITORS

LITTLE BIT OF MASTI IS ALWAYS WELCOME ON THE WAY. AFTER ALL OUR ANCESTORS PRETTY MUCH ENJOYED PLAYING SUCH GAMES ALL THE TIME!

THIS IS WHAT I.T. ENGINEERS ARE GOOD AT ISN'T IT?

AND THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SOMEONE JUST WON'T LET GO!

BULLDOZER 1 - IT GUYS 0

HOW CAN A VISIT TO VILLAGE BE COMPLETE WITHOUT THESE SMART & SWEET CHILDREN PLAYING ON THE STREET ?!

THE ONE IN GREEN TSHIRT WAS REALLY AWESOM.

CITY LADS ENJOYING THE DIRT RIDE?

A KING IN THE MAKING...
YOURS TRUELY IN A HISTORY BOOK POSE!
P.S. FORGOT TO SNIFF THE FLOWER AT THE TIME OF SNAP:-)

Now looking at these pictures one may think "is this all that we did in our visit to Kapshi?"

If you also thought so, then read on i've got some intersting things to share with you...

sorry non-maskable interrupt...

Night Before Showdown...Unforgettable 

The Setup 

The Team 

The Stage View 

The Venue 

The Ramp 

DivineSorting 

What An Awesome Week!

What An Awesome Week!

Jalgaon Visit: Mission Successful

T'was Amazing!!!


Oh My God! What an extraordinary week it was.
First time ever in my professional career did I devote so much of time - a whole working week to make something good happen in the lives of others. What I realized from these days is that if you want to get highest results from any activity which take up, you need to devote your prime time for it and put your 100% while executing it.

The Task...
The task was to manage huge counters of products namely "Divine Shoppee" which includes Knowledge tapes & books and the latest range of Ayurveda products for an evnt visited by an estimated crowd of around 1 lack people. As a part of the event management team I got to closely observe how such big events are organized. It was an eye-opening experience to know what it takes to organize an event of this magnitude in such a short time.

The results...
We went with a dedicated and expert team of 10 people and executed the task to the perfection.
Frankly speaking we didn't do anything exceptional there, we just had to stand there...literally.
It was the GRACE which did everything for us. The local volunteer team of around 30 odd deidcated people which we got was too good and did not need much of training to handle the task.

The experience...
The entire event was ogranized extremely well, everything went smooth up to the mark that even Guruji said the event was 100/100 successful. The night before the event we went to the programme venue and took a tour of the huge police grounds on which the event was hosted and even had a look at the stage. The stage backdrop was awesome (almost 8 storeys in height) and the view of the entire are from the top of the stage was breathtaking. We even did a bit of "ramp walk" - just to get the idea of how it feels when you walk in front of a mob of some hundred thousand people all looking at you!

The surprise...
The morning after the event was a truely memorable one. We got a chance to be on the railway station from where Guruji took the train to continue the Maharashtra tour. I have never been so close to Him physically for so much of time and honestly I never felt so much of happiness within myself ever before in my entire life of 22 years. Even there was such an astonishing freshness in the air once Guruji arrived & evryone was just glowing with joy & enthusiasm. There one could get a glimpse of "what Life is" as defined by Sri Sri - "The sign of life is enthusiasm. The sign of success is smile and joy."

Untill further notice, celebrate everything!
Jai Gurudeva!