INDIA PART 1

WELL, AT THIS TIME OF THE DAY, I CAN'T SLEEP YET!! SO, HERE I AM BLOGGING..

FIRST AND FOREMOST, MY INDIA TRIP WAS JUST AWESOME!!! ESPECIALLY IN PUTTAPARTHI AND MANDRALAYAM. ( PUTTAPARTHI - SAI BABA AND MANDRALAYAM- RAGHAVENDRA)

WHEN I WAS LEAVING MALAYSIA, I WAS KEEPING MY FINGERS CROSSED THINKING WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IN PARTHI AND WILL SWAMI COME FOR DARSHAN AND ON AND ON.. THEN, I SAID TO MYSELF, OKIE, LETS JUST LEAVE IT TO HIM AND SURE ENOUGH HE KNOWS IF I DESERVE HIS DARSHAN.

DAY 1

WHEN REACHED CHENNAI, THE DRIVER OF TOUR WAS ALREADY WAITING FOR US. WE STARIGHT STARTED OUR JOURNEY TO PUTTAPARTHI. IT WAS TOLD THAT THE TRIP WOULD BE A LONG JOURNEY.. ON THE WAY, I WAS JUST ENJOYING THE SCENERIES OF INDIA. THE BEAUTY OF MOTHER NATURE IS JUST AWESOME OVER THERE..

SO, WE WERE GOING ON AND ON.. AND HE DRIVER MISSED A ROAD AND BECAUSE OF THAT, WE HAD TO GO EXTRA FURTHER JOURNEY. YES, I WAS THINKING IN MY HEART, " SWAMI, WHY ARE YOU PUTTING US IN THIS SITUATION?? PLEASE KEEP US SAFE THROUGHOUT THIS JOURNEY TO SEE YOU"!!

YET, WE WENT THROUGH TERRIBLE ROADS, PASSED FEW VILLAGES WHEN THEY DO HAVE HIGHWAY DIRECT TO PUTTAPARTHI. I FELT OKIE ITS JUST A SMALL PATIENCE TEST OF SWAMI AND NEVER THOUGHT ANYTHING ELSE. SOON, AFTER ASKING AROUND THE ROUTE, WE MANAGED TO REACH PARTHI WITH 7 HOURS JOURNEY !! WE WENT TO THE HOTEL AND AFTER KEEPING THE THINGS, WE WENT OUT TO SURVEY THE DARSHAN TIMES AND ALL. WELL, IT WAS 2006 WHEN PREVIOUSLY I WENT WITH THE 1ST YATRA GRP!! WHEN I STEPPED IN THE ENTRANCE GATE, THE JOY IN MY HEART WAS JUST SO NICE AND ITS INDESCRIBABLE.. WE WENT AROUND INQUIRING AND WENT FOR DINNER AND WENT OFF TO HOTEL TO GET SOME REST.

DAY 2

WE WOKE UP ABOUT 4 AND WENT FOR NAGASANGEERTAN AT 5 . I RECALLED THE DAY WHEN WE AS A GROUP CAME FOR THIS, AS I SAW FEW GROUPS COMING AND JOINING THE CROWD. IT WAS NICE BHAJAN SESSION AND SOON AFTER THAT, ME AND MY MOM WERE LOST. WE DON'T KNOW WHERE TO WAIT FOR THE MORNING DARSHAN.. I THOUGHT GONE!! EVENTHOUGH WE WERE INFORMED SWAMI WON'T BE COMING MORNING, YET I WANTED TO JOIN IN AT LEAST FOR THE BHAJAN AND ENJOY MY MOMENTS IN KULWANT HALL!! SO, WE FOLLOWED A CROWD AND LINED UP WITH THEM. YET, AFTER HALF AN HOUR WE REALIZED IT WAS A GROUP, THEN WE INQUIRED WHERE WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GO. SOON THEN WE FOUND OUT AND SAT. IT WAS NOT CROWDED AT THAT TIME CAUSE SWAMI WON'T BE COMING. YET, THERE WERE PEOPLE STILL COMING TO JOIN IN BHAJAN. SO, YAH WE WAITED AND PICKED A NUMBER TO SEAT INSIDE, AND WENT IN. IT WAS TOWARDS THE WALL SIDE AND EVEN IF SWAMI CAME, I WAS THINKING, I WOULDN'T GET TO SEE HIM THE WHOLE WHILE!!! YET, AFTER THE BHAJAN AND ALL, WE WENT FOR BREAKFAST AT THE WESTERN CANTEEN AND THEN TO THE BOOKSHOP TO BUY BOOKS AND CDS..

AFTER LUNCH, WE LINED UP BACK AT 2.15. WE SAT IN THE FIRST ROW. I WAS DETERMINED TO CHANT MANTRAS WITH MY JAPAMALA ALL THE WHILE WAITING TO GO IN THE HALL TO GET A GOOD SEAT TO BE ABLE TO SEE SWAMI. THEN, ABOUT 4 SOMETHING ROUGHLY, WE PICKED A NUMBER AND IT WAS 1!!!! I WAS SOO OVERJOYED!! YET, I WAS KEEPING MY FINGERS CROSSED AND WENT TO THE HALL.. IT WAS EMPTY THEN.. SO, WE QUICKLY SAT AT THE 4TH ROW. FIRST FRONT 4 ROWS WERE RESERVED I GUESS. THEN, I CONTINUED WITH MY JAPA TILL THE VEDAS STARTED TO CHANT. THEN BHAJAN WAS STARTED. AND I WAS ANXIOUS WAITING FOR SWAMI. THEN, A SEVADA CAME AND ASKED TO MOVE 1 ROW IN FRONT. OKIE AND WAITED AND WAITED. THEN, THE MOMENT THERE WAS SIGNAL BABA WAS COMING, ALL RUSHED AS THERE WERE EMPTY SEATS. I DID TOO!! ^_^ AND I WAS AT SECOND ROW WAITING FOR SWAMI. HE SLOWLY CAME IN HIS WHEELCHAIR. IT WAS DIFFERENT THAN THE PREVIOUS TIME BECAUSE THEN, HE CAME IN CAR AND NOW IT WAS SO NEAR AND NICE VIEW!! HE DID STOP TOO, WHERE I GOT EXTRA LONG TIME TO SEE HIM. NO MATTER WHAT, I GOT MY DARSHAN, AND I NEVER ASKED MORE!! THIS ITSELF WAS A GIFT OF SWAMI TO ME. THANKED HIM LOTS IN MY HEART AND AFTER SWAMI LEFT THE HALL, I WAS SO SATISFIED! I THOUGHT TO MYSELF, WE WERE REMINDED CONSTANTLY IN PREVIOUS YATRA NOT TO BE TOO ATTACHED TO HIS PHYSICAL FORM. AND NO I WAS NOT ANYMORE. JUST WITH HIS PRESENCE GAVE ME ENOUGH SATISFACTION AND I NO LONGER URGE TO HAVE HIM IN FRONT OF ME, BECAUSE HE IS THERE ALWAYS WITHOUT ME REALIZING IT!

THIS WAS A GREAT IMPACT THAN THE PREVIOUS TIME. EVEN-THOUGH I ONLY HAD THE CHANCE OF GETTING 1 DARSHAN, I FELT MYSELF SO LUCKY TO BE SO CLOSE TO SWAMI. NO MATTER WHAT HAD HAPPENED BETWEEN US ( us seriously ) YET, HE REMINDED ME THAT HE WAS THERE FOR ME, HE IS STILL THERE AND WILL ALWAYS BE THERE. THAT MESSAGE WAS SUPER CLEAR TO ME.

~SHAN~

- TO BE CONTINUED-