Thursday, June 18th
I woke up at 4:00 Am once again as part of my Sadhana. I was hoping to run into Abeshiek but he was no where in sight. I made my way to class. I heard rumors that he had tea this morning. The class was taken over by Kushalji since Swamiji had some business to tend to. The first announcement was that Abeshiek and Mathen report to Swamji’s room immediately. They wave their good bye to everyone and head out of the room. As soon as class is done we head for breakfast. Mathen lets everyone know that four people will be leaving the ashram; Abeshiek, Mathen, Sham, and Shakthi. I was surprised that Shakthi was part of that group because he wasn’t even in that room. Turns out he wanted to leave too on his own. That’s just cowardly in my opinion. I say stay and tough it out. This program is a rare opportunity to learn so much. I guess not everyone is cut out for the ashram living. The four banished members say their goodbyes and trek to the nearest village, Kolwan, to catch the bus into Pune.
Later on that day I went to Swamji’s room for an informal discussion. He seems very strict and stern in his lectures, however is cheerful and light hearted in an informal setting. He started to discuss the whole situation of the Sikkim boys eating non-vegetarian food on the ashram. He gave them chances to confess all their violations however they left out the eating non-vegetarian food. Swamji said that Abeshiek and Sham are coming back. He wanted to teach them lesson by letting the drama and emotions go on until they got all the way to the Pune train station before telling them to return to the ashram. They pretty much had the whole day to reflect over their mistakes. Only two of the four banished members were allowed to return. Swamji saw no vision for the other members. He also observed how some people started to cry when the four members left. It was interesting how people are so emotional over people they didn’t even know three weeks ago. Swamji pointed out how fast people can become attached. I found that point quite interesting. The two Sikkim boys returned later that evening and had to write Haunman Calisa, which is a hymn that is 40 stanzas long, as their punishment.
Day
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
YEP Documentation and YEP Rule Violations
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009
This morning I woke up at 4:00 am as part of my week long Sadhana. Sadhana means spiritual practice in Sanskrit. We were asked to pair up with a partner and select a sadana. Sreejith is my partner for this practice. Our sadhana is to wake up at 4:00 am to read, practice and review the material from the previous day. Its important to understand yesterday’s material before going on to new material otherwise I’d find myself lost. My first day of sadana was an atypical one. The alarm went off at 4:00 am and I jumped out of bed and right into the shower. I turned on the hot water tap and out came cold water. I try the cold water tap and get nothing. The guard forgot the turn on the pump for the tank! Some of you maybe unfamiliar with the way water pressure functions in India. Let me enlighten you. In the US we get the water directly from the water company straight to our homes. In India, each housing unit is required to have a huge tank on the roof. When the water level gets low an alarm rings prompting the resident to turn on the water pump. Then pump then fills the tank with water. I suppose this is a water conservation attempt. Another reason is that it provides a cost effective method of creating water pressure for the building.
So on with the story. I quick get dressed and run out to the guard. I find him sleeping on the job and wake him up. In my broken Hindi I say, “Tank Water Ney”. OK.. OK.. so that’s not much of Hindi if anything that’s just one English with one word of Hindi. J The guard jumps up and wakes up one of the sleepy workers on the floor near him. It takes a while to fill up the tank so I decided to try my hand at getting on the internet. It’s been nearly a week and half since I’ve been online. I’ve hardly had any private time for myself. I’m either trying to memorize some kind of verse from the Gita, or learning some Sanskrit. There is a lot of group work around here as well. We’ve been split up into 5 groups. The groups are used to grow each other. We’ve helped each other chant, spread the word about CHYK, as well as sharing each others talents. It took me a while to figure out what my talent was. I figure I’d pick English since a good number of people need help with that in my group. Seven out of the eleven people in our group are from either Assam or Sikkim. Both of these states are found near East Indian bordering countries such as China, Nepal and Bhutan. One of them is of Mongolian decent which is a rare find for me in India.
Today I decided to change my talent to videographer. Everyone in the ashram has given me the name, Media Man. They see that I have all the fancy gadgets with me such as voice recorder, laptop, digital camera, and video camcorder. The leader of the group shared my enthusiasm about shooting a documentary about our group. Today we took the first step by interviewing each other. I divided my videographer class with 3 roles, Camera person, Interviewer, and Interviewee. Each person had the opportunity to play all 3 roles. The class was a great teaching tool in helping their confident in English. Simi, our group leader, has had some confidence issues with her English lately. Today she put her fear away in front of the camera and did a flawless job in her interviewing. I was quite surprised she never tried to speak in Hindi or Assamese. She has taken up the sadana of improving her English and asked me to help her. So everyday between 4:15 pm to 5:15 pm I will be holding an English Improvement class. I haven’t English formally however I have some ideas. We’ll see how that goes. J
After dinner, we had reflection time to ponder over our last few days. Swamiji decided monitor for any talkers in the group. He paced back and forth in the court yard near the boys hostel. A couple of Sikkim guys were making some noise in their room. Swamji made a bee line right to their room. He asked who all was in that room. Sham one of the guys just walking around named all the Sikkim people. Swamji started scolded them left and right. I assumed it was due to their volume but I keep hearing the word chicken being thrown around. Turns out Swamji found out that a local hut called Happy Spot was providing them with chicken. This action is a serious violation of the ashram’s rules. Absolutely, no non-vegetarian food is allowed on the premises. Swamji blasted everyone in the room with a dose of discipline. He’s policy is if you even come to know that your room is of possession of such counter band then you must report it immediately or you are just a guilty as the offender. He ordered that everyone in the room leave by 4am the next day. Everyone in room pleaded with Swamji to reconsider, but he stood firm as a rock. Then Abeshiek decided to go to Swamji to just take the fall just so the others could at least stay. As of now it just seems that Abeshiek is leaving in the morning.
This morning I woke up at 4:00 am as part of my week long Sadhana. Sadhana means spiritual practice in Sanskrit. We were asked to pair up with a partner and select a sadana. Sreejith is my partner for this practice. Our sadhana is to wake up at 4:00 am to read, practice and review the material from the previous day. Its important to understand yesterday’s material before going on to new material otherwise I’d find myself lost. My first day of sadana was an atypical one. The alarm went off at 4:00 am and I jumped out of bed and right into the shower. I turned on the hot water tap and out came cold water. I try the cold water tap and get nothing. The guard forgot the turn on the pump for the tank! Some of you maybe unfamiliar with the way water pressure functions in India. Let me enlighten you. In the US we get the water directly from the water company straight to our homes. In India, each housing unit is required to have a huge tank on the roof. When the water level gets low an alarm rings prompting the resident to turn on the water pump. Then pump then fills the tank with water. I suppose this is a water conservation attempt. Another reason is that it provides a cost effective method of creating water pressure for the building.
So on with the story. I quick get dressed and run out to the guard. I find him sleeping on the job and wake him up. In my broken Hindi I say, “Tank Water Ney”. OK.. OK.. so that’s not much of Hindi if anything that’s just one English with one word of Hindi. J The guard jumps up and wakes up one of the sleepy workers on the floor near him. It takes a while to fill up the tank so I decided to try my hand at getting on the internet. It’s been nearly a week and half since I’ve been online. I’ve hardly had any private time for myself. I’m either trying to memorize some kind of verse from the Gita, or learning some Sanskrit. There is a lot of group work around here as well. We’ve been split up into 5 groups. The groups are used to grow each other. We’ve helped each other chant, spread the word about CHYK, as well as sharing each others talents. It took me a while to figure out what my talent was. I figure I’d pick English since a good number of people need help with that in my group. Seven out of the eleven people in our group are from either Assam or Sikkim. Both of these states are found near East Indian bordering countries such as China, Nepal and Bhutan. One of them is of Mongolian decent which is a rare find for me in India.
Today I decided to change my talent to videographer. Everyone in the ashram has given me the name, Media Man. They see that I have all the fancy gadgets with me such as voice recorder, laptop, digital camera, and video camcorder. The leader of the group shared my enthusiasm about shooting a documentary about our group. Today we took the first step by interviewing each other. I divided my videographer class with 3 roles, Camera person, Interviewer, and Interviewee. Each person had the opportunity to play all 3 roles. The class was a great teaching tool in helping their confident in English. Simi, our group leader, has had some confidence issues with her English lately. Today she put her fear away in front of the camera and did a flawless job in her interviewing. I was quite surprised she never tried to speak in Hindi or Assamese. She has taken up the sadana of improving her English and asked me to help her. So everyday between 4:15 pm to 5:15 pm I will be holding an English Improvement class. I haven’t English formally however I have some ideas. We’ll see how that goes. J
After dinner, we had reflection time to ponder over our last few days. Swamiji decided monitor for any talkers in the group. He paced back and forth in the court yard near the boys hostel. A couple of Sikkim guys were making some noise in their room. Swamji made a bee line right to their room. He asked who all was in that room. Sham one of the guys just walking around named all the Sikkim people. Swamji started scolded them left and right. I assumed it was due to their volume but I keep hearing the word chicken being thrown around. Turns out Swamji found out that a local hut called Happy Spot was providing them with chicken. This action is a serious violation of the ashram’s rules. Absolutely, no non-vegetarian food is allowed on the premises. Swamji blasted everyone in the room with a dose of discipline. He’s policy is if you even come to know that your room is of possession of such counter band then you must report it immediately or you are just a guilty as the offender. He ordered that everyone in the room leave by 4am the next day. Everyone in room pleaded with Swamji to reconsider, but he stood firm as a rock. Then Abeshiek decided to go to Swamji to just take the fall just so the others could at least stay. As of now it just seems that Abeshiek is leaving in the morning.
24 Hour Lock up!
Monday, June 15th, 2009
Swamiji announced today that each YEPer in the course would go through a 24 hour lock up. I can imagine your first question, “What the heck is that?” Well it’s where they leave in the room empty handed and lock you up in there for 24 hours. You aren’t allowed to turn on the light and only the fan is permitted to be on. For dinner some fruits will be provided through the window and in the morning you will get 4 biscuits (known as cookies back home). Those better be some awesome biscuits! I don’t usually eat cookies unless they are soft and awesome. I could go for some of Thao’s choco chip cookies right now. Mmmmm.. ok.. enough daydreaming. So it seems like I’m going into a dungeon. Minimal food and lots of alone time to think about life. It will be interesting to observe how the mind will react to this lock up. I’m somewhat looking forward to this. The only part that I’m not too keen on is not being able to turn on the lights at night. The room is actually quite far from everyone else. I don’t think anyone would be able to hear you even if you were to yell. Also with the all the paranormal stories that people have been experiencing around here (or so they claim) doesn’t help the issue either. Swamiji just laughs whenever someone talks about paranormal activity. It’s quite silly no doubt. There have been many doors here that just open and close due to the window. People also claim to hear women crying in the boy’s hostile. It’s quite funny how the mind plays tricks on people. All right friends it’s time for me to hit the sack.
Swamiji announced today that each YEPer in the course would go through a 24 hour lock up. I can imagine your first question, “What the heck is that?” Well it’s where they leave in the room empty handed and lock you up in there for 24 hours. You aren’t allowed to turn on the light and only the fan is permitted to be on. For dinner some fruits will be provided through the window and in the morning you will get 4 biscuits (known as cookies back home). Those better be some awesome biscuits! I don’t usually eat cookies unless they are soft and awesome. I could go for some of Thao’s choco chip cookies right now. Mmmmm.. ok.. enough daydreaming. So it seems like I’m going into a dungeon. Minimal food and lots of alone time to think about life. It will be interesting to observe how the mind will react to this lock up. I’m somewhat looking forward to this. The only part that I’m not too keen on is not being able to turn on the lights at night. The room is actually quite far from everyone else. I don’t think anyone would be able to hear you even if you were to yell. Also with the all the paranormal stories that people have been experiencing around here (or so they claim) doesn’t help the issue either. Swamiji just laughs whenever someone talks about paranormal activity. It’s quite silly no doubt. There have been many doors here that just open and close due to the window. People also claim to hear women crying in the boy’s hostile. It’s quite funny how the mind plays tricks on people. All right friends it’s time for me to hit the sack.
On to Pune! Spread CHYK! Spread Chinmaya Udgosh
Saturday, June 13th, 2009
It’s 5:30AM and I’m feeling much better but left with a slight headache. The doctor instructs me to stay in bed and rest until it’s time to leave for Pune. Our group is tasked with selling Chinmaya Udgosh magazine subscriptions. Chinmaya Udgosh is an international magazine with many Vedantic and empowering articles for the youth. We also had to register as many youngsters for CHYK classes. We ended up getting about 20 CHYK registrations and zero subscriptions. I didn’t do so well in getting youngster to sign up. Perhaps they didn’t understand my accent. It also didn’t help that I was posted near a Muslim mosque. Most enjoyed the message but turned away once they felt it was of Hindu influence. I don’t blam
e them but our message was one of the same. We are here to only empower the youth to reach their highest potential regardless of what their religious beliefs are. It’s a spiritual message not a religious one. I rather disheartened with our result but we can only do our best. I can only imagine what Gurudev went through in the very same city some 60 years ago. Pune was the location of his first lectures. Only about 3 to 4 people showed up to his lectures and eventually his numbers grow world wide.
I finished off the day hanging out at the mall where they were trying to sell India’s Number 1 energy drink, Cloud 9. How can they make this claim? Lol. Is it Indian’s first energy drink? India has changed quite. It’s becoming so much more western than I left it 9 years ago. I fear the youth will forget their roots and their own Indian rich culture in exchange for a Hollywood fantasy culture that they perceive to be true in every day movies. We can only do our best and leave the rest.
It’s 5:30AM and I’m feeling much better but left with a slight headache. The doctor instructs me to stay in bed and rest until it’s time to leave for Pune. Our group is tasked with selling Chinmaya Udgosh magazine subscriptions. Chinmaya Udgosh is an international magazine with many Vedantic and empowering articles for the youth. We also had to register as many youngsters for CHYK classes. We ended up getting about 20 CHYK registrations and zero subscriptions. I didn’t do so well in getting youngster to sign up. Perhaps they didn’t understand my accent. It also didn’t help that I was posted near a Muslim mosque. Most enjoyed the message but turned away once they felt it was of Hindu influence. I don’t blam
e them but our message was one of the same. We are here to only empower the youth to reach their highest potential regardless of what their religious beliefs are. It’s a spiritual message not a religious one. I rather disheartened with our result but we can only do our best. I can only imagine what Gurudev went through in the very same city some 60 years ago. Pune was the location of his first lectures. Only about 3 to 4 people showed up to his lectures and eventually his numbers grow world wide.I finished off the day hanging out at the mall where they were trying to sell India’s Number 1 energy drink, Cloud 9. How can they make this claim? Lol. Is it Indian’s first energy drink? India has changed quite. It’s becoming so much more western than I left it 9 years ago. I fear the youth will forget their roots and their own Indian rich culture in exchange for a Hollywood fantasy culture that they perceive to be true in every day movies. We can only do our best and leave the rest.
My Painful Sickness
Friday, June 12th, 2009
I’ve been sick most of the day, since 11:30am to be exact. I have a feeling one of the water filters aren’t working so well. My stomach feels twisted every time I change position in bed. I’m plan on sticking with boiled water, roti, and buttermilk until I get better. I’m already feeling better here. My roommate is actually a 23 year old doctor so I’m in good hands., or…. am I? He advises me to not take any pills for my diarrhea and claims that I need to eliminate whatever bug that’s in my body this way. I’m thinking man, are you mad? I’m dying here! Give me the meds fool! In all honestly, he is a great guy I just didn’t agree with the slow painful way of getting better. After a while I just couldn’t take it! I asked Naveen, from Hong Kong, about his experience with his sickness and the doctor. He advises me to not listen to the advice and provides me with some illegal drugs called imodium. J I felt like a new man in an hour and comfy as a teddy bear in bed. The chyks here have been really nice. A telugu chyk from Tripathi, Malika-Arjun has actually been taking very good care of me by bringing water and dinner to my room. Tomorrow, we are supposed to go to Pune to spread word about YEP course and the Chinmaya Mission. I hope to get some shopping done too.
I’ve been sick most of the day, since 11:30am to be exact. I have a feeling one of the water filters aren’t working so well. My stomach feels twisted every time I change position in bed. I’m plan on sticking with boiled water, roti, and buttermilk until I get better. I’m already feeling better here. My roommate is actually a 23 year old doctor so I’m in good hands., or…. am I? He advises me to not take any pills for my diarrhea and claims that I need to eliminate whatever bug that’s in my body this way. I’m thinking man, are you mad? I’m dying here! Give me the meds fool! In all honestly, he is a great guy I just didn’t agree with the slow painful way of getting better. After a while I just couldn’t take it! I asked Naveen, from Hong Kong, about his experience with his sickness and the doctor. He advises me to not listen to the advice and provides me with some illegal drugs called imodium. J I felt like a new man in an hour and comfy as a teddy bear in bed. The chyks here have been really nice. A telugu chyk from Tripathi, Malika-Arjun has actually been taking very good care of me by bringing water and dinner to my room. Tomorrow, we are supposed to go to Pune to spread word about YEP course and the Chinmaya Mission. I hope to get some shopping done too.
Chennai CHYK Remembered and more
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
This morning Swamiji left for Chennai for his cousin’s funeral. He was an active CHYK that was very close to Swamiji. I believe his name was Vijay. The day seemed less stressful than usual. Sattvji took on Taavah Boah in the morning class. In the evening, we were required to observe silence from 8:45pm and then head to our rooms by 9:30pm. This was truly a blessing since our team leader wanted to have a meeting after dinner. It’s been really difficult to get quiet time ever since I’ve been put into these groups. Thank god they sanctioned the reflective time. :)
This morning Swamiji left for Chennai for his cousin’s funeral. He was an active CHYK that was very close to Swamiji. I believe his name was Vijay. The day seemed less stressful than usual. Sattvji took on Taavah Boah in the morning class. In the evening, we were required to observe silence from 8:45pm and then head to our rooms by 9:30pm. This was truly a blessing since our team leader wanted to have a meeting after dinner. It’s been really difficult to get quiet time ever since I’ve been put into these groups. Thank god they sanctioned the reflective time. :)
Sick Students and Sanskrit
Tuesday , June 9th.
This morning we have at least 3 to 4 people sick. I just received news that Naveen isn’t able to keep liquids down and is throwing up bile. The Yuva Veer doctor is my roommate. There were several people his morning knocking on my door one of the other.
He is a busy man this morning. I’m luck in a sense that the doctor isn’t too far if I’m ever in need of some medical attention. In the night I stayed up until midnight finishing up my Sanskrit homework. I think it’s pretty much my most challenging class. I’m writing the c
haracters correctly however the pronunciations of the letters are proving difficult. I’m confident that I’ll eventually get it however. The Sanskrit books came with an interactive CD. It seems to be helping quite a bit. I feel like a second grader again watching cartoons instructing me on how to write Sanskrit and then writing each character with attempted precision.
This morning we have at least 3 to 4 people sick. I just received news that Naveen isn’t able to keep liquids down and is throwing up bile. The Yuva Veer doctor is my roommate. There were several people his morning knocking on my door one of the other.
He is a busy man this morning. I’m luck in a sense that the doctor isn’t too far if I’m ever in need of some medical attention. In the night I stayed up until midnight finishing up my Sanskrit homework. I think it’s pretty much my most challenging class. I’m writing the c
haracters correctly however the pronunciations of the letters are proving difficult. I’m confident that I’ll eventually get it however. The Sanskrit books came with an interactive CD. It seems to be helping quite a bit. I feel like a second grader again watching cartoons instructing me on how to write Sanskrit and then writing each character with attempted precision.One Week of YEP
Monday, June 8th, 2009
I’ve been at Chinmaya Viboothi for a week now. So many stories to tell but only a few can make the cut to the blog since my time is limited. Every now and then I’ll have a post on one particular routine that I often on the ashram but not at home. I’ve been attempting to get internet through a company called “Idea”. I’m still having trouble connecting to the internet. I’ll have to call
customer service in India. I guess the run around here is quite common.
It’s only been a week on the ashram yet I feel like I’ve been here at least a month. I already feel that I’ve known the friends here for a life time. It’s interesting how I always seem to get the same feeling whenever I meet other chyks in other regions. Even though our languages are different that doesn’t seem to change our wavelength. There have been so many classes and activities going on that at times it seems a bit overwhelming. I’m learning a lot no doubt but my body needs to catch up with my mind a bit. :) I’ve been nursing a pretty good headache for the last two days. I guess sleeping at 10:30pm and getting up at 4:45am could be the probable cause. That’s not even 8 hours of sleep! Wowsers! My first Sunday was nice and relaxing. I spend some time with my group learning chanting and setting up our activities for the week. We have to teach our talent to each other. I picked communication and acting since most of the Indians here need some help with their English and acting is just another fun way to do it. Last Thursday, June 4th, we had a sharamayagna in the after. This activity usually involves some kind of physical activity around the ashram. We start off transporting likta japas fr
om the main office (swagatam) to a room near the site of the new Ganesha Temple. Likta japas are mantras that devotees around the world have written in books as form of purification of the mind. They will use these books as the foundation for the new Ganesha Temple that will be constructed in the back of Chinmaya Viboothi (the Ashram). Afterwards we all crammed in the back of the auto riksha and had a pretty fun time. Here is the video of that.
Once we got back we were put on brick scrubbing duty near Swagatam (the front office). The exterior is made of this black stone that has accumulated some kind of white limestone like residue. We tried our best in scrubbing the brick. In some areas were successful in others not so much. That stuff doesn’t come off so easy. In the process some of us managed to get wet as well. :)
On Friday, June 5th, we visited Chinmaya Jeevan Darshan. Chinmaya Jeevan Darshan is pretty much a museum about Gurudev’s (Swami Chinmayanada’s) life from birth to samadhi. Swamis don’t ever die they attend samadhi. Even though their body doesn’t exist they live on eternally. I was a duck in water at the museum. I grew up with gurudev until his samadhi in 1993. He was pretty much like a grandfather to me. However, I never understood his glory until entered this place. There were beautiful murals and video
s that answered your every question about life. They also kept a wax figure of him in a 24 hour air conditioned room. It was amazing! It was as if he was there alive before my eyes. Well in some sense you could say he has always been alive.
I was there nearly 2 hours but still didn’t have enough time to see everything. They had to pretty much kick me out since I was so engrossed in every minuet detail. Chinmaya Jevan Dharshan is a must see for all. I’ll be back
there no doubt since it’s located on the on the ashram.
I’ve been at Chinmaya Viboothi for a week now. So many stories to tell but only a few can make the cut to the blog since my time is limited. Every now and then I’ll have a post on one particular routine that I often on the ashram but not at home. I’ve been attempting to get internet through a company called “Idea”. I’m still having trouble connecting to the internet. I’ll have to call
customer service in India. I guess the run around here is quite common.It’s only been a week on the ashram yet I feel like I’ve been here at least a month. I already feel that I’ve known the friends here for a life time. It’s interesting how I always seem to get the same feeling whenever I meet other chyks in other regions. Even though our languages are different that doesn’t seem to change our wavelength. There have been so many classes and activities going on that at times it seems a bit overwhelming. I’m learning a lot no doubt but my body needs to catch up with my mind a bit. :) I’ve been nursing a pretty good headache for the last two days. I guess sleeping at 10:30pm and getting up at 4:45am could be the probable cause. That’s not even 8 hours of sleep! Wowsers! My first Sunday was nice and relaxing. I spend some time with my group learning chanting and setting up our activities for the week. We have to teach our talent to each other. I picked communication and acting since most of the Indians here need some help with their English and acting is just another fun way to do it. Last Thursday, June 4th, we had a sharamayagna in the after. This activity usually involves some kind of physical activity around the ashram. We start off transporting likta japas fr
om the main office (swagatam) to a room near the site of the new Ganesha Temple. Likta japas are mantras that devotees around the world have written in books as form of purification of the mind. They will use these books as the foundation for the new Ganesha Temple that will be constructed in the back of Chinmaya Viboothi (the Ashram). Afterwards we all crammed in the back of the auto riksha and had a pretty fun time. Here is the video of that.
Once we got back we were put on brick scrubbing duty near Swagatam (the front office). The exterior is made of this black stone that has accumulated some kind of white limestone like residue. We tried our best in scrubbing the brick. In some areas were successful in others not so much. That stuff doesn’t come off so easy. In the process some of us managed to get wet as well. :)
On Friday, June 5th, we visited Chinmaya Jeevan Darshan. Chinmaya Jeevan Darshan is pretty much a museum about Gurudev’s (Swami Chinmayanada’s) life from birth to samadhi. Swamis don’t ever die they attend samadhi. Even though their body doesn’t exist they live on eternally. I was a duck in water at the museum. I grew up with gurudev until his samadhi in 1993. He was pretty much like a grandfather to me. However, I never understood his glory until entered this place. There were beautiful murals and video
s that answered your every question about life. They also kept a wax figure of him in a 24 hour air conditioned room. It was amazing! It was as if he was there alive before my eyes. Well in some sense you could say he has always been alive.I was there nearly 2 hours but still didn’t have enough time to see everything. They had to pretty much kick me out since I was so engrossed in every minuet detail. Chinmaya Jevan Dharshan is a must see for all. I’ll be back
there no doubt since it’s located on the on the ashram.Friday, June 19, 2009
The Trail to Viboothi
May, 31st, 2009
I need to back track to my trip from Hyderabad to Mumbai and my few hours before heading to Viboothi. The Hyderabad airport was pretty fancy looking. My flight was slightly delayed so I had some time to look around. There were bookstores, coffee shops, and even a modern idli sambar stand.
I also noticed how the girls are wearing jeans here now. That wasn’t the case 10 years ago. I told my sister about it before heading to Mumbai and she was rather surprised. She asked me what the typical Indian girl is wearing now so I just took a random shot for her. Here ya go sis.
My flight finally started to board 45 minutes late. I grabbed my boarding pass and made my way to the gate. You get a pretty cool 360 view from the jet way. I haven’t seen any kind of construction like that before.
My driver picked me up and I asked him to stop by Sandeepany in Powai. I haven’t been there in about 15 years. It looked smaller than what I remembered. I heard that Vivekji was staying there so I thought I’d pay him a surprise visit. He showed me around the place and introduced me to disciples that are in the current brahmachari course batch. It was interesting to hear about their experiences on the ashram. Some have been there for more than a year. Vivekji showed me the room where he stayed in. I finally got a graphic
view to all the stories he told us at camp. I only had about 45 mins before I had to head to Chinmaya Viboothi. Vivekji gave me a pretty quick tour of the place before I hit the road. I hadn’t eaten anything since morning so I picked up my last meal ever before heading to Viboothi. It w
as a tandoori chicken pizza. This is the last non-veg meal I’ve had since.
So we finally tart off to Viboothi around 5pm. Viboothi is near a town called Kolwan. It’s in between Mumbai and Pune. We got lost a couple of times but finally managed to get there around 9pm. I had my first ashram meal. This picture is a typical asharam meal. You have your vegetable, roti, dhal (lentils), rice and buttermilk. I usually hate buttermilk but now I’ve grown to just love it. I’ll take about 3 or 4 shots of these. When you only have water to drink buttermilk is a refreshing change. More stories to come… Take care. J
I need to back track to my trip from Hyderabad to Mumbai and my few hours before heading to Viboothi. The Hyderabad airport was pretty fancy looking. My flight was slightly delayed so I had some time to look around. There were bookstores, coffee shops, and even a modern idli sambar stand.
I also noticed how the girls are wearing jeans here now. That wasn’t the case 10 years ago. I told my sister about it before heading to Mumbai and she was rather surprised. She asked me what the typical Indian girl is wearing now so I just took a random shot for her. Here ya go sis.
My flight finally started to board 45 minutes late. I grabbed my boarding pass and made my way to the gate. You get a pretty cool 360 view from the jet way. I haven’t seen any kind of construction like that before.
My driver picked me up and I asked him to stop by Sandeepany in Powai. I haven’t been there in about 15 years. It looked smaller than what I remembered. I heard that Vivekji was staying there so I thought I’d pay him a surprise visit. He showed me around the place and introduced me to disciples that are in the current brahmachari course batch. It was interesting to hear about their experiences on the ashram. Some have been there for more than a year. Vivekji showed me the room where he stayed in. I finally got a graphic
view to all the stories he told us at camp. I only had about 45 mins before I had to head to Chinmaya Viboothi. Vivekji gave me a pretty quick tour of the place before I hit the road. I hadn’t eaten anything since morning so I picked up my last meal ever before heading to Viboothi. It w
as a tandoori chicken pizza. This is the last non-veg meal I’ve had since.So we finally tart off to Viboothi around 5pm. Viboothi is near a town called Kolwan. It’s in between Mumbai and Pune. We got lost a couple of times but finally managed to get there around 9pm. I had my first ashram meal. This picture is a typical asharam meal. You have your vegetable, roti, dhal (lentils), rice and buttermilk. I usually hate buttermilk but now I’ve grown to just love it. I’ll take about 3 or 4 shots of these. When you only have water to drink buttermilk is a refreshing change. More stories to come… Take care. J
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
I made IT!
Friends,
Internet access has been very difficult to get on. They are still trying to get me a data card for my laptop. It's still going to take sometime. As of now I'm using the one computer that has internet access in the asharam. lol. So on the give you a small update. I've made quite a few people here. I quickly became comfortable with the Singapore Chyks, Chinmay and Kokila. It's only been 2 days here and I feel like I've been here for like 2 weeks. I can only imagine how 2.5 months are going to feel like. :) I found out soon enough that there are no laundry machines here as I was led to believe. It's alright though I did my first "load" today. Pictures are soon to come. The surrounds are very beautiful and the air is crisp. My last meal before the course was a tandoori pizza. My first meal of the program was rice, roti, and dhal. LOL Gosh what I would do for a piece of fruit? You have no idea. It's an ashram! Why can't I get some fruit in here! It's like counterband in all chinmaya mission camps for some reason? Is it the cost? I have no idea. The first day had alot of information. I'm having trouble with the chating class. It's really hard for me to by heart a new sloka in 24 hours. I will try to record the chantings from the bramachari and the hopefully play it in my sleep. I hope it works. :) Well my friends I need to get to bed soon lights out is at 10:30pm. I will have many pictures about the things I've found. here. Oh btw. I was able to meet Vivekji at Sandeepany just before I came to chimaya vibo0thi. Sushma, you are going to love the shots I got there. I hope at least.. hehe here is my daily schedule.
5:30am - 6am Exercise/ Suryanamaskar
6:30am - 6:45am Tea/ Coffee
7:00am - 8:00am Vedanta Class 1
8am - 8:30am Breakfast
9:00am - 9:45am Vedic Chanting/ Sanskirt
11:30am - 12:30pm Workshops
12:30pm - 1:30pm Lunch
3:15pm - 4:15pm Vedanta Class 2
4:15pm - 5:15pm Games / Walk Alone
5:15pm - 5:45pm Tea and Snacks
6:45pm - 8:00pm Aarti, Bhajans & Satsang
8:00pm - 9pm Dinner
10:30pm Lights out!
Internet Timings
2:00 - 3:00pm for girls
8:30pm - 9:30pm for boys
Day off on Sunday.
Internet access has been very difficult to get on. They are still trying to get me a data card for my laptop. It's still going to take sometime. As of now I'm using the one computer that has internet access in the asharam. lol. So on the give you a small update. I've made quite a few people here. I quickly became comfortable with the Singapore Chyks, Chinmay and Kokila. It's only been 2 days here and I feel like I've been here for like 2 weeks. I can only imagine how 2.5 months are going to feel like. :) I found out soon enough that there are no laundry machines here as I was led to believe. It's alright though I did my first "load" today. Pictures are soon to come. The surrounds are very beautiful and the air is crisp. My last meal before the course was a tandoori pizza. My first meal of the program was rice, roti, and dhal. LOL Gosh what I would do for a piece of fruit? You have no idea. It's an ashram! Why can't I get some fruit in here! It's like counterband in all chinmaya mission camps for some reason? Is it the cost? I have no idea. The first day had alot of information. I'm having trouble with the chating class. It's really hard for me to by heart a new sloka in 24 hours. I will try to record the chantings from the bramachari and the hopefully play it in my sleep. I hope it works. :) Well my friends I need to get to bed soon lights out is at 10:30pm. I will have many pictures about the things I've found. here. Oh btw. I was able to meet Vivekji at Sandeepany just before I came to chimaya vibo0thi. Sushma, you are going to love the shots I got there. I hope at least.. hehe here is my daily schedule.
5:30am - 6am Exercise/ Suryanamaskar
6:30am - 6:45am Tea/ Coffee
7:00am - 8:00am Vedanta Class 1
8am - 8:30am Breakfast
9:00am - 9:45am Vedic Chanting/ Sanskirt
11:30am - 12:30pm Workshops
12:30pm - 1:30pm Lunch
3:15pm - 4:15pm Vedanta Class 2
4:15pm - 5:15pm Games / Walk Alone
5:15pm - 5:45pm Tea and Snacks
6:45pm - 8:00pm Aarti, Bhajans & Satsang
8:00pm - 9pm Dinner
10:30pm Lights out!
Internet Timings
2:00 - 3:00pm for girls
8:30pm - 9:30pm for boys
Day off on Sunday.
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