From the diary of Shashilal Kashyap…..
The Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore, decided to celebrate its 40th Anniversary by a series of events, the most significant being the trip by some of its members to Pondicherry. This took place from 30th November to 5th December 2012 and about 25 members participated. It took us about half an hours pleasure ride to reach or destination
In 1993, the Society had also made a similar trip with over 30 participants. The 100th walk took place there at that time. It was time for the 328th walk to take place in Auroville, during this trip.
The trip this time was indeed very memorable, full of exciting programmes throughout the stay. The preparations started some months back and followed through meticulously by some of our members.
The programme was very varied and we met a lot of people both at the Ashram as well as in Auroville.
Most of us stayed at the “Retreat Hotel” just adjacent to the Sri Aurobindo Society House. It was strategically and centrally situated, comfortable and very reasonably priced.
Upon our arrival the very first programme was to go for meditation in the late evening at the Samadhi. The place was very crowded with several Ashramites and us. There was pin drop silence throughout the meditation.
The next day was indeed very busy with various activities especially in the morning. We gathered at the Society House where we met Mr. Pradeep Narang and Mr. Manoj Das both of whom gave very interesting talks. This was followed by myself making a DVD slide presentation showcasing photos depicting the activities of the Sri Aurobindo Society Singapore from 1985 to 2012. Being fond of taking photographs, I have in my possession over 4,000 photos of our activities. However because of time constraint I had to carefully select the most important and interesting ones totalling just over 400. The presentation of these photos alone took almost 40 minutes.
The third day was again busy. We boarded the bus in very early morning and arrived at Auroville for a small breakfast before starting our 328th Morning Walk which took us right up to Matrimandir. While in Singapore I had been suffering from a lower back pain which some what resisted my movements. However I was so surprised that I was able to walk for almost 40 minutes up to Matrimandir without any pain. It was almost miraculous.
The visit to Matrimandir and especially the Inner Chamber was indeed the supreme highlight of our trip. Some of us were not sure if we would be allowed to go to the Inner Chamber because the regulations there were that they only allowed visitors to go there on the second visit and not the first. However after some negotiations all of us without exception were specially allowed to enter the Inner Chamber. The ambiance and feeling inside the Inner Chamber is very wonderful indeed, full of strong spiritual vibrations. I came out of the Chamber very emotionally charged.
The visit to Matrimandir was followed by a lunch at the Solar Kitchen, Auroville, hosted by Devdutt and Varsha. The venue was huge and it was meant for communal dining by the people settled in Auroville. I was told that the population of Auroville was over 2400.
In the evening we all went to the Sports Ground. On 2nd December every year there is a very special show lasting almost 3 hours in which a very large number of persons young and old participate in various sports activities. The Mother used to witness the whole show from a special stand. The empty chair where the Mother sat was still there for everyone to see. It was a very good experience watching the whole show which was conducted with great precision and grandeur.
The next day 3rd December in the morning we made a visit to Sri Aurobindo Room and also did meditation. It was a strongly charged spiritual experience to be in the actual room where Sri Aurobindo had spent so many years of his life doing intense yoga and writing profusely.
We adjourned to the Society House to hear a lecture and then adjourned for collective lunch at the Dining Hall. Taking lunch there was another unforgettable experience. The place is where many of the Ashramites take their breakfast, lunch and dinner. One can buy a coupon for all three meals for a total of only Rs 20/-. The meals comprise basic but highly nutritious food.
The next programme was a trip by bus in the afternoon to a lovely beach which was a few kilometres away from where we lived. It was indeed as good as a beach could be with clean lovely sand and very high waves. Everyone was in a mood to get into the water some fully clothed. Others were busy taking photos.
For dinner we were in a nice place called The Atithi Hotel. Dinner was hosted by Sundari. It was incidentally her 59th birthday and we celebrated it in style and good food.
We were now coming almost to the final phase of our trip. The fifth day 4th December was again quite active. Lunch was hosted at a beautiful restaurant by Anjana and Kalu Sarkar. We then took the bus to Auroville to visit a farm operated by Laxman Behn. It was indeed a large farm and after the tour we were taken to a shop within the farm to purchase all kinds of packaged food items including essential oils. From there we drove to “Savitri Bhavan” a very beautiful eomplex. One of the highlights of our visit there was to participate in the “Om Choir”. We were all well acquainted with a background experience of the Choir as we have done this several times at the Singapore Centre. However to do the same for almost forty five minutes with a much larger audience of almost seventy participants comprising residents of Auroville with well-trained voices and us was quite another experience.
The final sixth day of our trip concluded with a very early morning visit to Sri Aurobindo room. It was Darshan Day which comes only once a year. After that we all were on our own to organize and return back to Singapore.
To sum up, it was indeed a very deep spiritual journey for all of us. We went to the very source where Sri Aurobindo and the Mother spent their life. We together participated in so many activities. Besides the spiritual experience the trip also created a strong bond between the participants like a large extended family. I feel that those who did not join this trip have indeed missed out on a very wonderful experience.
Shashi Lal Kashyap
From the diary of Pradeeptha…..
Never had any of my previous visits to Pondicherry been as memorable as this trip had been. Sri Aurobindo Society Singapore has been an integral part of my life. So visiting the Ashram with so many of our members was a beautiful experience. The whole atmosphere of our first gathering near the Samadhi for meditation brought about in me a sense of calm. On the second day, while watching Sashi uncle’s presentation of photos from our society’s many walks and activities, I was reminded of how much I had grown as an individual – from the one and a half year old that I had been on my first walk to the sixteen year old that I am now.
Some amazing experiences for me were our trips down to Savitri Bhavan for the OM Choir and to “Stillness” where we met Maggi (who used to be Mother’s personal secretary). Also Sports Display had been an entirely new experience for me. Here in Singapore schools, we simply had Sports Day where the final rounds of the various games would take place and a particular House would emerge overall champion. There it had been a parade of sorts with music being a fundamental part of the display. While they had some typical sports like Football, Athletics, and Gymnastics they also had segments like Movements on Platform and other dance routines in their sports day display.
Whether it was the meditation at the Maatri Mandir or simply laying down on the grass at the beautifully designed garden of Park Guest House, the trip gave me so many opportunities to pause and think of what I had accomplished and what I wanted to continue doing in my life. This visit would certainly be one that I would not forget.
- Pradeeptha
The Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore, decided to celebrate its 40th Anniversary by a series of events, the most significant being the trip by some of its members to Pondicherry. This took place from 30th November to 5th December 2012 and about 25 members participated. It took us about half an hours pleasure ride to reach or destination
In 1993, the Society had also made a similar trip with over 30 participants. The 100th walk took place there at that time. It was time for the 328th walk to take place in Auroville, during this trip.
The trip this time was indeed very memorable, full of exciting programmes throughout the stay. The preparations started some months back and followed through meticulously by some of our members.
The programme was very varied and we met a lot of people both at the Ashram as well as in Auroville.
Most of us stayed at the “Retreat Hotel” just adjacent to the Sri Aurobindo Society House. It was strategically and centrally situated, comfortable and very reasonably priced.
Upon our arrival the very first programme was to go for meditation in the late evening at the Samadhi. The place was very crowded with several Ashramites and us. There was pin drop silence throughout the meditation.
The next day was indeed very busy with various activities especially in the morning. We gathered at the Society House where we met Mr. Pradeep Narang and Mr. Manoj Das both of whom gave very interesting talks. This was followed by myself making a DVD slide presentation showcasing photos depicting the activities of the Sri Aurobindo Society Singapore from 1985 to 2012. Being fond of taking photographs, I have in my possession over 4,000 photos of our activities. However because of time constraint I had to carefully select the most important and interesting ones totalling just over 400. The presentation of these photos alone took almost 40 minutes.
The third day was again busy. We boarded the bus in very early morning and arrived at Auroville for a small breakfast before starting our 328th Morning Walk which took us right up to Matrimandir. While in Singapore I had been suffering from a lower back pain which some what resisted my movements. However I was so surprised that I was able to walk for almost 40 minutes up to Matrimandir without any pain. It was almost miraculous.
The visit to Matrimandir and especially the Inner Chamber was indeed the supreme highlight of our trip. Some of us were not sure if we would be allowed to go to the Inner Chamber because the regulations there were that they only allowed visitors to go there on the second visit and not the first. However after some negotiations all of us without exception were specially allowed to enter the Inner Chamber. The ambiance and feeling inside the Inner Chamber is very wonderful indeed, full of strong spiritual vibrations. I came out of the Chamber very emotionally charged.
The visit to Matrimandir was followed by a lunch at the Solar Kitchen, Auroville, hosted by Devdutt and Varsha. The venue was huge and it was meant for communal dining by the people settled in Auroville. I was told that the population of Auroville was over 2400.
In the evening we all went to the Sports Ground. On 2nd December every year there is a very special show lasting almost 3 hours in which a very large number of persons young and old participate in various sports activities. The Mother used to witness the whole show from a special stand. The empty chair where the Mother sat was still there for everyone to see. It was a very good experience watching the whole show which was conducted with great precision and grandeur.
The next day 3rd December in the morning we made a visit to Sri Aurobindo Room and also did meditation. It was a strongly charged spiritual experience to be in the actual room where Sri Aurobindo had spent so many years of his life doing intense yoga and writing profusely.
We adjourned to the Society House to hear a lecture and then adjourned for collective lunch at the Dining Hall. Taking lunch there was another unforgettable experience. The place is where many of the Ashramites take their breakfast, lunch and dinner. One can buy a coupon for all three meals for a total of only Rs 20/-. The meals comprise basic but highly nutritious food.
The next programme was a trip by bus in the afternoon to a lovely beach which was a few kilometres away from where we lived. It was indeed as good as a beach could be with clean lovely sand and very high waves. Everyone was in a mood to get into the water some fully clothed. Others were busy taking photos.
For dinner we were in a nice place called The Atithi Hotel. Dinner was hosted by Sundari. It was incidentally her 59th birthday and we celebrated it in style and good food.
We were now coming almost to the final phase of our trip. The fifth day 4th December was again quite active. Lunch was hosted at a beautiful restaurant by Anjana and Kalu Sarkar. We then took the bus to Auroville to visit a farm operated by Laxman Behn. It was indeed a large farm and after the tour we were taken to a shop within the farm to purchase all kinds of packaged food items including essential oils. From there we drove to “Savitri Bhavan” a very beautiful eomplex. One of the highlights of our visit there was to participate in the “Om Choir”. We were all well acquainted with a background experience of the Choir as we have done this several times at the Singapore Centre. However to do the same for almost forty five minutes with a much larger audience of almost seventy participants comprising residents of Auroville with well-trained voices and us was quite another experience.
The final sixth day of our trip concluded with a very early morning visit to Sri Aurobindo room. It was Darshan Day which comes only once a year. After that we all were on our own to organize and return back to Singapore.
To sum up, it was indeed a very deep spiritual journey for all of us. We went to the very source where Sri Aurobindo and the Mother spent their life. We together participated in so many activities. Besides the spiritual experience the trip also created a strong bond between the participants like a large extended family. I feel that those who did not join this trip have indeed missed out on a very wonderful experience.
Shashi Lal Kashyap
From the diary of Pradeeptha…..
Never had any of my previous visits to Pondicherry been as memorable as this trip had been. Sri Aurobindo Society Singapore has been an integral part of my life. So visiting the Ashram with so many of our members was a beautiful experience. The whole atmosphere of our first gathering near the Samadhi for meditation brought about in me a sense of calm. On the second day, while watching Sashi uncle’s presentation of photos from our society’s many walks and activities, I was reminded of how much I had grown as an individual – from the one and a half year old that I had been on my first walk to the sixteen year old that I am now.
Some amazing experiences for me were our trips down to Savitri Bhavan for the OM Choir and to “Stillness” where we met Maggi (who used to be Mother’s personal secretary). Also Sports Display had been an entirely new experience for me. Here in Singapore schools, we simply had Sports Day where the final rounds of the various games would take place and a particular House would emerge overall champion. There it had been a parade of sorts with music being a fundamental part of the display. While they had some typical sports like Football, Athletics, and Gymnastics they also had segments like Movements on Platform and other dance routines in their sports day display.
Whether it was the meditation at the Maatri Mandir or simply laying down on the grass at the beautifully designed garden of Park Guest House, the trip gave me so many opportunities to pause and think of what I had accomplished and what I wanted to continue doing in my life. This visit would certainly be one that I would not forget.
- Pradeeptha
No comments:
Post a Comment