On the morning
of the 4th of January 2015, the first Sunday of the month as well as
the New Year, a dozen enthusiastic and energetic members of the Sri Aurobindo Society,
Singapore, gathered near the Turtle Museum at the Chinese Garden to begin their
monthly group walks. This tradition is unique to the Society in Singapore and
has been occurring regularly for the past 40 years since its inception.
We began at 8am
with a few routine warm up exercises followed by chanting OM together. This simple task of chanting OM in the early
morning sunlight against a backdrop of the garden's tranquillity and greenery
was in itself refreshing and invigorating. True to its name the garden
exemplified Chinese landscaping, its architecture and culture. The Bonsai Garden,
The Twin Pagodas, The Japanese Garden, The Turtle Museum and the stone bridges
all captivated us . The meandering paths through a plethora of flora and fauna
made it a perfect paradise for joggers, picnic goers and casual strollers. We
even spotted a monitor lizard that is said to be a descendant of dinosaurs! For
those who haven’t visited the park I strongly encourage you to do so and maybe
even try climbing the Chinese Pagoda or kayaking at lakeside.
Apart from
exercise, the walk was also an excellent opportunity to meet new people, engage
in interesting conversation and make new friends. After about two hours we
moved to Kiruthika akka's house, this month's hostess where the fun and gaiety
continued all the way until noon. After meditation and prayer, we were treated
to a sumptuous brunch which was definitely the highlight of the day. From pizza
and pasta to idlis and sambhar rice I can say we were spoilt for choice, a
delicious choice at that!
All in all it
was a good beginning to the New Year and I look forward to participating in
future SAS walks! A big thank you to Ramanathan Uncle for coordinating the
walk, Kiruthika akka and family for hosting the brunch and to all those who
attended and made the day a spiritual and fun experience.
-
Kavya Ashok
*****
The
first month of the 2015 is allocated to the famous nature park, The Chinese and
The Japanese Gardens situated on the small islands of Jurong East connected by
a majestic arched bridge. Strolling along the architectural and cultural
replica of buildings and statues, we got transported to the cultural world of
China and Japan. The main characteristic of these gardens was an integration of
splendid architectural features of historical importance with natural
environment.
This
park is accessible via the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT). We assembled at a commonly
decided location and walked in small groups observing the various places of
interest all. For our first time guests, Debiprasad and Premsheela from Delhi
Ashram, it was like a short but complete view of cultural China and Japanese
environment.
The
brunch was hosted at Kiruthika's place in Bukit Batok and the entire family of
three generations equally contributed to the arrangements and sumptuous brunch
consisting of Indian and western recipes. After the Prayers and Meditation
session, we were very much attracted to watch and understand the different
technical innovations executed by Sophia and Anjali under their father's
guidance while eating our brunch.
The
gathering resembled a huge joint family and all were busy sharing and talking
to one another affectionately. We all
eagerly wait for this monthly occasion that energizes and closely bonds us together
as members of Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore.
- Sundari
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