India Diary, con't.

[Guest guest]

Jan. 8 or 9, 1:15 p.m.

 

In the balcony, watching darshan. To see Ammachi in

India with the crowds is mind-blowing, to say the

least. Thousands line up (standing) for hours and

hours waiting to get darshan. The lines go on

forever, it seems, serpentine, winding and doubled

back again and again. Last night at 1:30 or 2:00

a.m. the men's line was still about a block and a

half long.

 

What is affecting me the most at the moment is the

infirm, who are helped to Her on the shoulders of

friend (I guess). Their bodies are sometimes

grotesquely misshapen. There are no wheelchairs.

They are carried away from Her in an ordinary chair.

 

Last night and today both, M.A. was giving the

brahmacharinis who took turns serving as "first lap"

"what for." I think it's because they were letting

the women inadvertently butt her in the cheek with

their heads. I saw Her really get popped last night!

She cried out in pain. The "first lap" man was

putting the men's heads on her shoulder and holding

his hand on their heads until she was done with

them. Now the brahmacharinis seem to be holding

the women that way, too.

 

As I was coming up the stairs to the balcony, I saw

Scott and then realized that he (and everyone else)

was there waiting for Mother. So I stood there with

them, and it seemed like a long wait on my poor bare

feet, but we were rewarded with Mother's coming,

making eye contact (during which I, with my hands

in pronam position, mentally said, "Thank you for

Barbara's job.") and then holding out her hand to

touch our upheld hands as she passed. She is my

guru, this divine Ammachi, and I can hardly take it

in. I feel so much more loved and accepted by her

here in India, like a child who has come home.

 

At this moment, she's blessing a threesome of two

men and a woman (perhaps deranged?) they are

carrying between them. She takes so much time with

the handicapped ones, listening to their stories and

asking interested-looking questions. My God!! When

she started to darshan the woman, the woman grabbed

her hard around the neck (with her hair and bun),

pulling Mother's head down. There was a mad and at

first unsuccessful scramble to unloose the deranged

woman's hands. Ammachi's head disappears for a

moment--below me a woman has fainted in the temple,

is laid out flat and is being fanned by several

people--Well, the deranged woman--I don't know if

she was attacking Mother or not--was carried out

writhing, yelling, and waving her one free arm.

Ammachi at first laughed at everyone's concern, then

put her face in her hands for a moment. I thought

she seemed a little shaken. It was only for a second

or two, then back to business as usual, smiling,

loving, and blessing the multitudes.

 

One of my porchmates was saying this morning that of

the 10,000 people who came for darshan, one man

decided to go morning and evening both, and that

when he got up to Ammachi the second time she really

yelled at him!

 

This event is like a festival, and there is always

a police presence here. One very smartly attired

young officer with a brass and wooden stick stands

on or near the stage at all times. There are also

officers strolling the grounds, perhaps 5-10 acres

of ground given over to this event.

 

Well, I need to get ready for my seva, which will

be chappatti rolling (at the school). It will be

my first visit to the school.

 

10:30 p.m.

 

I asked for sitting seva but forgot that sitting in

India means sitting cross-legged on the floor. After

1/2 hour to 45 minutes of agony rolling chappattis,

I asked for a chair-sitting job and got puri dough

rolling--rolling the dough into balls to be rolled

out later. H sat by me and we talked.

 

I'm watching evening darshan. To show how rough it

is down there (especially the women brahmacharinis),

there was a little old gray-haired lady who went for

Amma's feet after her hug. Immediately the next man

(from the opposing line) was on Ammachi's shoulder

with the little old lady sandwiched in between him

and Amma's feet. From up above, it appeared she was

in there pretty tight. Well, this gold-clad

brahmacharini just reached in there and ripped this

frail-looking old woman out and pushed her down the

center exit aisle. Some of us were talking about

how rough the brahmacharinis are while we rolled

puris and just kind of shook our heads in disbelief.

The brahmacharins seem much gentler than the women.

 

The longer I'm in India the more I realize how

extraordinary it is that Amma embraces the men. As

I understand it, it is against the rules of Indian

society for men and women even to touch accidentally.

 

A woman who appears on the verge of collapse is

suddenly at Amma's knee. Without hesitation, MA

takes a bottle of water and pours some into the

woman's panting mouth. It seems to help. Then

MA does it a second and third time. Then the woman

throws her arms tightly around Amma's waist and I

wonder if this is a replay of this afternoon's

drama. However, Ammachi lets her be, and after a

long hug she lets go and appears sane. Then a

brahamacharini helped her (practically carried or

drug her) to the nearest spectator section where

the woman collapsed. I couldn't see any more because

the bright flourescent lights were between me and

them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop!

http://platinum.