BBC correspondent's reports from Cochin

[Guest guest]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3143414.stm

 

Embraced by India's hugging saint

Charles Haviland

BBC correspondent in Cochin

 

India's most famous woman guru, Mata Amritanandamayi,

whose name means "mother of absolute bliss", is

renowned for many things.

But by far the best known fact about her is that she

hugs people as a blessing and therapy.

 

The guru, also known as Amma or Mother, whose lavish

50th birthday celebrations are being held here in

Cochin, southern India, is said to have hugged at

least 21 million people in the past 30 years.

 

Her followers call the act of hugging "darshan", or

seeing, the word used by Hindus to describe an

audience with a deity.

 

Whispered words

 

But Amma's own appeal and message transcend religious

divisions.

 

I wasn't going to be near her without getting

"darshan".

 

No one who wants a hug from Amma gets refused, and if

you join a queue, you'll always get there in the end.

 

As a foreigner I was lucky enough to be pushed forward

before the main nightly hugging session began.

 

My turn came in the middle of a dance display which

Amma was sitting and watching - apparently she will

happily dispense hugs while all manner of other things

are going on around her.

 

There were a few whispered words of introduction from

her young helper, and Amma, still seated, pulled me

down towards her, nestling me between her neck and

left shoulder.

 

The thing that struck me first was her warm and

sparkling grin of greeting, and words of Malayalam,

her only language, the tongue of her native Kerala.

 

The sense of being welcomed and loved, despite being a

complete stranger, was amazing.

 

She clasped my right side and repeatedly rubbed my

left arm, murmuring into my left ear what I thought

were more words of Malayalam. It was only afterwards I

learned she was saying "darling son" in English.

 

A tiny woman less than five feet tall, she has the

firmest of embraces.

 

There were others waiting and I kept thinking I should

go - especially when she loosened her grip a little.

 

But at least twice she drew me back to her - she just

wouldn't release me.

 

Then there was time for a quick interpreted chat about

what I was doing in India and where I lived, before a

sweet was pressed into my hands and holy ash dispensed

to me.

 

And that grin never left her face.

 

'Down to earth'

 

Later, with the long queues, not everyone got as long

as I did; some only had a few seconds. Usually, I was

told, foreigners get longer-lasting hugs than locals.

 

Four Brazilian devotees - all 191 UN member states

were represented

 

In a recent interview Amma was asked why she hugs.

 

"It is like asking a river why it flows," she said.

 

"That is my character. My karma (destiny) is to

console those who are sad."

 

For one of her devotees, Rob Sidon from the United

States, the hug creates an opening into one's "higher

self".

 

"I feel my heart opens and some of the thoughts I had

maybe just fade away," he says.

 

Another follower says: "Her hug was not just physical

contact but a divine one and I could feel the positive

energy she radiated. She was brimming with joy and

love."

 

But I was told by another friend and devotee of Amma

that she tends to brush aside the frequent tendency of

her followers to liken her to a goddess.

 

"She's incredibly down to earth, very practical," he

told me.

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3143026.stm

 

Indian president denounces poverty

 

By Charles Haviland

BBC correspondent in Cochin

 

 

Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam has joined one of

India's best-known religious gurus, Mata

Amritanandamayi, in an outspoken denunciation of

poverty.

They shared a platform at a gathering of prominent

business executives in the southern city of Cochin.

 

It was part of a massive four-day celebration for the

50th birthday of the guru, popularly known as Amma

(Mother).

 

Amma, who has hundreds of thousands of devotees around

the world, described poverty as "the great enemy".

Poverty engenders acts of violence and incites youths

to terrorism, she said, even leading women into

prostitution.

 

Remarking that more than a quarter of a billion

Indians live below the poverty line, President Kalam

said hunger generates violence. An empty stomach leads

to "violence in mind and body," he said.

 

Keenly awaited

 

The meeting was called to address ways of making this

country a developed nation by 2020. For this to

happen, President Kalam said the country's economic

growth had to be doubled to a figure of nine per cent

in the coming years.

 

The two leader's appearance together had been keenly

awaited. Both talk passionately and frequently about

their visions for the future. President Abdul Kalam is

believed to be a major donor to Amma's many charitable

ventures.

 

The business leaders gathering also heard some

no-nonsense prescriptions from company chiefs about

improving the business climate in India - their recipe

for poverty reduction.

 

Sabeer Bhatia, a non-resident Indian and founder of

the Hotmail e-mail phenomenon, bluntly said the 2020

goal was "rather large".

 

His recipe for a better India was for entrepreneurship

to be encouraged and education to be made universal.

 

He declared that although the idea of money-making

night not sound agreeable, capitalism was the only

economic system that worked and India must embrace it

and reduce government interference. Technology must be

embraced and a fair legal system entrenched.

 

Medical benefits

 

SP Hinduja of the Hinduja Group said Indians based

overseas had shown their business capabilities. Those

based at home should now be given the same freedoms,

and bureaucratic delays and hurdles must be stripped

away.

 

The business meeting was one of the centrepieces of

the four days of festivities for a woman known by some

as the "hugging saint" for the therapy she gives

people by hugging them.

 

Amma's followers around the world also revere her for

the charitable works she has set up, including a

state-of-the art hospital and orphanage in Cochin,

schools and housing for the poor and a cancer hospice

in Bombay (Mumbai).

 

The number of people gathering daily at the

International Stadium here is believed to be more than

200,000 - half a million people are expected to visit

over the four days.

 

Glimpse wanted

 

Always in evidence are the hundreds of Amma's devotees

clad in white or saffron, here as volunteer cooks,

ushers, webmasters, guards, media coordinators or

drivers, both foreign and Indian.

 

Patiently waiting in the fierce and sultry sunlight

for a glimpse of Amma have been tens of thousands of

ordinary Indians, many poor and in bare feet, some

elderly or infirm.

 

For night-time musical performances, they fill the

stadium turf and stands. The guru herself is in the

audience and then, in the small hours, gives the

process of "darshan" - meeting and embracing all who

queue for it.

 

There has already been a multi-faith gathering of

religious leaders and the launch of an initiative to

improve the situation of women worldwide.

 

Friday sees the ceremonial joining of water taken from

every member state of the United Nations. Saturday

will be the finale, including 108 free weddings for

poverty-stricken couples.

 

The guest list, drawn up some time ago, has raised

some eyebrows.

 

Among those giving speeches in tribute to Amma have

been India's controversial deputy Prime Minister, LK

Advani, and its Human Resources Minister, Murli

Manohar Joshi - recently indicted by a court over the

destruction of a mosque in the town of Ayodhya 11

years ago.

 

 

 

 

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