Houston trip with BABA

[Guest guest]

Hi Samratchanites,

 

At last this dormant member has woken up and has thought that he could share his experiences and happy moments with the others during his trip in Houston and the greatest of greats “Siva Shankar Baba”, our God Uncle.

 

First of all, let us all thank the efforts taken by Vidya and Kalyan, in accommodating all of us in a rented guest apartment, cooking excellent food for us and driving us to San Antonio, spending a lot of money on tickets etc. We also thank wholeheartedly, Akhila for some excellent food that she packed for us although she did not join us for the picnic. We thank Sarah Reddy and her husband who drove us around and invited us for a Satsang in his place offering us very good food.

 

I, Sunil, started – of course, with a lot of enthusiasm and zeal – to Houston along with two other friends from Dallas, a 4.5 hours drive. I had decided to go to Houston before Baba arrived and to the airport but due to some unprecedented circumstances, we had to start a little late and at last we started around 6:30 p.m. We were unfortunate to meet the Lord that night since we reached around 12:30 am that night. This was due to the fact that there was a heavy storm something like a tornado that emerged from nowhere. We hadn’t listened on the radio for any weather forecast or any such warning but we started, with Baba’s name always bound to our lips. And then the unexpected happened. The storm came down cutting out our vision of the road, and the worst part was we stopped because of the storm and it stopped too, we started and it again started. It followed our actions three times and each time Baba saved us from any accident. He knew we were coming to see HIM and he took care. Why I say that he saved us was because we hadn’t even taken the collision waiver on the rental car that we drove and HE saw to that we didn’t meet with any accident. There was the “chamatkar” of the Lord even before we were there to see Him.

 

We reached Houston, but quite unfortunate not to get Darshan that night itself although I heard from others that HE had enquired about my arrival, which made me quite happy. We had an awesome dinner at Vidya and Kalyan’s place. We had to get up early the next day as we were going to the Natural Caverns (forgive me for any wrong names) at San Antonio. So Baba was up at 6:00 am on Friday and had just had a cup of coffee when I entered to see HIM and he had another cup of coffee along with me. I was enthralled to see my GOD after exactly 1.5 years of separation (although physically). It was a great experience to be with HIM and see HIM. I felt as though my spirits re-entered me. It was an inexplicable feeling, I’m sure every Samratchanite enjoys when they see our BABA after a long time. Baba started his daily Homam accompanied with some chanting of Shlokas. After the Homam, we had a round of quick breakfast prepared by Vidya and were off to our picnic in two cars. We were 11 of us. 1 car was that of Sarah Reddy’s, Dr. Reddy’s daughter and the other was that of Kalyan’s. Me and my friends traveled with Baba in Sarah Reddy’s car along with Deepa and the others Vidya, Karthik, Chapan and Bharadwaj went in Kalyan’s car.

 

At first Baba was pretty quiet in the car, until I had to ask Baba to explain His philosophy and his teachings to the new comers (my friends). Baba explained about his first and second death experiences to them and how we believed in Him, his instrument of LOVE that he used to bring people closer to Him and other interesting things. We then had to stop in the way just for some time and we had the opportunity of taking some pictures of HIM and enjoying a few jokes, here and there. We reached Natural Caverns at San Antonio after three long hours of Baba explaining and enlightening my friends. We had some photographs of Baba taken outside the caverns, as we had to wait for about 20 minutes before the next tour through these mammoth caves. These caves have an Indian origin and have an 8000-year-old history. We started our tour with the guide heading our line. She seemed to know in and out of the caves and just briefed us on the caves before we entered. The path in the caves was pretty damp due to the previous day’s rains but not too slippery though. Looking at all the stalactites and the stalagmites and the shapes that they formed, Baba told us that these caves could be the place where the devatas of the Patalaka Loka resided. The shapes were more of snakes. The three young Americans who had excavated these caves had kept strange names like “Fried egg”, “Mountain of the giants”, “Kings throne” etc. for most of the structures, but we Samratchanites, could only see shapes of Siva, Vinayaka including Panchamukha Vinayaka along with Hanuman and Shakthi and a lot of snakes and Annapakshi forms. Baba had to finally ask the guide whether they had found any snakes in the caves ever, but the guide said that they hadn’t. We enjoyed this ¾ th mile walk. We took many pictures of Baba and the shapes of the stalactites, which will be posted at a later date. Chapan has also taken a video of what all we saw and what all Baba saw these structures to be.

 

We had our lunch prepared solely by Akhila (Venkatraman uncle’s daughter) and started at our next picnic spot, River walk at downtown San Antonio. This was a 1-hour drive from the Caverns. We enjoyed every moment that we were with HIM. River walk is a mall built amidst a river or maybe you could call it a channel and we could either walk along the river or just take a ride on a boat. We preferred the boat, which was a 35-minute ride. We enjoyed the scenic beauty of this pretty ancient place. There was a revolving restaurant that we admired and other historic buildings that caught our attention. After the boat ride, we went for a cup of coffee to Starbucks. Baba was “gossiping” with us, telling us about the movies he had seen in the recent past. The way back home was pretty tiring as all of us went off to sleep. In the middle, Baba had to swap places with Bharadwaj and He traveled this time in Kalyan’s car. We reached home quite late and everyone hit the bed due to the day’s fatigue.

 

The next morning we were allowed to get up late. Bharadwaj and Vidya made Rava idlis. Ramana and Jyothi along with another couple (I think Anna Nagar Jayanthi’s sister and husband) joined us on Saturday morning. After relishing the idlis, Baba started his Homam and we then were off for Satsang at Sarah Reddy’s place. The Satsang started with some songs of Satya Sai Baba and Shirdi Sai Baba (meaning that Baba accepts songs on any Mahaan) and then Ramana sang one song on praise of our Baba. Baba then showed the crowd the documentary on Kelambakkam in its new form. We had a question and answer session after that, where two or three people (new comers) asked him some questions and as usual, he answered in the simplest of manners that any layman can understand. He had to rush for his flight, so after the lunch at Sarah Reddy’s place we went back home. Baba had rest for some time and He then visited Akhila’s place for a light tiffin and came rushing to the airport. We were there with our Lord for an hour listening to the last pieces of humor and we then bid farewell to Baba. We were sad but had to accept that He was leaving us.

 

It felt as if our He brought back our spirits when He came and took it back with Him when he went. It was a totally disheartening scene. These memories that I reminisce will always be cherished and will always we engraved in our mind. Unforgettable and unbelievable moments it has been. Baba has lifted our spirits though and we have been charged with a new current and this will keep us moving till it fades away and He comes back and recharges it.

 

I once again thank all the people who made this trip a success, like Vidya, Kalyan, Sarah Reddy and her husband and Akhila and family. One more point I want to add is, we got very good food throughout the trip, one of the things I enjoyed after a long long time.

 

I will post the pictures later to this group.

 

Bye for now,

 

Luv

Sunil.

Find the one for you at Personals.

[Guest guest]

Shankaram Siva Shankaram

Dear all,

It was a great privlege to spend time with baba in houston and

pleasure to host fellow devotees. Chapan & Sunil have given excellent

descriptions of the trip.So we dont want to repeat the same again.

We would like to thank Akila specifically for her wonderful dishes on

these days.Also special thanks to Saravathy reddy for the satsang

arrangements. Our special thanks to sunil, bharatwaj, chapan ,karthik

and deepa for their great help during baba's stay. We hope everyone

enjoyed their trip and hope we met their expectations on the staying

arrangements.

 

love,

Vidya &

Kalyan

[Guest guest]

Hi Kalyan,

 

This is sibi from India. I hope u remember this humble devotee of Baba.I

was really happy to note that u had the excellent BHAGYA of hosting the LORD at

U.S. How r u btw? i didnt even know that u got married!!! i knew from our

volunteers that u r in the u.s.only after i saw the magazine did i

know that u got married! belated wishes! i pray to the LOTUS FEET of the LORD u

may get all " nalams " in ur married life.

 

dear kalyan, im planning to come there next year for my higher studies.baba

also has blessed me that i would certainly come there. hope to see u there when

i come there.im busy in the process of applying to the univs.only,yesterday - on

deepavali day, we had the darshan of our " samashti divyam " at kelambakkam and my

heart and soul were filled with divine bliss.

 

 

bye,

nothing more,

i get back to u soon,

ur loving friend,

g.sibi

[Guest guest]

Sunil & Everbody,

 

Can you please send Baba's Photo as an attachment ?

It will be very helpful for people like me who have no internet access in Offices, India.

 

 

Many Thanks in advance.

 

Everloving

Vinodhini,J.

 

 

Sunil Raja [sunilr79]13 November 2001 12:36 Subject: Houston trip with BABA Hi Samratchanites,

 

At last this dormant member has woken up and has thought that he could share his experiences and happy moments with the others during his trip in Houston and the greatest of greats "Siva Shankar Baba", our God Uncle.

 

First of all, let us all thank the efforts taken by Vidya and Kalyan, in accommodating all of us in a rented guest apartment, cooking excellent food for us and driving us to San Antonio, spending a lot of money on tickets etc. We also thank wholeheartedly, Akhila for some excellent food that she packed for us although she did not join us for the picnic. We thank Sarah Reddy and her husband who drove us around and invited us for a Satsang in his place offering us very good food.

 

I, Sunil, started - of course, with a lot of enthusiasm and zeal - to Houston along with two other friends from Dallas, a 4.5 hours drive. I had decided to go to Houston before Baba arrived and to the airport but due to some unprecedented circumstances, we had to start a little late and at last we started around 6:30 p.m. We were unfortunate to meet the Lord that night since we reached around 12:30 am that night. This was due to the fact that there was a heavy storm something like a tornado that emerged from nowhere. We hadn't listened on the radio for any weather forecast or any such warning but we started, with Baba's name always bound to our lips. And then the unexpected happened. The storm came down cutting out our vision of the road, and the worst part was we stopped because of the storm and it stopped too, we started and it again started. It followed our actions three times and each time Baba saved us from any accident. He knew we were coming to see HIM and he took care. Why I say that he saved us was because we hadn't even taken the collision waiver on the rental car that we drove and HE saw to that we didn't meet with any accident. There was the "chamatkar" of the Lord even before we were there to see Him.

 

We reached Houston, but quite unfortunate not to get Darshan that night itself although I heard from others that HE had enquired about my arrival, which made me quite happy. We had an awesome dinner at Vidya and Kalyan's place. We had to get up early the next day as we were going to the Natural Caverns (forgive me for any wrong names) at San Antonio. So Baba was up at 6:00 am on Friday and had just had a cup of coffee when I entered to see HIM and he had another cup of coffee along with me. I was enthralled to see my GOD after exactly 1.5 years of separation (although physically). It was a great experience to be with HIM and see HIM. I felt as though my spirits re-entered me. It was an inexplicable feeling, I'm sure every Samratchanite enjoys when they see our BABA after a long time. Baba started his daily Homam accompanied with some chanting of Shlokas. After the Homam, we had a round of quick breakfast prepared by Vidya and were off to our picnic in two cars. We were 11 of us. 1 car was that of Sarah Reddy's, Dr. Reddy's daughter and the other was that of Kalyan's. Me and my friends traveled with Baba in Sarah Reddy's car along with Deepa and the others Vidya, Karthik, Chapan and Bharadwaj went in Kalyan's car.

 

At first Baba was pretty quiet in the car, until I had to ask Baba to explain His philosophy and his teachings to the new comers (my friends). Baba explained about his first and second death experiences to them and how we believed in Him, his instrument of LOVE that he used to bring people closer to Him and other interesting things. We then had to stop in the way just for some time and we had the opportunity of taking some pictures of HIM and enjoying a few jokes, here and there. We reached Natural Caverns at San Antonio after three long hours of Baba explaining and enlightening my friends. We had some photographs of Baba taken outside the caverns, as we had to wait for about 20 minutes before the next tour through these mammoth caves. These caves have an Indian origin and have an 8000-year-old history. We started our tour with the guide heading our line. She seemed to know in and out of the caves and just briefed us on the caves before we entered. The path in the caves was pretty damp due to the previous day's rains but not too slippery though. Looking at all the stalactites and the stalagmites and the shapes that they formed, Baba told us that these caves could be the place where the devatas of the Patalaka Loka resided. The shapes were more of snakes. The three young Americans who had excavated these caves had kept strange names like "Fried egg", "Mountain of the giants", "Kings throne" etc. for most of the structures, but we Samratchanites, could only see shapes of Siva, Vinayaka including Panchamukha Vinayaka along with Hanuman and Shakthi and a lot of snakes and Annapakshi forms. Baba had to finally ask the guide whether they had found any snakes in the caves ever, but the guide said that they hadn't. We enjoyed this ¾ th mile walk. We took many pictures of Baba and the shapes of the stalactites, which will be posted at a later date. Chapan has also taken a video of what all we saw and what all Baba saw these structures to be.

 

We had our lunch prepared solely by Akhila (Venkatraman uncle's daughter) and started at our next picnic spot, River walk at downtown San Antonio. This was a 1-hour drive from the Caverns. We enjoyed every moment that we were with HIM. River walk is a mall built amidst a river or maybe you could call it a channel and we could either walk along the river or just take a ride on a boat. We preferred the boat, which was a 35-minute ride. We enjoyed the scenic beauty of this pretty ancient place. There was a revolving restaurant that we admired and other historic buildings that caught our attention. After the boat ride, we went for a cup of coffee to Starbucks. Baba was "gossiping" with us, telling us about the movies he had seen in the recent past. The way back home was pretty tiring as all of us went off to sleep. In the middle, Baba had to swap places with Bharadwaj and He traveled this time in Kalyan's car. We reached home quite late and everyone hit the bed due to the day's fatigue.

 

The next morning we were allowed to get up late. Bharadwaj and Vidya made Rava idlis. Ramana and Jyothi along with another couple (I think Anna Nagar Jayanthi's sister and husband) joined us on Saturday morning. After relishing the idlis, Baba started his Homam and we then were off for Satsang at Sarah Reddy's place. The Satsang started with some songs of Satya Sai Baba and Shirdi Sai Baba (meaning that Baba accepts songs on any Mahaan) and then Ramana sang one song on praise of our Baba. Baba then showed the crowd the documentary on Kelambakkam in its new form. We had a question and answer session after that, where two or three people (new comers) asked him some questions and as usual, he answered in the simplest of manners that any layman can understand. He had to rush for his flight, so after the lunch at Sarah Reddy's place we went back home. Baba had rest for some time and He then visited Akhila's place for a light tiffin and came rushing to the airport. We were there with our Lord for an hour listening to the last pieces of humor and we then bid farewell to Baba. We were sad but had to accept that He was leaving us.

 

It felt as if our He brought back our spirits when He came and took it back with Him when he went. It was a totally disheartening scene. These memories that I reminisce will always be cherished and will always we engraved in our mind. Unforgettable and unbelievable moments it has been. Baba has lifted our spirits though and we have been charged with a new current and this will keep us moving till it fades away and He comes back and recharges it.

 

I once again thank all the people who made this trip a success, like Vidya, Kalyan, Sarah Reddy and her husband and Akhila and family. One more point I want to add is, we got very good food throughout the trip, one of the things I enjoyed after a long long time.

 

I will post the pictures later to this group.

 

Bye for now,

 

Luv

Sunil.

 

 

Find the one for you at Personals.