My Master's Promise

Once, I was travelling with Guruji in the hills. We were visiting many temples that day, 

one after another. It so happened that every time, He would step into His car, I would 

be around to shut the car door for Him. After a few times, I could not hold myself back 

and casually mentioned it to Him, “Guruji, I am closing the door every time for you”. 

With a beautiful smile, he instantly replied, “but I will make sure that all doors remain 

open for you” and drove off. 

After becoming an Art of Living teacher, Guruji told me to start travelling in the rural 

interiors of Himachal Pradesh. He could feel the hidden fear and hesitation I had that time. 

Then one day, He sat me down, looked at me and said, “from now on where ever you go 

on this earth, you will find a home better than yours and a family more loving than yours. 

That is my promise. You just focus on bringing good to others and you shall be 

completely taken care of. Just go out there and know so many people are waiting for you”.

He kept His promise. In 10 years of traveling as an AOL teacher, I have met thousands of 

people from diverse cultures, lives, traditions and values. Each one has added to my 

extended family. I have received immense love and respect from everyone I met and continue to.

In a happy place....

              The Navratri Homas began today. Ganesh Homa being the first one. 
As always, ashram is bustling with colourful clothes, bangles, mehndi, happy shinning bright faces from all over the world. At the moment we have about 1200 internationals and more than 3000 from different states of India.
The festivities and celebrations here transport you to some other world.


Today, offerings were made to Ganesha, the Lord of Auspiciousness. Ganpati Homa is symbolic of removing the obstacles before initiating anything new. Ganesha also symbolises joy, compassion and magnanimity. 
Thus, anything we begin with a happy full heart, with an intention to serve and share will certainly be fruitful.


And yet again, i made a new start, a new beginning on this path that takes me back to myself. 
As Swami Pragyanand ji Maharaj said in satsang last night, "If u stand in front of a mirror and u see a mark on the face in your reflection, if you try to remove it by wiping the mirror off, it wont go. You will have to wipe your face. The mark can be seen there,  but it really isn't. It is here. Recognise the fact that what u see outside is within you. Recognizing that all that is outside of us and within us is nothing but Divine Consciousness."


So i start to walk, yet again towards that happy place inside me :)


And as Maharaji said, "the recognition of the fact that what u see outside is within u, happens only by being in very few momentous occasions like this (ashram navratri puja).


I am filled with gratitude for this life for at an age like mine, i have had countless such oppurtunities, attended countless such pujas and been a part of countless such satsangs.
No life can be better than mine.


I am in a very happy place inside me right now.

I am His Miracle

Way back in 1998, one day my neurosurgeon, Dr. Rupak called my mother to see him. 

He told her about this breathing technique called sudarshan kriya. He said he has been 

reading about it in many magazines and newspapers. Even though not having personally 

experienced it, somehow he was convinced that this could bring back the smile on my 

face. He explained to my mother how important it was to get me out of my shell, do 

some group activities, breath, and meet new people. The sedatives that I was on would 

only make me more recluse and lifeless.

My mother found out about the Art of Living course in the town. Fortunately it was 

happening just in a few days, after a gap of about half a year. Sources told us that it 

was just the third or may be fourth program in my hometown and that the trainers come from 

Bangalore only if there were enough people registered. My mother got almost all my

 friends and cousins booked on the course along with me.

And there I was, after almost a year of sulking, getting shuttled between home and the

 ICU, so week in body and mind, surrounded with all my relatives, sitting in front of this 

very divine looking young boy with beautiful long hair and a big compassionate smile. 

I was already feeling heeled.

The sudarshan kriya was magical. I cried and I laughed. I laughed and didn’t want to stop. 

I felt so much at home, alive and happy again. All that my teacher spoke on the course seemed

 tailor made for me. I was responsible for my own misery. Things don’t necessarily go our 

way always.  We are healthy and we fall sick. We win and we loose but we move on. 

No one on this planet is sitting and just thinking about me. How I won, how I lost, how 

I looked, how I lived. They have their own share of worries. They have all moved on. 

And I was still shying away from them, who didn’t even exist anymore.  And I knew now, 

I had to start again, my life full of new hopes, new aspirations, new friends; a life that had 

no room for the past. So I did.

After a regular practice of sudarshan kriya for few months, I got the MRI scan done. 

When I took my report back to my doctor, he jumped off his seat in disbelief. He joined

 the next Art of Living course along with his wife. I was on medicines for more

 than a year now. This was my last day. Its been about 12 years , I have not had 

any medicine ever since.  I took an advance meditation program along with my 

doctor and his wife the same month. We met the most beautiful people on the course.

The 4 words - Sadhna, Seva, Satsang and Smile became my breath, my life and

what began as a mere practice for a healthy body and mind, soon became a 

lifestyle and there was no looking back.

I am a living miracle. When people ask me to tell them stories about 

H.H. Sri Sri Ravishankar, my Master, my Guru, all I can say is

 “I am a Guru story, I am His miracle”.

Born to affluent parents, I was brought up in an extremely comfortable 

environment as a soft pampered girl. Even the slightest unexpected change in 

my surroundings, could throw me off balance.

Today, I am one of most travelled teachers with the Art of Living foundation. 

I have stayed for months in the villages on very basic amenities. Went to places 

where I knew not a soul and moved out of there with hundreds bidding me

 farewell in just few months. Heat, cold, day, night doesn’t seem to deter anything

 anymore inside me. Every moment I feel something inside of me growing stronger. 

Not that the situations are always favorable, not that I don’t meet with opposing 

events and people anymore. But, my reaction or rather response to them has 

completely changed. I can just SMILE it away.

Thank you doctor 

I am indebted to my doctor for having brought this incredible knowledge into my life. 

Today, after every sudarshan kriya on the course, when I see the shinning faces of 

my participants, soaked in peace and tranquility, I am filled with gratitude for this beautiful life.