What can you say about our visit to Guruji’s birthday celebrations in Pune last December , other than it was a profound experience for all of us? Looking back on the photos I took during my first ever time in India (hundreds!) I have very strong memories of Pune and then Auroville, where I went later. One day we went to the Ramamami Iyengar Memorial Centre for one of the feature events of the celebrations – a lecture by Geetaji on the Bhagavad-Gita, one of a series she does for her students. Her exploration of the dense text put meaning into our experience of the discipline and a very simple message came through: it doesn’t matter particularly why you do yoga because its real meaning comes to you as you practice and reflect on your practice. Towards the end of the 90 minute lecture I became aware of some kids outside in animated conversation with an adult, who was obviously enjoying their company. It was Guruji and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, all come to Pune for the celebrations like the rest of us.
As people came out of the lecture, there he was in a chair in the shade. I took this picture as people queued to kneel at his feet for a blessing, which he freely and humbly gave. The second picture is Carole, Leisa and I outside our hotel on Pune before heading off in yet another noisy smelly motor rickshaw to the big birthday dinner, which was attended by more than two thousand people. It was the highlight of a week of celebrations, which included the Leap of Faith DVD launch, an exhibition of art work reflecting Guruji’s life as seen by his students, a bansura (Indian flute) concert by Pandit Chaurasia and a yoga display by schoolchildren from Mumbai. Carole and Leisa continued with the Mysore-Bengalura leg of the celebrations, which included a visit to Guruji’s home village of Bellur. I sought some quiet time at the eastern costal community of Auroville, founded on the teachings of Sri Aurobindo. One of my closest friends from school days in England ended up there in the early 1970s and designed and built some of the earliest buildings to be erected there. The community is founded on principles of cooperation, non-competitiveness and living in harmony with the social and physical environment. With these principles in mind, what was an eroded wasteland has been turned into lush tropical forest and bountiful market gardens. My daily breakfast there was local organically-grown fruit and fresh-baked bread with home-made cumquat marmalade. Read the rest of this entry »
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