Ashram NewsletterApr

2019

“Who you vote for is your choice, but

vote you must.”

Blessings,

Sneak a peek into a potpourri of expressions from Hollywood to Bollywood, from iii to

Alandurai, from engagements with some of the most influential people on the planet to eleven women from Dhanikandi, from ExCel London, to the excellence of creating Adiyogi

Darshanam, and more!

Here, for you, is another loud edition of Isha Whispers…

Truth Beyond Economics for the Youth of LSE

Exploring truth, not with the seriousness of gospel but with the playfulness of gossip.

After offering himself to nearly 3,500 seekers striving to touch the dimension of Samyama, followed by a series of meets with the various limbs of Isha in the ashram - i.e. Ishangas, brahmacharis, and various trustees - Sadhguru headed to London to empower the youth of the distinguished London School of Economics. Under the guidance of a master, the eclectic group of students and professors in the packed hall explored the various issues that they are facing today and gained some much-needed nuggets of clarity.

It was inspiring to see that these students were eager to address factors in society that divide humanity and form the basis of conflict and war.

While responding to a question, “How can youth of Pakistan and India work together for a better future?” Sadhguru urged the assembled young people, “If you are interested in the future of this world - the coming generation must do this much: religion should be a personal pursuit for people. Those who wish to can personally pursue their own stuff. But this ambitious way of approaching it, that ‘my religion should conquer the world,’ must go.”

Inner Engineering in the City of Angels!

Over 3000 participants and volunteers ride the wave of bliss when Inner Engineering makes landfall in Los Angeles!

“I’m trying to increase the percentage of ecstatic people on the planet. You are my hope!” exclaimed Sadhguru in the opening session, held at one of the largest convention centers in the United States. With over 3,000 people from all over the world converging on the west coast, some traveling from as far as Brazil to see Sadhguru live for the first time, the hall was soon filled to the brim. Excitement spilt from the doors; the anticipation was tangible.

From the moment Sadhguru entered the hall, he created a bond with each one of the participants as they set sail on an inner journey, the likes of which they had probably never taken. Always ready at the drop of a hat to share a story, Sadhguru’s jokes and anecdotes sent waves of laughter throughout the hall while imparting practical wisdom, which participants received with resounding gratitude. The final initiation into the practice of Shambhavi Mahamudra unleashed the power of the ancient yogic practice, leaving participants drenched in a magical experience like no other.

“I depart from this experience with a deep knowing that my life has just been touched in a way which I can not yet even begin to comprehend,” shared one participant. Alexa, on the other hand, blissfully articulated her experience as “transformational, enlivening and activating.” “I feel blissed out, happy, and grateful. To have it happen so quickly is just otherworldly,” she shared…and still ended up apologizing for the lack of words to explain the impact the program made on her. Well, we can all empathize with this, right?

Ganesh, an Isha Yoga teacher, shares a special moment, an expression of his gratitude to the 650 Isha volunteers who worked behind the scenes of this spectacular unfolding.

“It was Sunday morning; I was walking into the main lobby at 5:30 A.M. Now that is early for L.A. – but we had our volunteers standing at the crack of dawn with bright faces and warm smiles all throughout the lobby, hall, and Isha Shoppe spaces, ready to welcome the participants with folded hands. I am pretty sure that the night before, most of these happy faces stayed up very late at the venue. It was one of the most touching moments for me out of the whole program.”

A Yogi and Rabbi converse on “Mechanics of Mysticism”

On a warm Sunday evening, Sadhguru met with the most influential Rabbi in America, as listed by Newsweek magazine - Rabbi David Wolpe - to explore the nuances of life in a wholly unique way. Here we have Gita Desai’s exciting whispers of the impact of this conversation, beyond the on stage conversation...

History Repeats Itself!A couple of weeks ago, Isha Foundation collaborated with the Persian American Women’s Conference (PAW), for a talk between Sadhguru and the world renowned Rabbi Wolpe. I had the opportunity to be an Isha volunteer for this event. Surprisingly, on a Wednesday evening, the venue – the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills - was a full house! A good 500+ people from the Persian American community attended - mostly men and women who had left Iran for the States and had re-established themselves holding an unmatched socioeconomic status here. The beauty of Sadhguru’s message of breaking the compulsive ways of existence and establishing clarity and perception through an uncluttered intelligence struck such a chord that all present heard him with unwavering attention.

What followed after the talk was to me quite magical...

When I walked out into the lobby, I was approached by many joyous faces - mostly women hugging me and asking away about the US and India ashrams, IE programs, and above all Sadhguru’s schedule! Morgan Hakimi, the President of PAW, met with us and offered to share all their 500 email IDs with Isha. Their longing to receive more of what Sadhguru was offering was unquenchable, so finally, we decided we would plan an Indian lunch at my place and have an IE Intro talk to answer all their questions.

That night I was quite heart-warmed, and could not but replay all this in my head while I lay awake in bed - a flash of what I had read and seen in photos went by and finally I could put my finger on what happened that evening. It was history repeating itself!

Back in the late 1800s, when Swami Vivekananda delivered his eloquent speech and wisdom to thousands of American intelligentsia, distinguished women, and wealthy businessmen, it seemed he overwhelmed them with this one larger question - to seek the meaning of life. They had achieved material success and were enjoying opulence at its best, but it was not enough. They were seeking something lasting... and “here is the man who will show us the way,” they said.

This is what I saw was going on with those I met at the talk. The Persian American Women of LA are certainly ready for the magic of IE and I look forward to an exciting lunch with these inspired souls!

Tony Robbins Meets Sadhguru

Tony Robbins - life coach and philanthropist, listed on the Worth Magazine Power 100 list - and his wife Sage spent a day with Sadhguru. Tony took to social media, sharing his impression of Sadhguru, “He is a beloved man with deep wisdom, a generous heart, and a sense of humor!” The day ended with a wonderful meeting on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.

1000 turn up at Tennessee for a long-awaited darshan with Sadhguru! You heard it here first! Whisper Alert: Devi is to reach the United States very soon!

Having a darshan with Sadhguru was a privilege like no other, as always. I was ushering at the Abode to make sure everyone was seated neatly for the Arati. During darshan, Sadhguru explained the significance of the path of devotion and led us through a process that was really powerful. Sadhguru announced that we would soon have Devi with us here, and that he is looking for people who can prepare themselves to bring her here. I hope I am able to make myself capable in such a way that I can help bring Devi here. - iii Resident.

iii to House More!Another resident at iii shares her excitement, not just about how amazing the new studios at iii look, but also the experience of witnessing Punya Pooja for the first time.

“We have 96 new studios built now in a complex called Laurel (it includes three buildings). Watching the construction in various phases was really interesting to see as the final outcome looks so polished and amazing. Before anyone could occupy the rooms, Bhairagini Maa Leila arrived and performed Punya Pooja, along with 3 newly trained sevakas. I had the privilege to be a part of this ceremony and since I had never

seen a Punya Pooja before, I was surprised to see how elaborate the whole process is.

“The number of items and people that needed to come together was, as is usual in Isha, quite a lot! Till the last minute the construction team was getting the studios ready and cleaning up the space. The sevakas along with Maa were very meticulous in preparing the items for the pooja. What overwhelmed me was how Sadhguru has set up this process, whereby performing a seemingly simple yet elaborate ritual, Devi becomes alive within minutes in that space. It was so beautifully powerful and vibrant. I feel truly blessed to have witnessed it and in whichever small way, to have been a part of this process.”

Situated on the aquamarine waters of Biscayne Bay, the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) played host for Sadhguru’s interviews with Telemundo and Univision, two of the largest Spanish-language television networks. The interviews seamlessly continued with an intimate gathering of Latin American media, journalists, community leaders and influencers in an event titled “The Power of a Question”.

The types of questions that were being asked of Sadhguru delved deep into topics of consciousness and awakening. Many present were completely new to Sadhguru, yet at the end of the event, they didn’t want him to leave. The warm and hearty Latino reception concluded with everyone taking a group photograph with Sadhguru. This event was a wonderful first step into opening the doors to millions of Spanish-speaking people worldwide with tools of wellbeing.

A Step into the Latino World

Sadhguru on Impact Theory with Tom Bilyeu Tina from US shares:

On April 4, Sadhguru met entrepreneur Tom Bilyeu, founder of billion-dollar-brand Quest Nutrition, and filmed an episode for Tom’s show, “Impact Theory”, in Beverly Hills, California.

Tom was named one of Success Magazine’s Top 25 Influential People in 2018.

Impact Theory explores the mindsets of the world’s highest achievers.

Past guests for this massive, million+ viewer show include: performance Coach and Author Tony Robbins, tennis champion Maria Sharapova, multiple Olympic snowboard gold medalist, Shaun White, Grammy

winning musician Wyclef Jean, and a Top 10 YouTuber and soon to be a late-night talk show host, Lilly Singh!

Despite all the celebrities Tom meets on a daily basis, he was absolutely thrilled to sit down with Sadhguru.

An ecstatic Tom told Sadhguru that he was on his top five list of people to meet in his lifetime and said he just wanted to be a “fly on the wall” in a conversation with him so he could absorb Sadhguru’s profound wisdom.

Tom spent one and a half hours with Sadhguru, longer than any TV show format in the US, because he was so interested in Sadhguru’s

work. Tom listened intently to Sadhguru about how one could engineer oneself so that his or her experience of life reached the maximum level of pleasantness.

The guests in the Beverly Hills studio “ooo-ed,” “ahhh-ed,” and laughed heartily as Sadhguru and Tom discussed what it takes to make this life a magical one.

At the end, Tom and his entire team, consisting of two TV studios crew and a fully operational magazine design firm, were captivated by Sadhguru’s stories about cobras and motorcycles. Tom’s staff even requested a photo of Sadhguru on his motorcycle to keep as their screen background for inspiration!

Sadhguru Travels Across the Seven Seas to Vote!

A Blissful Voting Day!April 18: It was nearly 11 AM, when he arrived. Sporting his passion for the nation, Sadhguru wore his yellow kurta with a thin tri-color silk cotton shawl. As he walked towards the rustic school building in Alandurai, local villagers took the opportunity to touch his feet for his blessings. Many journalists from various Tamil Nadu media, who had been waiting for the past one hour, surrounded him to catch the best shot.

Gently greeting the villagers, Sadhguru continued to walk. As he was nearing the voter registration table, his daughter Radhe, who was inconspicuously following him as just another member of the crowd, tapped his shoulder and handed his booth slip over to him. The election volunteer, trying hard to hide his joy, tenderly checked Sadhguru’s ID papers, and showed him the way to the voting booth.

Soon after Sadhguru emerged, the journalists

surrounded him, holding their mikes close to his face. In competition with one another, some came so close that their mikes grazed his beard. Without even a facial twitch, Sadhguru stood there graciously waiting for them to adjust their audios. “As a democratic process this is the grandest event in the world. India’s democratic election where nearly ninety crore people are eligible to vote, is a fantastic process. Here and there, there may be loopholes - we don’t have to highlight that, but what needs to be highlighted is every citizen in this country has an opportunity to vote within reasonable distance, which is not a small arrangement. It’s being done on a war footing. Finding fault with such a large process is very easy, but facilitating such a massive process is not a simple thing. My congratulations to the Election Commission and all the officials involved, many teachers and the different levels of government employees who are involved in making this election happen. My congratulations and gratitude to all of them for allowing democracy to function. In most remote

possible places they are keeping up the booths and keeping it going,” Sadhguru said after speaking a few words in Tamil. As soon as he was ready to leave, suddenly another journalist shouted for him. Unruffled, Sadhguru pulled back his extended foot and answered her patiently.

As he moved out, the press followed him eagerly; but somehow Sadhguru managed to close his car door and drive off. Without a moment’s distraction, I watched him from the time he stepped out until his car had disappeared into the mid-day sunshine – whether I could see him or not.

Ah! Sadhguru came back from the US just to cast his vote, but left the same evening! -shared by an ashramite

My Vote is My Responsibility

Missing the Fervor of Mahashivaratri!

Here we have a very special sharing from Vaibhav Tatwawaadi, a Marathi actor who participated in the Classical Hatha Yoga Workshop leading up to Mahashivaratri, and of course the glorious night itself...

Receiving My Guru! “I will do Guru Pooja for Sadhguru personally,” I kind of declared to my co-participants in the Guru Pooja program. I was so disappointed to have failed the Guru Pooja test. Even after I came back to Mumbai, I dreamt about meeting Sadhguru and doing Guru Pooja personally for him.

“Within 15 days of this day-dreaming, I received a called from Kangana: ‘Vaibhav, Sadhguru is coming for the special screening of Manikarnika, please come?’ “Can I do Guru Pooja for him, please?” I asked her earnestly. “You know we can go to a separate room and all…” I coaxed, but she reminded me of his time constraints, and we let it go. But my excitement knew no bounds; I couldn’t believe that I was actually going to see Sadhguru in person in just 24 hours’ time!

I had been interested in spirituality for the last few years, and after experimenting with a

few other meditations, I happened to come across a banner about a four-day Inner Engineering Retreat at the Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore. I don’t know what came over me, and the next thing I knew I was there. The program had a very profound effect on me. I loved the ashram ambiance and the way volunteers carried themselves. I soon went back to the ashram for Shoonya and the Guru Pooja program.

Back home I continued all my practices, and found that there was a distinct enhancement in my acting skills and involvement in my scenes. I could perceive my co-actors much better, and understood the scenes much deeper. I felt at ease with life, and I found that people also wanted to be around me more! Even though I had not seen Sadhguru, he had become a big force in my life. After the Guru Pooja program, Sadhguru’s presence became even more profound.

The DAY: It was 5:30 PM, and I was the first to arrive at the venue - anxiously waiting at the entrance itself for Sadhguru to arrive. Sadhguru was due to arrive at 6 PM. Some of my fans that were

around tried to distract me. “Please not today,” I told them politely. Some even made fun of me, but I just stood there looking out for Sadhguru.

The moment I saw Sadhguru coming in, time stood still. I felt as if I had known Sadhguru for a long time, and quickly planted myself next to him. “Where are we going?” Sadhguru asked. I eagerly led him inside the hall with the zeal of an ushering volunteer. As we were climbing the stairs, Sadhguru in front and I behind, my alarm rang. It was presence time! “I am in Sadhguru’s presence at presence time,” I said it aloud, feeling excited. Sadhguru didn’t say anything.

Did I say anything wrong? the thought wouldn’t leave me. He doesn’t want to talk to me - his silence kept bothering me. I sat next to him while watching the movie also. All other actors and invitees kind of understood that I wouldn’t budge from Sadhguru’s side, and this is how it was going to be. I was fine with this too.

So I was sitting on his right, and Radhe was on the left. Nothing else existed for me in those moments but Sadhguru. But why is he not speaking to me? was still rankling in my mind. In one of the scenes of Manikarnika,

I posed as a scarecrow. During the intermission, it so happened that only three of us remained in the hall, and the rest of the guests went down for something else. “Hey, so you were the scarecrow, right?” Sadhguru asked. I was filled with joy hearing him address me directly.

At some point when he was meeting everyone, I took to volunteering again and took his pictures with everyone. “Sadhguru, I took your picture with everyone else, what about your picture with me?” I asked at last. “I don’t picture with scarecrows,” he joked, and held me by my waist for a photo shot.

The day was a dream come true. I conclude with the following words for Sadhguru:

लबों पे हंसीं, आन्कोहों में सुरूर आ गया, लबों पे हंसीं, आन्कोहों में सुरूर आ गया, आपने मुझे अपना कहा, अपने आप पे गुरूर आ गया.

My lips are smiling

Joy is in my eyes,

When you said

I am Yours

I feel Worthwhile.

Vaibhav Tatwawaadi is a qualified engineer, MBA, and award winning actor. He is the recipient of NBC Newsmakers award 2016, and Dadasaheb Phalke excellence award 2018. He is also honored as “Maharashtra’s Most Desirable Man” in 2018.

Th e M a k i n g o f A d i y o g i D i v y a Da rs h a n a m

If your jaws dropped while watching the mind-boggling spectacle of the Adiyogi Divya Darshanam, here is a behind

the scene story of what it took to make a vibrant 3D projection show happen on a contoured and dark surface – perhaps the first time such a feat was attempted in India.

Swami Vidhyavasanta shares:

“Are you satisfied? Do you like it?” Sadhguru asked Avijit, the project in-charge, after seeing the first demo show on Jan 31. Avijit remained silent. “No,” he said slowly, after a long, uncomfortable pause. “Why should we put lights on the face of Adiyogi, unless it is spectacular?” he questioned the entire project, and none could disagree with him. But the question was, “How to light a dark surface with so many irregular contours?”

Flashback: Sadhguru had asked for the Adiyogi Divya Darshanam to happen last year itself, but at the time we were just two weeks away from the event, and it was impossible to do. This year he opened this topic about four months before the event, and we were in a good place to make it happen. Avijit and his Korean partner, who were hired for this project, were skilled, dedicated and committed. Moreover Manish Kadam, a renowned mapping engineer from Bangalore, was also a part of this team.

The team had tried this in their studio in Kolkata and sent us an animation film of the show. Sadhguru had

liked the film. And just like that, a generous devotee from Switzerland offered to sponsor the project! Since everything seemed to fit together so well, I assumed that it was a done deal.

However, considering that it was the first of its kind and an expensive project, Sadhguru was following up very closely on its progress. In January, as soon as he was back from Gujarat, he asked to arrange for a demo.

Fast Forward – now in a quandary: Here we were feeling gloomy after the first demo. Obviously it didn’t impress him, and neither did we like it. “But what next?” we all were thinking.

“What is the luminous intensity strength of the projectors we are using?” asked Sadhguru. “We need to make it twice as bright,” he explained. To do that, we needed 12 more projectors – which meant 50% more than the original costs. We didn’t wish to invest any further money until we had a convincing demo projection.

The Epson, India, tried their best to convince their Japanese counterpart to release the demo projectors, but it didn’t work. They

asked for a full upfront payment. So the whole project went in a quandary. But no one was willing to let it go either… after much struggle, Praveen Kumar of Epson borrowed 9 more projectors from his friends and business connections. The team stayed back for another demo on Feb 4.

Feb 4, Colorless Second Demo: The night before leaving for the US for the Fashion for Peace event and Youth and Truth initiatives, Sadhguru came back to Adiyogi for another demo. This time the brightness was acceptable, but the colors still looked dull and unattractive.

“We will need to completely change the color palette,” said Avijit. But it was still an untried venture, and Sadhguru asked us to continue to work with the demo projectors.

To Do or Not to Do: Until then all 21 projectors were housed in a temporary scaffolding structure. If someone as much as leaned on it, or if a slightly strong wind blew in that direction, it would disturb the alignment – which meant 7-8 hours work for Manu Anna. It had been happening frequently, but Manu, without a wrinkle on his face, would diligently fix it each time. To avoid this extra work, we had

our construction team start building the permanent structures, though we were not sure if the project would actually happen or not. Similarly, the electrical department also got started.

The Final Tempo: The entire team was back in the ashram on Feb 15, and we housed them in the Thennai cottages. They worked unbelievably hard - each night around midnight or brahma muhurtam they would show us a test run of one minute or so, and tweak the animation during the day based on our inputs. One could say we became sort of fanatical about every single detail, but they incorporated our feedback without argument.

As the time for the final demo for Sadhguru neared, our expectations shot off the roof, and we wouldn’t settle for anything. Just to give an idea, for even minor tweaking, the rendering of the show took 6-7 hours… Avijit was very convinced within himself that it would work, and his enthusiasm and conviction kept the whole team going. He didn’t hesitate to borrow money to purchase the balance three projectors.

One effort that also needs special mention here is the music for this show. Since we were editing and finalizing the visuals every day, second by second, the full show was not ready until the morning of Mahashivaratri! So major kudos to the Sounds of Isha team for managing to arrange the music, piece by piece, without having the entire visual sequence on hand – they pulled off a wonderful feat on a tight deadline.

Feb 27, Yes or No: The night when Sadhguru arrived in the ashram, he came for the final demo. As the show started, we stood there biting our nails, and looking nervously at Sadhguru watching it. And guess what? The power went off…

I dashed away to the projector room to see what had happened. In the meantime the lights came back, and the show started. Still we couldn’t show Sadhguru the full show as we didn’t have time to fully render it. After the show, Sadhguru patted Avijit’s back and nodded in approval.

None of us could hold back the tears welling up our eyes!

Mar 4, The Darkest Moment: A few seconds before the show, we had to switch off all the lights, all the way from Sarpavasal to Malaivasal. This meant syncing

the volunteers’ positions at 50 locations, and also worrying about fear reactions among the lakhs of people present there. But Sadhguru had no apprehensions about that, and asked us to do it in 3 seconds – all lights off to happen twice during the night. We rehearsed and rehearsed and brought down the time from 1 minute to 3-4 seconds. And of course, not a single chaotic incident happened during the darshan.

The project had poignant effects on all the team members, though except for Avijit none had done any Isha program. One person who deserves a special mention is Praveen Kumar, the head of Epson Chennai Office. He was so touched that each time he crossed the Yogeshwar linga, he would fold his hands and bow down to it. Usually a person of his rank was not needed to be on site for such a project, but he stayed on for the entire week before Mahashivaratri, and had made many earlier visits.

The Adiyogi Divya Darshanam will happen every weekend, on Amavasyas and Purnimas and auspicious days, starting May 4.

Samskriti students celebrate Tamil New Year

Inner Engineering Completion in ExCel London

Here we have Priya Rao sharing some ‘Grace’ful Experiences!

In London, the rainy April air was abuzz with spring blossoms unfolding. Across the city and beyond, Isha volunteers were excitedly preparing to receive over 2000 participants, to enable them to experience the beginning of a transformative journey with Sadhguru.

“What Am I to Do?”Amidst this happy, hectic atmosphere was a very anxious woman. Mitra, an Isha meditator and earnest volunteer, a single mother with two tween boys. She had signed up to volunteer at the Inner Engineering Completion (IEC) program over the coming weekend

at ExCel London. Where would the boys be? Home being over 50 miles away, a commute was not an option. Mitra considered a nearby hotel for her and the boys, but the additional expense was frightening, making her falter. They had barely returned from the Mahashivaratri celebrations in Coimbatore and she had also signed her boys on for Angamardana – all of which had depleted her resources. As she passionately explained - I then reached out to Sadhguru and asked him, “What am I to do? Please show me the way!”

“Sadhguru Fixes Everything!?”Sadhguru did not show the way - he made the way for her and the boys. Over Tamil New Year celebrations a week earlier, an old friend hearing of her volunteering plans and hard hotel options, claimed the boys

for the weekend. Another volunteer mentioned his friend, an IEC participant who lived not far from ExCel who would happily host her for the two nights. Soon Mitra was all set – overwhelmed, blessed, ready and eager to pay forward all the blessings she had received from her Guru. But, there was more in store.

An Encounter at DawnDay 1 of the program concluded late for the volunteers, with many going home to grab just a couple of hours of sleep - acutely aware only of the exhilaration, feeling none of the exhaustion. Next day, at dawn, unsure of public transport, Mitra called for an Uber. As she got into the car, a young

driver, perhaps of Asian or African origin, with folded hands, like a ‘namaskar’, greeted her. This floored Mitra, but before she could respond in any manner, the young man immediately wanted to know what was taking her to ExCel this early? She mentioned that there was a huge ‘yoga program’ being held, at which the driver enquired – “With Sadhguru?” Mitra was stupefied and asked how he knew.

A Story Inside a StoryThe driver’s story was fascinating. He shared that he worked the night shift. His first job assigned to him the previous night was a pick up from ExCel - a group of four, returning home to Harrow.

Apparently all through the hour-long ride, they were in animated conversation - of what had transpired that day, their manifold observations and experiences, also of one unfortunate participant being admonished for moving around in the midst of a session. “Well, he had it coming,” they said jokingly! But mostly, they spoke of Sadhguru - of how he spoke, what he said –they went on at length. By then, the driver was really curious about this Inner Engineering and jumped into the conversation. One of the passengers, Ram, apparently folded his hands and told the driver, something to this effect – “Hey buddy, I can’t give you much. But this much I will say, do yourself

a huge favor and go do this Inner Engineering!” With his passengers dropped off, the driver went off, his curiosity piqued.

“Isha Allah, I will do it soon!”Somewhere between his rides, he googled Sadhguru and Inner Engineering, and a few hours later, again headed back to ExCel, and now sharing this information with Mitra. In the span of a night, the young driver had come full circle, but now seemingly, touched by Sadhguru and Isha.

As Mitra reached her destination, she emphatically reiterated Ram’s suggestion to the young man – “Go do Inner Engineering.” His hearty sign-off lingered with her through the day (and stayed with the few of us she shared her story with): the driver again did a namaskar and said, “Isha Allah, I will do it soon!”

Finally, here is a touching story of Eleven Women

Sadhguru has reiterated on many occasions that under-privileged people don’t need charity, they need to be empowered. Here we share a simple story of just that from an ashramite.

I was in the ashram clinic for routine a check-up, and while strolling in the corridor, got to talk to Swami Chidakasha who was admitted there for fever. Swami is a part of our Action for Rural Rejuvenation team. While exchanging with each other what we had been doing, Swami excitedly shared a recent story:

“Last year around Mahashivaratri, we wanted to create a women self-help group from the nearby tribal village, Dhanikandi. We wanted to help them to set up a small food stall near the face of Adiyogi, and give them a vehicle to transport visitors from Adiyogi to Dhyanalinga, and make some money. We approached some eleven houses in the village, and tried to convince them to take this up. Considering the large number of people who visit Adiyogi on a daily basis, and the prospects of making good money, we thought the villagers would grab this opportunity. But the reality was very different.

These eleven women, a mix of young and middle-aged married women who barely were able to manage two basic meals for their family, were more than reluctant.

“I have never been outside home without my husband,” was the concern of one.

“We don’t know how to run a food stall or drive a vehicle,” voiced some others. Some thought they will fight among each other after a while, and this wouldn’t work. Some men even laughed at the prospect of their wives running a food stall, but some were supportive as well.

Finally, after weeks of diligently following up, they agreed. So we registered them as a self-help group with an investment of Rs. 200/- each. Isha constructed and provided a shop. The village women cooked some basic food items like curd rice, tomato rice, etc, and filled their shelves with some snacks for sale. It was sweet to see that they brought some additional vessels from their respective houses.

Over the months we trained them to cook hygienically, make dishes for the palate of people of different economic backgrounds, serve aesthetically, accounting, housekeeping - everything. They were all very innocent but enthusiastic learners. All this paid off hugely. They made a profit of Rs. 8.5 lakh in just one year from the stall and visitor transport. Out of this profit, we helped them buy a modern electric 8-seater vehicle, which could fetch a little higher fare. They also added a few more items

to their menu. Swami was sparkling with pride while telling me all this, and his delight was contagious, which got me thinking that I must check in on these women sometime soon.Coincidently, just as we were talking, three of the women walked into the clinic asking for Swami. They were really sweet girls who looked much younger than their age. They brought with them fruits and some other items as an offering to traditionally invite Swami for the anniversary celebrations of their shop and vehicle. Swami looked so touched. I also got myself invited! The next day I cycled to Adiyogi to attend this little celebration.

They were all dressed the same in beautiful blue sarees. They had been up since 3AM, decorated the whole place, and prepared curd rice, chakkara pongal, and vegetable biriyani for about 50 invitees out of their own money. Celebration was in the air.

“Nobody thought much of our Dhanikandi before. Now for the first time, people from other villages are looking up to us,” Usha shared.“I bought gold earrings

from my part of the earnings,” another chuckled. Kavitha said, “I want to buy a scooty so I can go around without my husband.” “I bought a refrigerator for my house,” said Sivakami whose children study in Isha Vidhya. Sivakami’s husband added, “When I was studying in a government school, my teacher once asked us to list what we had in our house. ‘Nothing,’ was my answer. But now my children won’t have to repeat this answer.”

After a brief Devi Pooja, they personally served all the invitees. I learnt that they hadn’t eaten anything since morning as they wanted to first serve and then eat. I was simply in tears just looking at their simple way of living.

What they earned in terms of money individually may be relatively insignificant, but the evident delight from the simple empowerment that “I have earned this on my own”, and the joy of pure involvement which does not come with a price tag-- it is the value beyond value.

How little it takes to make a difference in one’s life – just a heart full of love, and relentless commitment like that of Swami and others in the team to reach out and

make it happen. At one time an invitee asked them, “Cooking variety rice and tea, you may already know, but who taught you how to drive the cart?” “Even cooking is taught by Swami,” Sivakami responded quietly.

Gayathri’s father works with Isha. Gayathri told me later that sheis a daughter of Muthamma. Muthamma left Gayathri and her brothers when they werebabies and moved into another marriage, and then another marriage in different villages. “My mother never cared for us, and I have no relationship with her,” she shared woefully, adding, “She is an alcoholic.” Muthamma is no stranger to the news, making false, ungrounded and harmful accusations about Isha illegally occupying tribal land.

Anyways, the incidental mention of Muthamma, couldn’t dampen the warmth I went back with after meeting these wonderful women.