ADVENT OF GURU MA IN OUR LIFE WITH MY PRESIDING DEITY KRISHNA
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The great soul of
Saroj and her husband, was wandering in the search of a Guru, the guide and the
sheet anchor, till she was directed to Dadda, an old, deeply spiritual disciple
and the caretaker of Shree Shree Ma Anandamayee Aashram in Etawah. My faint memories
of Etawah Aashram as an infant, remind me of a Kuccha Pucca (means mud and
concrete) cool building, nestled with big shady mango, banyan trees and a
temple of Shree Shree Ma and other deities with living quarters of Dadda and
his family, which included his son Ganga Narain. This place was considerably
far from my grandfather's majestic bunglow situated in the posh
locality named Chowgurjee. Our residence was bang opposite Rangoon Walon
Ki Kothi (Bunglaow of people from Rangoon) as the forefathers of the
residents had long time ago supposedly migrated in from Rangoon ( now Myanmar
and the capital of neighbouring country Burma). They had few teenage sons who
were given a pittance amount and lured by my grandmother to become my horse so
that I could ride them. Ha Ha! Great Princess of my Granny, Nilima nicknamed
Tanu and that's me! I would often hum a famous Bollywood song from a
movie Patanga released in 1949 sung by the great singer Shamshad
Begum to tease the Rangoon family. It goes like this Mere Piya
Gaye Rangoon Wahaan Se kiya Hai Telephoon, Tumhari Yaad Satati Hai Jiya Mein
Aag lagaatee hai (My beloved has gone to Rangoon and has telephoned me that I
miss you and my heart burns in your desire!). Such was the proximity
between the neighbours that my Granny (known as Bharmain i.e. Mrs
Bharma) and the old lady from Rangoon family (known as Rangoon wali i.e.
from Rangoon) would meet each day in the long sessions of beedi smoking
(Smoking of Beedi, which is the Indian form of cigarette, mild and made out of
special leaves rolling tobacco in it). Hand fans in the long afternoons were
prevalent, specially designed by my granny.
Coming
back to Tonga (a horse drawn 8 seater carriage ) and Ekka (a horse drawn
two seater carriage) rides to Ma's Aashram, much awaited spiritual picnics, my
mom started hankering for Ma till she met her during one of Ma's Etawah
visits for her birthday celebrations organized by a well to do Brahmin family
in the city.
The
first encounter of Saroj with Ma in early 50's must have been narrated by
her hundreds of times with great joy and a visible sparkle of joy in her
twinkling eyes. In her words " As I stood one amongst many many, rather
hordes, in a blue sari covering my head, Ma called for saying US NEELI SARI
MEIN JO HAIN USE BULAO (call that girl in the blue sari). I all in my early
twenties, started shivering but was ushered to her and MA my DIVINE
MOTHER that day showered such a GAZE ON ME that I was MESMERIZED FOR LIFE " Ma enquired about Saroj and she conveyed that
she had a ailing husband. Ma said BHAGWAN KA BHAJAN KARO (Chant the name of
GOD).Ma further instructed her to work for the support of her family and study
further. Since Saroj was already a POST GRADUATE in English literature, she
applied for a teaching job in a girl's school of repute till class 12th in
Agra, the city of Taj Mahal and by Ma's Immense Grace Bagged the job. Thus
started the onward journey of Saroj, ailing husband and two daughters in tow,
out of the comfortable nest of her parents, much to the displeasure of her
mother (as she could not bear the separation from us after the companionship of
all these years). We left Etawah, the joyous city with granny bidding us
good bye with tears trickling down her cheeks. I remember that my granny had
about a dozen grandchildren more between her three sons and one
more eldest daughter, but Tanu that's me, the daughter of Saroj the
dearest PET PAUNCHA (the womb wiper, ie the youngest child as we say in local
language), WAS THE DEAREST and granny would go all out to make me feel so
and SHOWER THE CHOICEST OF HER AFFECTION AND ATTENTION ON ME (MUCH TO THE
JEALOUSY OF OTHERS). MILLION THANKS GRANNY FOR MAKING MY CHILDHOOD WORLD SO
BEAUTIFUL. I AM INDEBTED TO YOU FOR LIFE!
Not
leaving that fact lost somewhere, must mention that Saroj much later got
Dadda's son Mr Ganga Narain married to one of her lovely students, Miss
Manju and now the family all dedicated to Guru Ma is settled
happily with their children and grandchildren in Vrindavan. Not only this
Saroj never forgot her ties with Etawah and as a gratitude towards the great
associate of her father, she also got married his worthy son Dr G.D. Paliwal,
also a scholar of English Literature to another of her student and the
family is happily settled in Jaipur (the capital of State of Rajasthan). Their
children are all grownup and well established and qualified settled in India
and abroad. Such was Saroj my mother also a great match maker, helping one
and all in variety of ways, influencing and touching various lives with compassion
and abundance!
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