Bharat Yatra 2004
Wednesday, 11 February 2004 – Amritapuri
It’s always the same—the girls waiting by Amma’s stairs, the others queuing up in hopes of touching Her hand, the eagles soaring above. Leaving: if you are one of Amma’s children at Amritapuri—or anywhere else in the world, for that matter—you get used to such scenes. The perennial union of Guru and disciple—in your heart you keep this solemn Truth tucked, but it’s not always easy when you are one of those not going along.
Thus it was for more than the hundredth time at Amritapuri this Wednesday, February 11th—Amma was leaving for a long tour in India.
As Amma’s car slowly rolled past the line of those staying behind, She would occasionally grab someone by the hand, or express Her sorrow at a brahmachari’s inability to come. At one point, Amma took one of the Ashram’s newest residents, a one-year-old English boy named Benjamin, into Her arms—and into Her car. He was all giggles as Amma showered him with affection, but started wailing when Amma finally handed him back to his birth mother.
Though few expressed it, this was the sentiment in most of those assembled’s hearts. For most of them, it will not be until the conclusion of Amma’s Australian Tour that they see Her again—three long months.
But the twist is that only when Amma leaves one place, can She come running to another. Thus when one group is left dejected, another is ecstatic—this time, Amma’s children in Kannur and Talasseri, the first two stops in Bharat Yatra 2004.
—Sakshi