What If You Want a Second Hug?

Saturday, 21 February 2004

Shri. M.S. Sidhu, the managing director of Apara Enterprise Solutions, was one of the top CEOs who came to meet Amma during the Brahmasthanam Festival in Bangalore. His multimillion-dollar company focuses on creating software infrastructure solutions. He first met Amma during Amritavarsham50's Global CEO Meet in Cochin.

When did you first hear about Amma?

"I had heard about Amma in 2003 from friends in Canada. I was really surprised and amazed about what I heard. They told about Her presence and the way you get alleviated with Her hug. How it instantaneously purifies you and how it makes you feel so nice. I was not able to understand how it could work. How can one hug do so much wonder to you? I could not really believe it. I was with my friend Ravi, and we were jokingly wondering about Amma's success formula, not really believing the whole thing. But then we were invited to the CEO Meet in Kochi and when we met with Amma in real life, we both said, 'Wow, man!'

"It was unbelievable. And as we were sharing our experiences, something really interesting and wonderful happened. I was sitting right behind Amma after my hug, and I asked a man next to me—I did not know he was a devotee by then—'What if you want another one?' I was really satisfied with my first hug, but I wanted more.

"He said: 'Just feel for it from the bottom of your heart, and if you really feel for it sincerely, you will get it.' And then, right at that moment, Amma turned around, took my hand and I got another hug. That is something really unexplainable and it really touched my heart. Then I knew it was all true what they said about Her. My whole experience was so delightful and amazing. And today I brought my family here to meet with Amma."

Has meeting Amma influenced you?

"Yes, it has influenced me greatly in my perspective on life. I read Her books and Her biography, about how She has been blessing the world and giving and offering. How She has been involved in different projects involving mankind. I am so happy to hear about all this. I am personally looking at how I—in my own small, humble way—can contribute by being compassionate and understanding and by helping others through involving myself in some kind of seva activities."

How has it influenced your work?

"I started from scratch in 1992, with just 100 dollars in my pocket, and it has grown into a $25 million company. We are India-based, but our company holds the intellectual capital to offer a service to the rest of the world. We are planning to set up offices around the world. Since my meeting with Amma, I am no longer feverish about my vision of where my company should go—that feverishness has gone. And I feel more compassionate towards others.

"For example: In India many things will happen in a very chaotic manner. Near my house, for example, suddenly you will find a divider in the middle of the road, without any signals or warning. There were a lot of accidents happening there because there were no proper signs. So I ensured there came proper signage so that people would not get hurt or die anymore. Even though it took a lot of talking before all authorities would cooperate, with the clear determination, I felt I could do it. Before, I might not even have noticed or thought of it as somebody else's responsibility. It's just a small example, but this is how it has influenced me. Before meeting Amma, I would have thought: "What have I got to do with it?" But now I took the initiative on myself."

—Devadath