2003.09.28

Amma's charm bowls over all  

KOCHI: Amritavarsham-50, the four-day bull run of spirituality, which brought together heads of state, world-wide CEOs and representatives from 191 countries might have been a landmark event in the history of the Matha Amritanandamayi Trust. But for Amma and her thousands of ordinary devotees it was business as usual on September 27, her 50th birthday, as she held them in a tight embrace welcoming each one of them to her fold.

Hugging fifty thousand people each night for four straight nights is the stuff that easily gets into record books which keep track of the astonishing and the absurd, but when the people lining up all night for the hug include your next door neighbour and international celebrity alike, you realise the exercise is not for some record book. (Can spirituality ease out the tensions of corporate life?)

As Mata Amritanandamayi squats at an international soccer stadium in Kochi hugging yet another person from some corner of the world, you can be excused if you look for a halo around her and miss it. No excuses, though, for missing the more striking aspects.

You can't miss her stamina for one. In the early hours of Saturday, already many hours into her hugging regimen, Amma was as fresh as a steaming hot Kerala-style aappam with the latticework around the edges. And when our turn arrives, we ask her what keeps her going. Doesn't she herself feel the craving to be loved, even as she dishes out warm hugs, pats, kisses, smiles, oodles of charm and some cheerful words to the adoring thousands?

"I have completely surrendered myself, my son. Those who are giving are not craving to take", says Amma in characteristic style that brings a satiated smile from most, a confused nod of the head from some, and leaves very few untouched. And then comes the most disarming yet powerful move from the woman who has wowed both prince and pauper, international and domestic. Her personal concern comes to the fore when she reaches out herself to offer you a ghee-based sweet for prasad, and asks you whether you have had a tiring day. Those words themselves are balm enough for many who have queued up for the renowned embrace.

The queue of darshan seekers are hopeful until 5 a.m. for that long-cherished hug, when Amma finally rises from her seat. She will only get a two-hour break before she begins another round of bhajans and keeps other appointments. And a week later, the routine has to be enacted in Europe and the US when Amma goes there on a 50-day tour.

One of her close lieutenants, Swami Abhayamrita, informs us that these days she gets to spend hardly two months in her ashram in Kerala and four months in India. That may have something to do with the growing international demand for hugs and hand-holding in a mentally bruised world. Who knows these could be top-of-the-heap in our export basket in future. Back home, MNCs assured that their help can be counted on. "Whatever help is required, take it as given", declared senior executives of Intel India, Microsoft India and Hewlett Packard, USA in an encouraging response to the call to join hands for the development of India. The Amritanandamayi Math chose Amma's birthday to inaugurate its new social service programmes and charitable projects which include an all-India free legal cell comprising 1,008 lawyers, a new care home for the elderly, and charitable hospitals for tribals.