Down the Spiritual Road....

Mid jan.. The buzz here in Bangalore was that Satya Sai Baba was here at his Whitefield Ashram..
He usually comes down around Feb end.. So it was a surprise..Me and 3 of my collegues, Nitin, Prashant and Visu decided to try for his 'Darshan'..
Woke up at around 5.00 am.. Were all set by 6.00 am..
Reached the ashram around 6.30 - 6.45 am..
Was surprised to see so much of security.. No mobiles, no books, no pens allowed.. There was airport style security check..
A lot of volunteers guiding first-time ppl like me..Since female area was separate, i was on my own..Found a decent place...
It was a thursday n supposedly there were 'not many ppl'.. My definition of 'not many ppl' changed.. :)
Was sitting on cold hard floor till about 10.45 am, when Baba appeared..
I had been chatting to a female next to me.. so i knew there would be 'bhajans' for half an hour and 'aarti'..
There was a foreigner and her daughter sitting alongside me.. I was also playing with the little 7 year old girl.. Was zapped to hear her chanting 'Ganapati Stotra' and some more stuff..
Baba was brought in a wheel chair.. He stood up for the aarti though..He gave his blessings and was wheeled off again..
He's 80 yr old.. He has charisma to have so many followers.. Lots of foreigners too..
What's it that holds so many ppl together.. People even greeted each other as 'Sai Ram'...
I guess watching so many people follow one person was a miracle enough for me...
There was a strange peaceful feeling within me...
I realized that I could sit at a place patiently for a long time..
Don't remember the last time when i've been sitting at a place for 3-4 hours...
It was a spiritual experience... :)

NAture Aplenty...

Welcome 2006..
I welcomed it in a brand new way.. :)
I was in Ooty on new year's eve..
Tall Nilgiris n pines n Lakes n botanical gardens... ensured that by 11.30 pm on 31 st Dec 05, I was fast asleep ! The other reason being the temperature was drastically low.. And the warm bed seemed a very good idea..
I wished my fellow troopers the next day !
fellow troopers was Nitin, Abhijeet, Kirty, Ketaki, Me n Pralhad..
Visit to a tea estate in Connoor was the high point for me..
The mountain train (narrow gauge) from Ooty to Connoor was fun, except for a few hiccups..Some TC extracted extra money on the train claiming it to be reservation money n all.. Also it was 10 people crammed in a compartment meant for 8..
On the whole the trip was good.. :) It was admiring mother nature instead of party this time.. :)The next weekend I went to Akshi Beach (Its near Kashid beach)...It was a company trip.. This time there were no mountains but just vast expanse of water....
Deep water.... Crashing waves, cool breeze, coastal food n beach baseball... :)
The place where we halted for food actually had hammocks ! This was the first time i actually got to sleep in one...
So been connecting with nature... :)
P.S. - This had to be put up bcoz one of my friends concluded that - the only places I visit are shopping malls !

Saturday 2 -3 in Benglooru...

Forum.... Garuda (a similar shopping mall) .....
Forum.... Gaurda !!!!!
Benglooru rocks fellows ??!!!! What say ;)