Bhoomi Pooja

By Darshan Patel

(Darshan is a 17 year old pursuing his Diploma in Pharmacy in London. He is a very witty teenager and an excellent guitarist. His deep voice resonates when he sings bhajans. His attitude towards seva and the ability to adjust and adapt are commendable at his age. )

My humble pranams at the lotus feet of our beloved Bhagwan.

After April, I was beginning to crave for the darshan of His Samadhi. After seven long months, I could not wait any longer and so I decided to pack my bags and head to India. Since I was landing in Bangalore, Kalpana Aunty introduced me to Brother Vinod and his family. They have started a trust and were holding a Bhoomi Pooja for the children’s home- Sai Krushna Mandir.  I wanted to spend most of my time over the next three weeks doing seva. So I decided to stay with them for a week and be a part of the activities planned. It was a first time for me and I was looking forward to the event. On the 23^rd of November the Bhoomi Pooja was held. After arriving early the morning of the 22^nd, even I couldn’t resist waking up early as there was excitement in the air. After finally arriving at the village school near the site for the children’s home, the fun began. Swami’s chair stood there wonderfully decorated and the children’s excitement could be felt. Whilst waiting for the pooja to begin we began chanting the Sai Gayatri. All the children joined in too. A bit rusty at start but after a while we all were in harmony. Then we began bhajans which the children seemed to love and the energy and levels of participation which they put in were inspirational.

The Pooja commenced. This was a completely new experience to me as in England things are done differently. All though I knew that it was a pooja in which you worship the ground, I didn’t really understand what was going on as most of the prayers were in Sanskrit and instructions in Tamil. However, I did manage to learn my first proper Tamil words… ‘Neengal Vaango’ or “Please come here”. Getting these two words right itself gave me a taste of this tongue twister of a language. I’m sure I’ll always remember these two words. But jokes aside, the vibrations of the prayers and chanting did come across to me. They then dug a hole in the north east corner of land where we went and worshiped the tile  on which Swami’s has walked in Prashanthi. This included washing it with milk and water and offering flowers. The stone will then be placed in the foundation of the orphanage when the construction starts. The whole day was lovely and I think we all felt Swami’s presence there in one way or another.

The following Sunday, the celebrations continued in the form of a grand school exhibition put up by the students of the Village School. We started with Nagarsankeertan and rudram chanting. The donors of the land and the teachers were felicitated. What struck me most was the children and their appreciation for what they had. When the teachers were honoured with Amruthakalashas (monthly provisions and blanket), the students were the ones who expressed their gratitude with loud cheering and applause. The programme concluded with Mangala Arathi and Narayan Seva. From what I have seen and experienced I am confident that Sai Krushna Mandir – the children’s home - will be a great success. The environment will be encouraging for the children in the orphanage and it will be one big united family. I have felt this in the past week by staying as one with the SKM family. And, if anything, I know that the children will be happy and grateful to Swami for what they shall receive.