June Blessed: A Birthday Reflection
Unlock a life rich in divine grace
Dear Reader,
June 2025 will be my ‘forever-to-remember’ birthday. Unusual things happened.
This year, the day after my birthday, I slept inside an ashram. I didn’t even lock the door or windows.
Woke up to birds and Veda chanting, joining over three thousand women who had travelled to Puttaparthi.
My happiness knows no bounds…..I felt grateful….
I am home. Safe. Divine. At peace.
Long story cut short, I loved every moment at the ashram.
The highlight was that I planned nothing and yet everything fell into place.
There are people who plan every moment of their lives diligently. Are their plans fool-proof? Not really. Like Queen Kaikeyi in the Ramayana, they try to control situations.
Truth is, none of us knows what happens in the next moment, let alone tomorrow - so what are we planning for and worrying about?
Live in the Present. What you do in the Present and how you live it will determine your future.
The more we want to control any aspect of life, the more we will be challenged and those plans will be tossed right out of the window!
Watch how many times your plans crumble and leave you scrambling everytime you make plans.
Discover what happens when you stop planning and start living in the present moment.
[Image by friasfoto @ Pixabay]
Circling back to my birthday tale - the day after.
Turns out when I reached Bangalore airport, I had no clue what to do, where to go or whom to contact. I had missed my flight the prevous day due to a medical emergency in the family and now I had no idea whom to contact for a ride to Puttaparthi.
At the airport, I sat down after collecting my baggage and prayed to Swami, “I want to come to Parthi, please please make it happen. I don’t know what to do.”
A kind doctor from Delhi had read my message on the WhatsApp group.
She cancelled her bus seat booking from Bangalore to Parthi alongwith her daughter and said, “I was worried how you would travel alone. So I cancelled our seats. Come, let’s share a cab to Parthi.”
That we haven’t met or known each other ceased to matter. That’s the Sai connect!
I felt grateful. My prayer had been answered.
Swami often says, “One has to face many obstacles in one’s life, but one should never get depressed. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is love, enjoy it. Be cheerful and courageous in the face of adversities, never give scope to any weakness whatsoever.” (25-03-1999, Brindavan)
In my life, Gratitude is a verb.
It reflects in these spontaneous pops of starry joy in my life, which I revere as Swami’s divine love.
Once we got there, I was worried about accommodation and sent another prayer, “Swami, what have you done about my place to stay? I don’t want to stay in a hotel.”
The registration desk was there, I said my name and imagine my surprise when told, “Your name is already registered by some of your friends from Delhi.”
All I needed to do was find my room! I was home…..Swami had made sure I lacked nothing at all.
The best birthday gift is love, as quiet as whispering trees.
Another highlight was that we couldn’t use our phones till we returned to our rooms.
Such peace of mind without the perpetual buzz of notifications!
Then we had tiny checkered food coupons which we clung to. Early morning Vedic chants woke me daily alongwith birdsong as early as dawn. The air felt pure and fresh. Freshly cooked Indian food was washed down with fresh buttermilk felt like heaven.
[Image from Sri Sathya Sai Baba Facebook Page]
No luxury, no phones or TV - it turned out to be pure bliss.
Simplicity in every food morsel and every step makes a big difference to one’s peace of mind. It made me wonder - is this what our ancestors relished and we destroyed?
The simple joys of Puttaparthi, I could go on and on! This is where my personality had been moulded. This is where I discovered that every task is an offering of love.
In Prasanthi Nilayam, I was taught that no work is too menial or low, it is our ego that deludes us to think so and that the best form of worship depends on how you offer it. Your ‘bhav,’ your intention and emotion that accompanies every action is critical. It will shape the outcome and most importantly, that becomes your energy.
My worries and fears vanished in Prasanthi Nilayam.
The day after my birthday, a part of me wondered why it had taken me so long to journey to where I belonged.
[Image from Sri Sathya Sai Baba Facebook Page]
The mind, however, is a mad monkey.
It perches on one branch and catapults to the next, sometimes taking you back to the distant past.
Mischief is the mind’s roadmap.
While I was growing up, June marked the school reopening season. This ensured the anonymity of my birthday - it was always celebrated within the family circle. I didn’t get to pass around chocolates in class - not much. Classmates didn’t recall my birthday, thanks to my power of being invisible. My teachers didn’t know I existed.
The blessings of anonymity were plenty - except that there are those bittersweet poignant moments when a tiny voice within wished someone among friends would care enough to remember….and those were the days before Facebook, no friends would really keep track of these things.
Being an introvert, my mission in school was to stay invisible - from teachers and more so, when it came to my peers. My love for reading made it easy as no one really found it interesting to talk to someone whose head is buried inside books. Plus, whenever I was invited for a party or a celebration or a game to play, I would start talking to them about the book I was reading - this turned out to be a sure shot recipe to chase them away. I used this skill pretty well and it always worked wonders!
College was more fun though. Finally, I had found my tiny tribe of friends with whom I enjoyed celebrating my birthday. Looking back, I realise the real fun was because my friends and I could sit down and enjoy a ‘birthday treat’ together. The jokes, the laughter - those were the golden days we now look back with fond memories.
The keyword is ‘together’ - that is what makes birthdays special in our lives.
Think about it - what is a birthday celebration without our parents or loved ones?
When we celebrate our special moments and occasions with loved ones, there is a sense of togetherness that brings more joy and laughter to the table.
As Steve Jobs said, “The journey is the reward. People think that you’ve made it when you’ve gotten to the end of the rainbow and got the pot of gold. But they’re wrong. The reward is in the crossing the rainbow….Think of your life as a rainbow arching across the horizon of this world. You appear, have a chance to blaze in the sky, then you disappear.”