But,
today’s blog is not so much about the above but more about our travels through
a very small...teeny weeny part of India. It is with love and the
greatest respect I humbly share some of our experiences with you.
An
amazing country for sure!
“It is
the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most
populous country (with over 1.2 billion
people),
and the most populous democracy in the world. It is bounded by
the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the
southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land
borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal,
and Bhutan to the northeast;
and Myanmar and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian
Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border
with Thailand and Indonesia.” – ‘Wikipedia’
India,
even with its poverty, over-population, crowded noisy jammed up streets at
certain parts – it would be foolish to allow this to stand in ones way of
recognizing this glorious, amazing, colorful, beautiful, deeply
spiritual country.
India has
always been known for its richness in ‘Arts & Architecture, Literature,
Performing Arts, Motion Pictures, Cuisine, Spices, Clothing, Fabric, Sports
etc. One can say that India must have been blessed by the Divine.
We've been
to India many times before, however, the last time we visited was in 2006 and
now we honestly say that India has changed. Oh my gosh, India is going
through physical transformation at a great speed. Throughout our travels
we noticed major construction taking place from building bigger, wider roads
to more bridges and freeways to huge residential and commercial
buildings. Development and growth is taking place from all directions, be
it commercial, economical, technological, environmental, physical mental
emotional wellness and spiritual growth. We are so grateful to have been
given this opportunity to visit once again.
Our Arrival
We landed
at Mumbai’s 'Shivaji Chhatrapati International Airport' and from there we weaved
our way through a very small section of India.
MUMBAI
We spent
our first night in Mumbai –previously known and Bombay, situated on the west
coast of India, the capital city of Maharashtra and one to the world’s
largest and densely populated city with an estimated population of 12.4 million
as of 2011. Mumbai is the financial, commercial and
entertainment capital of India.
NARGOL
The next
day we taxied our way from Mumbai, to Nargol. We spent one night
here. Nargol is a village located in the southern region of
the Indian state of Gujarat near
the Maharashtra border. It lies about 150 kilometers north
from Mumbai. Nargol beach is dotted with Casuarina trees and the
waters have a population of sea turtles. Nargol is a small typical
‘Indian style village’ surrounded with small farmhouse type of dwelling. The
beaches are wide and lonely sand-beaches with big tidal water level
differences.
We
visited Nargol because it is of great importance to us, the followers
of Sahaja Yoga. One of the Casuarina tree (or Saru tree) is called
"Nirmal Tree". The founder and spiritual leader of Sahaja
Yoga, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, opened the Sahasrara chakra in
Nargol in the year 1970 under that tree, thus marking the beginning of Sahaja
Yoga. Meditating in this space was really amazingly beautiful - in a
meditative state continuously.
The
forest land surrounding "Nirmal Tree" has been declared and
inaugurated as "Nirmal Van" ("Pure Forest") in an official
ceremony on 2 March 2009 by representatives of the Indian government and other
state authorities. The Forest Department protects it as Eco - Zone under,
JFMC (South Valsad Forest Division of Gujarat State) for promotion of
environmental awareness, ecotourism and peace project.
Nargol is
also known for its Parsi (Zoroastrian) population as the Persians
(Zoroastrians) migrated from Persia to land on the shores of Nargol first then
spread south to Sanjan and north to Udvada.
PUNE
The next
day we continued on to Pune from Nargol, about a 6 hour drive by taxi.
Pune is
the second largest city in the Indian state
of Maharashtra after Mumbai and the seventh most
populous city in the country. It considered to be the cultural
capital of Maharashtra. Pune is known as "Oxford of the
East" due to the presence of several well-known educational institutions
in the city. Pune is one of the fastest growing cities in
the Asia-Pacific region. Pune is also wonderful for shopping,
well we did some shopping here, eastern wear of course.
Whilst in
Pune, we were fortunate to be able to visit my cousin. It was really wonderful
meeting with her after so many years. We had an opportunity to catch up and
enjoy a very scrumptious lunch together…yum yum!!!
PRATISHTHAN Sahaja Yoga, in Pune is an Ashram
and Museum for Sahaja Yogis.
Her Holiness Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi lived in
Pratishthan from 1986 till 2010. Her residence ‘Pratishthan’ was named after
the capital of her ancestors the Shalivahana (presently called Paithan).
Shri Mataji personally designed Pratishthan to demonstrate how vibrations
penetrate matter and create the coefficient of vibrations. As a result
Sahaja yogis come here to enjoy the beautiful vibrations that take one into
deep thoughtless meditation that is a spontaneous happening. Our three night
stay here was truly magical and deeply spiritual experience.
NAGPUR
We then
took a flight to Nagpur. We had to say good bye, to a wonderful taxi
driver, Vincent, who looked after us as a brother would take care of his
sisters.
Nagpur is
the third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune.
Nagpur is the 13th largest Indian city in terms of population. It has
been proposed as one of the Smart Cities in Maharashtra.
Oh and
here is the bit/trip never to forget - Our taxi drive from Nagpur airport to
Chhindwara.
All four
of us (ladies) were tightly packed, like sardines in a can, into a very
small car - Fiat Pinto, with four and a half suit cases plus four back packs
and some hand bags. This journey, a long hilarious one, lasted about
3 hours. This situation came about by the arranged taxi man that sent his
friend to pick us up but forgot to mention that we were more than one
passenger.
CHHINDWARA
Our three
night stay at ‘Hotel The Karan’, was wonderful, highly recommended. The service
was excellent the food was delicious and the stay was comfortable.
The main
reason for our trip to India was to attend the Birthday celebration of the
founder of Sahaja Yoga, H H Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, in Chhindwara. It
was a purely divine experience I which I wish I could share with the world.
“Thousands of followers of Sahaja Yoga come every year to Chhindwara to visit the birthplace of H.H. Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, founder of Sahaja Yoga. She was born on March 21, 1923 to a Christian family in Chhindwara, India (http://www.chhindwara.org). Her parents were Prasad Salve and Cornelia Salve, direct descendants of the royal Shalivahana dynasty. Seeing the beauty of this child who was born with a spotless brilliance, they called her Nirmala, which means 'Immaculate'. Later on, she came to be known by the multitudes by the name of H.H. Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi — the revered Mother — who was born with her complete Self Realization and knew from a very young age that she had a unique gift which had to be made available to all mankind. Her parents played a key role in India's Liberation Movement from under British rule. Her father, a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi, was a member of the Constituent Assembly of India and helped write free India's first constitution. He was a renowned scholar, master of 14 languages, and translated the Koran into Marathi. Her mother was the first woman in India to receive an Honors Degree in Mathematics. “Wikipedia”
“Chhindwara
is the most rapidly developing city in Madhya Pradesh. It was believed
that Chhindwara District was full of "Chhind" (date palm or khajoor)
trees many years ago, and the place was named
"Chhind"-"Wada" (wada means place). There is another story
that because of the population of lions (called "sinh" in Hindi), it
was considered that making entry into this district is akin to entering the
lions' den. Hence it was called "Sinh Dwara" (means through the
entrance of lion). In due course it became "Chhindwara". Wikipedia”
MUMBAI –
Shoppers paradise
On the 22nd evening we took a flight back to Mumbai
were we spent our last three nights of our journey, experiencing the
very busy, noisy, crowded Mumbai. Mumbai is known for its shopping and
that’s exactly what we did, oh and eat :). We stayed in Colaba, close to
all the shopping bargains…and of course we bargained our way through quite a
few different stores. We also did a few touristy things like visiting
(the outside) of a few Indian Movie star homes, Shopping malls, Beaches etc.
25th
March, we left India for home after a two weeks stay.:)
IN CONCLUSION
One of
the most memorable part of the trip was the people. I am very grateful to
have crossed paths or came in contact with all these beautiful people along the
way. Be it the Auto rickshaw driver, taxi drivers, doorman, reception
man, travel agency, shop owners/ assistants and especially the Sahaja Yogis
from around the world. This in itself was a wonderful blessing. It
was really comforting and joyous to be shown so much of love and care by
those you have never met before. So in a nut shell....we had a wonderful,
enjoyable, amazing time but most importantly a deeply spiritual one.
Should
you wish to know more about Sahaja Yoga Meditation
please
visit: www.sahajayogameditation.online
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