Awakin Talks In Bombay

In Bombay, there are many Awakin Circles and each has its own community.  Today, all of them came together for an event in a school auditorium -- Awakin Talks. Organized by the inimitable Sachi Maniar and a local gang of a dozen volunteers, the event was downright awesome.

With Rahul as our emcee, our evening opened with the ever so respected (and adorable!) Arun Dada, an 84-year-old Gandhian who spent all his adult life in service, without ever selling his labor!  He shared a story of Vinoba to illustrate that he may not understand ServiceSpace but he loves it.  That is a *really* high compliment from someone like him.  Preeti Tai then inspired us with her work of 30 years and reminded us that 'If you judge people, you have no time to love them'.  After some enchanting sufi music from Radhika, we heard from Calcutta's Mamoon-bhai.  His sheer simplicity, sincerity, humility and love of children totally stole the show!  We concluded with radiant Sister Lucy, lovingly known as "Mother Teresa of Pune", who connected us to the spirit of Maher -- a mother's unconditional love. "God is too big to be held by one religion," Sister Lucy added.  

Kinnari concluded with a gorgeous chant for the well-being of all, 'Sabka Mangal Ho'.  As context, she offered, "I'm 7 months pregnant, and I've been thinking about how I'm a mother, but I'm also a child.  I'm a fruit, and I'm also a seed.  This chant is to honor all the fruits and seeds."

All of us felt deeply awake amidst our collective stillness.  At the end, Rahul and Sachi completed the vote of thanks.  Usually, after a 3-hour program, everyone is itching to go.  But not here.  No one was moving.  I was just in the back, but they brought me to speak for a couple minutes.  Still, no one moved.  We did a minute of silence.  People are right there.  We played 'Being Kind'.  And finally, we just had to tell people to stand up and give a hug.  The vibration was strong and you could tell that these weren't just 200 people who had come together to watch a movie -- it was a community connected by Awakin Circles, and they were "Moved by Love".    

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