Sprite!!

He sure looks like a german... but he aint really...
Rather i would call him, 'as indian as they get'...
and not in a bad way...but rather in a very very good way...
by the first impression... i see him as a person who is embrassing the best of what India has to offer.... and leaving the crap behind...

He is not religious, no no...he is very particular abt that...
he is a, "Spiritualist".

S had just got a job that day and he was really happy. It was a day for celebration, but a dry day too.... hence we could not make any pub plans... and had to begin with coffee at village cafe...

M had his uncles car with him, and we (S, St, M and me) decided to drive to Noida.
M had a plan. He wanted to visit this Satsang, to be held by the Art of Living people, and the Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was supposed to bless the audience by his presence...

St and S were ofcourse very against this visit, and reaching the venue, they decided to stay in the car. I was ofcourse very surprised to find that someone like M is such a huge follower spiritualistic stuff. He then tells me that he was a member of the Art of Living for the last 3 years, and that he has been practicing Prayanam, a meditation technique for the last one year.

Being in such a state of surprise, I didnt want to dissapoint M, and thought, what the heck... I could join him about half an hour. Me myself, am an Aetheist. I am non spiritual, but its not as if that I am a satanist. I do believe in the goodness of things and all the 'good virtues'. Its only that I refuse to learn them from another mortal; I refuse to learn from another mortal the way to live and to be happy.

So, M handed over the car to the St and S, and him and me began to walk towards the venue. It was being hosted by the side of the new Akshadham Temple, at the NOIDA T point. The venue was enormous. As I entered, I realized the proportion, the scale in which the entire thing was happening... It was gigantic...

As we entered through the well guarded gates of the pavallion... I could see people all around... There was a huge stage, where a choir was singing the bhajans, and the Guru, sri sri Ravi Shankar were sitting on a platform. The stage was really big and well illuminated, with a couple of video cameras getting their feeds.... these cameras were feeding these screens which were placed in front of different sections, for people who were too away from the screen. People after the VIP area were sitting on the floor, which was appropriately covered with a dari. As we did not have VIP passes either...we just went and sat near this screen, which was showing all the action on the screen. The Guru was smiling away at his pupils... the choir was singing the bhajans with a lot of fervour and enthusiasm and complete devotion...

I noticed the public. The way we enjoy good rock music... headbanging in approval and fanship... mouthing the words... jerking our heads to and fro to the drum beats... shrieking the lyrics... they were doing it in the same way.
Someone of them were sitting with their eyes closed, as if to not one word of the bhajan, not one note of the music miss their ears... Few others were rocking to and fro... singing the bhajan in unison with the choir... other were standing right in front of the screens... dancing away in blissful devotion, to the tunes of the bhajan... entier families had come, and had come armed with food baskets, water and a bedsheet, to demarcate their own devotion spot...it was no different that a Woodstock Music Festival.

There was a difference ofcourse... they were not drunk... they were not intoxicated by Booze, and neither high on grass...

After about half an hour, M and me decided to leave, but just a quick round of the entire venue, M requested. We came to the front, from the left side and managed to enter a VIP area reserved for Student and Staff from IGNOU. We could spot some young students there... and we went to join them. M found a couple of friends...and they hugged. Just then the pace of the bhajan increased and all the young devotees began to dance. There must have been these bunch of 15 people who seemed like AOL classmates, and they began to dance around each other, and I was standing behind them... about a meter back, in casual indiffernce...enjoying the show...
M was standing ahead in the group, with his IGNOU friend, he looked at me and smiled.. as if to say "fantastic, isint it?"... he was clearly beaming with devotion...
There was this pretty lady whom i noticed, at least the prettiest in the bnch... must have been abt. my age... and she was really enjoying the music... and was dancing like crazy... she was dancing to "jai bhole" as I would have moved to "hallowed be thy name"... ofcourse... satsangs are supposed to attract a lot of pretty girls... S told us this...and he was quite right...!!


Spiritualism, I guess is like a new age religion, which is attracting both the rich and the poor, the old and especially the young. And no distinctions are made on the basis of religion, color or caste. They dont ask you to pray... rather they ask you to practice meditation.... so far so good...

But, on the other side... isint it trading God for a Guru... who in due course of time would become a God, atleast in status. Is it trading one devil for another? I would say, its a religion renessiance... religion in a new packet... tactfully advertizing the good it has to offer over conventional religion... but the bad will sooner or later flow in with the stream...

Ah... I am quite content being an Aethiest.