I was going through some of my old diaries, when a loose page fell down, it was a page where I had penned down my experiences of staying at Several gram.
I had a long desire to experience ashram life. Its slow pace, simplicity and some unknown force attracted me. By this time I was already trained in Yoga and was into meditation, but my lifestyle and ashram lifestyle were poles apart. And I was in need of a break. It was winter of 2010, when I along with some friends decided to visit Seva gram.
Seva gram is located at Wardha, Maharastra. It was one of Gandhiji’s residence,which is currently preserved by a small community of Gandhian’s. There are certain rules that one has to follow if they choose to experience ashram life and we choose to experience the fullest.
I would wake up at 4:30 am, attain morning prayer and then resume back to sleep (those were the only times I woke up that early), wake up again at 7 am, help in whatever ashram work allotted to us, freshen up and join others for breakfast ; after which we helped in the farm works or goshala for an our or so. We were mostly free after lunch to explore or stay in the ashram; we decided to rather explore. Afternoon was the time when ashram mates attended tourists and practiced an hour of silent weaving. By evening we were supposed to gather for the evening prayer, followed by a simple dinner. The last activity of the day was where we sat together for a reading of Bhagwat Geeta (or biographies), formal introductions, sharing songs and experiences.
Though a short stay, it was full of newness. There were many things I was doing for the first time, there were moments of wonder as well as frustration….and that day was one such day…
—————————————————————————————————————————————–Working in the farm, removing weeds, plucking veggies, preparing new beds, I silently said to myself, ” it’s only been three days and every inch of my muscle is aching, I looked at my nails, my nails are all black and my fingers are swollen. It’s not all that fun after all.” At this point , the saying, “be a smart worker rather than a hard worker” was making more sense.
Before I could think any further , the little voice inside me was quick to say, ” Look Jolly, look around you…..”
I looked up, I saw Kusum Tai sitting silently at a distance removing weeds, she is 86 years old living here since she was 13. She rarely speaks until asked and least about herself. I was lucky to be sharing her room. Her day starts at 3:30 am and ends at 9:30 or 10 pm and in this mean time I never ever saw her taking a nap. She was either working in the farm, cleaning her house, reading, writing, meditating, weaving…gardening, attending visitors and don’t know what else as I was very regular with my naps.
With contrast to our modern day belief, where we treat our bodies as something that should be preserved, cared for, pampered, enjoyed and by the time we reach 60 or 70 then we tend to drag this body with heaps of medication as if, we have not had enough? As if there is still something left to be enjoyed , as if we are in a competition of ” who’s gonna live longer?”??
As thoughts got intense and unbearable I looked away and started working again. The chipping sounds from distance, trees swinging along with the wind and the sweet noise it made… now and then a cow mooed from the goshala, my hands felt the wet bed, the fresh green vegetables and the overloaded lemon tree from which bright yellow lemons were dropping now and then making a sound tap- tap, honestly at first the sound scared me, how often do we hear fruits falling from trees!? Soon, all these eased me.
I thanked God/ universe, despite all the odds it’s been kind to answer all my questions, allowing me to learn and grow at my own pace and many a time, things that appeared impossible, were made possible for me!
—————————————————————————————————————————————-Reading this page of my diary I feel so glad that I wrote down my experience in the very moment…now, it has brought back so many more memories….
Thanks Sandeep for making this trip possible!
Just About My Life 