A Beautiful Day in Mumbai

It was a beautiful day yesterday. Our 16 kids, 16 of their parents, our 7 staff and the rest of us, came to Mumbai in a bus for our visa interviews a few days early. So yesterday we spent at Juhu beach, playing in the waves and getting wet, building sandcastles, drawing lines in the sand, collecting shells, taking photos and then went to Govinda's restaurant, where Radhika's family  (a dedicated volunteer to Ekatva) treated all 43 of us to a beatiful Vegetarian lunch at the ISKON temple.

After lunch we went airplane watching and finally got back to the hall where we relaxed and rested. 'Twas a beautiful day indeend.

Ekatva Family Gathering :)

As the last leg of this beautiful journey takes its course, we gathered today, with our loving parents to discuss next year’s children’s education plans as well as the upcoming EKATVA tour to America and the UK. It has always been a blessing to have the parents so closely involved in the EKATVA journey. Even when we had our big Bombay show and tour, we brought the parents down to Bombay to be a part of the show and audience. And the pleasant surprise that we usually get in our Parents’ meetings is that most of the brothers and sisters show up as well. Almost 60 of us, one big family, got together, cleaned the Manav Sadhna prayer area, cooked food, did prayer together, ate together, cleaned dishes together, and then reflected on the past 2 year journey of our kids and discussed the upcoming EKATVA tour.

It’s all a blessing and all God’s work we are humbled to be a part of.

Love.

True Tests in Oneness...

The other day two of our Ekatva girls, Dipmala and Payal, got into a tiff during practice. They were not talking with each other and you could see the distance they were keeping from each other with negative vibrations. I asked Dipmala what was wrong and she said that Payal had been giving her dirty looks and speaking behind her back about her. Bringing both of them together, they had a heated back and forth and then we finally ended the conversation with a hug (which was kinda forced) and finished practice.

After practice I had individual talks with both Payal and Dipamala into the night. Though they were both upset and sad, it was beautiful to see their ability to accept feedback and share their thoughts openly. I left it at that for the night. I was definitely hurt and sad that two of our girls felt such negative energy towards each other. But a constant reminder from our kids, that as much as we try to share a positive spirit of ‘oneness’ we are still kids and human beings J

The next day, I saw Payal before practice and asked her how she was doing and feeling? She said the following: “nimesh sir, do you know what I did today. While Dipmala was sitting down in tuition class, I came behind her and put my hands over her eyes. Then I  placed a chocolate in her hand and opened her eyes. She saw me and started smiling and then we both hugged each other. She took a bite of the chocolate and gave me the other half. We are friends again.”

Ekatva, the spirit of Oneness, is not a space of perfect being and love. It is more about being tolerant and forgiving. That is love.