Program at Sri Aurobindo Relics Center, Chennai

This event was made possible by Syamala, my Auroville Akka (elder sister). In 1969, she was chosen by the Mother to work at Auroville. One of her current projects is Arulvazhi Education Center. This is the centenary year of Sri Aurobindo’s arrival in Puducherry. To celebrate the centenary year, Syamala started an initiative, under the aegis of Arulvazhi, to reach out to places in Tamil Nadu and offer some events. I fondly think of this as ‘Taking Auroville outside Auroville’.

We stopped on the way at Chengalpat, a quaint town about 60 km short of Chennai. You turn off the highway at a beautiful lake and go on a road with a reserved forest on your right to get to the town. We went to the residence of Mr. Prabhakararao, who gives a lot of his time and energy to run the Sri Aurobindo Center in Chengalpattu. They call their home ‘The Mother’s Home’. I enjoyed the hospitality and the tasty, nutritious lunch. I felt a lot of love and affection from both Mr and Mrs Rao and they invited me to facilitate a Deep Relaxation and Meditation workshop at Chengalpattu. We need to work out the date and venue. He told that he expects more than 40 people to participate. However, when I communicated my need to have people who can follow spoken English, the estimate came down to 15!


We reached the Center around 4pm on 10th October and I felt very happy to meet Bhavatarini Amma again. I had the fortune of facilitating a two day Well Being workshop at a School in Ginge, where Ms. Uma (Amma’s daughter) is the Principal. When I recall that three generations of Amma’s family participated in that event, I relive my exultance and inspiration! That evening, in that special space of the Center, I enjoyed offering a meditation session for Amma and her daughter, daughter-in-law and grandchildren.


The topic of the event was Stress Management. It was the first time that I was doing a workshop in a Center like this and for a gathering of devotees. It was a unique opportunity for my own Personal Growth (I would like to post another blog on this rather than squeezing it in here). I have been following a strategy to move away from any interaction where translation is needed and leave it inconclusive. When this happened again in this event, I made a choice to create value for all on the point raised (as translated to me). I am not happy with the result. However, I am celebrating my own victory over my conditioning and actually trying out an unfamiliar and riskier option. I need clarity on this for myself.


Pandy, one of the participants, came all the way from Bangalore to attend this event traveling by overnight bus both ways. I felt very enchanted as my need for inspiration has been met. In the break, he connected with me and recalled that he attended my Landmark seminar series in 2000! I am grateful for this reconnection and actually experiencing ‘It is a small world’.