Prayer , Compassion and Meditation

The day begins at the break of Dawn. A group of 20 young women who are being trained at Safai Vidyalay to become Aanganwadi workers/teachers (They would be trained to provide outreach services to poor families in need of immunization, healthy food, clean water, clean toilets and a learning environment for infants, toddlers and pre schoolers). are about to leave for a daily ritual called "Prabhat Feri" (Prabhat meaning Dawn and Pheri meaning walk ) singing prayers and bhajans by Gandhiji and Vinoba bhave. i grabbed this incredible or rather blessed opportunity of joining them. The choir was led by Gopal Dada (an 86 year old inspiration who has been part of the freedom struggle and is presently volunteering at the Ashram). The serene atmosphere added to the divinity of the place . Bhajans of "Vaishnava jana to tene kahi ye peda parayi jaane re" and "Ishwara allah tero naam" filled the ambience and me with a sense of completeness and bliss.
( that comes in being in a place you've always longed for).Coming back there was a prayer session (comprising of oneness prayer and various other bhajans)

What added meaning to the day was a visit to a blind school at Gandhinagar with Caroline(lovingly called Karuna for her compassion and attachment with the blind kids and her dedication towards making a difference to their lives) and her mother Fredrich. It is heartening to see her compassion for the kids that rubs off on others whho come in contact with her. The day was spent interacting and connecting to the kids,encouraging them to come together to paint the school walls with what they love.The music class was an absolute delight,Music brings these kids alive. it fills me with an incredible sense of joy to see these kids dance their heart out.
The day ended with a blessed and magical Meditation and reflection sharing.
The Magic will be rubbed on in the next post :)