Tranquil, peaceful mornings and going on stage with flowers to put on our holy scripture the Ramayana, gave way to a four-hour Katha (recital) by Morari Bapu, my Guru from India. There was pin drop silence in the SSE Arena whilst about 8,000 people listened every day to his words and absorbed the positive energy.
My Mum and Dad had been organising this Katha for a year and they just hoped for it to be the best Katha it could possibly be. The time had almost come. Half an hour and Bapu would have entered the house. This would be my first proper chance to speak to him. Usually there are hundreds of people surrounding him, so I don’t often get a chance to be so close to him.
So Bapu entered our new home. Wow! He was here! And so began the nine days of Truth, Love and Compassion, which are the universal principles that Bapu believes in. Bapu speaks in an Indian language called Hindi which I don’t understand. But even though I don’t understand it, when Bapu speaks I feel like I drift off into this imaginary world.
Every day after Katha, all the attendees would be given delicious vegetarian food and ice cream too! My Dad would drive Bapu home swiftly in the afternoons to rest. In the evenings there was a crowd of people outside our house for programmes by various singers, musicians and poets from India. It was like being in a village in India – really didn’t feel like I was in London.
Those nine days were a blessing. Those nine days I met hundreds of new people and really had so much fun- it was exhilarating. Most of all, those nine days will be in my memory forever because I felt Bapu’s love and presence.
By Rudra Sachdev
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