Annual Day Celebrations!!

Diwali means light… diwali means love… diwali means celebration… and for many – diwali means crackers too. But off late you find that the awareness is increasing about not bursting crackers in Diwali. But I for sure know that the melodious crackers those were burst in Pu La Deshpande Auditorium on 24th October 2014 will be in your mind forever & there will be a huge shout of "ONCE MORE!"

The occasion was of our Sadguruji's Birthday & the Annual Day Celebrations! It was yet another blissful 24th October...! Divine atmosphere, wonderful orators, soulful music, THE AWAKENING!, wonderful Diya (Decorative Diwali Lamps) preparation and sale by Child Prodigies and to top it all... Sadguruji's aashirvachan! What more can you ask for in an evening of 2 and half hours...

It was pious, serene to be in PU LA DESHPANDE AUDITORIUM a couple of days back.

Everybody was eagerly waiting for His Holiness to arrive in the Auditorium… and as soon as He came, the evening turned into a BLESSED GET-TOGETHER. He was given traditional yet a full of love welcome in the form of Arati by 5 Suvasinis…! Then Guruji performed the Poojan of His Param Guruji! As the Foundation's tradition is, the celebrations started with National Anthem! Sadguruji then in the company of Dr V N Shrikhande, Dr Hegde & the musical performers of the day Siddhesh Bicholkar, Prasad Padhye & Manas Kumar did the Deep Prajwalan and this was the beginning of a wonderful, de'light'ful evening!

A new audio visual film was prepared for this special evening which showcased the journey of Sadguruji from his childhood days. A wonderful film was outcome of efforts by Rajeev Raval as well as Sandeep Pandya. Bravo!

Dr Hegde & Dr Shrikhande gave wonderful speeches. They hailed Sadguruji's work & appreciated His contribution to the society through various programmes. Dr Shrikhande mentioned, "When I get a new diary, I mark 24th October for him and next year also I will be with you. Diwali & Sadguruji's birthday coming together is a fantastic thing to happen. I salute the willpower of Sadguruji who is a remarkable man who is propagating UNCONDITIONAL LOVE & UNCONDITIONAL FORGIVENESS." He also mentioned that Science of the West & Spirituality of the East has to come together for mankind's betterment. He wished Sadguruji all the best in all His endeavors which ultimately spread light, hope, enthusiasm to many hearts across the Globe.

Revered Sadguruji was felicitated by Dr Shrikhande & Dr Hegde. As a token of love He was also presented with a Small Mango Plant. Sadguruji always prefers to have a small plant rather than perishable bouquets and that shows His different thinking. He was also presented with a wonderful and artistic Ganesha Frame from our Dubai Centre & it was accompanied by a wonderful Audio Message. Everybody was all ears to listen to Sadguruji… He started with wishing all a very Happy Diwali & a prosperous New Year. Sadguruji mentioned, "When I came in, I was trying to hide my emotions, but then I said why should I hide my tears? I am overwhelmed by the love showered on me by all my dear family members and friends." He talked about the transformation from Last Diwali till this Diwali, He talked about the deadly illness which he had undergone. How positive thinking & willpower & His faith in His Sadguru helped Him overcome this phase. He mentioned that He has may more things still to do. He talked about his experiences during mountaineering. How He always looked at the various challenges & how He achieved it. He mentioned many things during His wonderful Speech which is difficult to narrate here. But He once again appealed all to love the persons who don’t love you & then see the transformation. He sees God in every human being and within self. Body is a temple and you have to take care of this temple. Then He specially talked about why He decided to keep a musical program involving Jal Tarang, importance of Five Elements.

Just before two weeks He had conducted a special workshop for Children for teaching them how to prepare decorative Diwali Lamps. So all the children & their parents had specially created various Diyas proceeds of the which will be used for the Charity Work. So Sadguruji talked about the importance of light & how these children are going to spread this light in the lives of many.

All felt that His amritwani goes on and on ….! The little children then immediately followed the instructions of the Master & you know what, within a short time, all the wonderful decorative Diyas were sold… such was the work & so special was the cause.

Then just before the musical programme got underway, Sadguruji , All the Honoured Guests & the Editorial Team inaugurated the 16th Issue of Yearly International Magazine 'The Awakening!'. This publications helps the Foundation spread Sadguruji's message and help spread Kriya Yoga across Globe through its 86 Centres.

Next was the time for the wonderful musical show. A combination of Tabla, Jal tarang & Violin. Prasad Padhye on Tabla, Siddhesh Bicholkar on Jal Tarang & Manas Kumar on Violin enthralled the audience through their beautiful presentation. They started with classical music and concluded with melodious tunes of bhajan, cine songs & gazals. And to take the programme to its apt conclusion, they greeted Sadguruji with HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU tune. This was one of the best ever musical and pious evening everybody witnessed.

People from all parts of the country as well as from foreign countries had come especially to witness this evening. Special mention of the entire backstage team, Sandeep Pandya who was the Emcee for the evening and did a great job, Rajeev Raval & Rameshraj Maddu for their technical support is a must.

Kudos to them. Wonderful teamwork by all the volunteers on various fronts. Vote of thanks was given by the Hon Secretary Shri Prakash Irde.

Thank You Sadguruji for yet another memorable 24th October. We all love you.

Hari Om.