My first Christmas Celebration at Amritapuri with AMMA

In spite of studying at Amritapuri for four years, I never once got a chance to attend the Christmas celebrations as it was always in the midst of holidays when I was either at home enjoying a comfortable stay or attending New Year celebrations else where. So, I made up my mind to make sure I attend this time and I definitely was not let down as the program was a lot of fun.

After evening Bhajans, everyone gathered in the main hall waiting for Amma so that the Christmas program could commence. I, along with my friends managed to catch a seat close to Amma's chair. While we were waiting for Amma to arrive, a lot of Amma's videos were played showing her abundant compassion to every living being be it us humans, dogs or birds. We witnessed a video of our professor being playfully pounded on the back by Amma when he was receiving darshan along with his wife while back in the U.S, and hence we understood why he always does the same to us when we do something wrong :-).

After Amma arrived, a musical detailing the lives of the 3 women named Mary - Mother Mary, Mary of Magdala and Mary of Bethany and their relationship with Jesus Christ, kicked off in full flow. It was full of energy, and I was soon rocking to the tune of the first song. The play was immaculately planned with amazing of props and costumes dressed in every possible colour.

During one particular act, I was taken aback when a bunch of ropes from the catwalk of the stage suddenly dangled down from the ceiling. At first, I thought it was a snake. To my surprise, a bunch of guys dressed up as ninjas slither down the rope from a height of about 100 feet and start rocking up and down the rope!!! It was part of the play where robbers lie in wait for a lonely traveler to loot him of his possessions. I absolutely loved the background music that followed.

In the next part of the play, a bunch of kids in cute costumes filed on stage, dressed like pink butterflies, trees, peacocks and elephants. It was a cute sight to watch the kid who was the pink butterfly refused to go off stage when she was supposed to, rocking to the rhythm of the background music. At the end of the play, as the elephant came near Amma rocking its head to and fro, Amma took a banana and slipped it into the slit where its mouth was supposed to be :-)

After the play, Amma blessed the cake that was to be served to everyone as prasadam, and gave her Christmas message. This was followed by a couple of bhajans, and a joyous chorus of "MATA RANI KI JAI!!!" exuding so much energy that everyone was resonating to the vibrations generated! As Amma left, we received the cake, and I must say it was delicious, so much so that I had about 10 pieces of them! To look at it positively, I was doing seva to ensure that no cake is wasted :P I left the Ashram at 2 AM tired, but fresh with memories of my first Christmas at Amritapuri, something i am not bound to forget in a long long time!