The inspirational and selfless commitment and devotion of our immediate neighbours to celebrate Janaashtmi with the other residents and their guests annually was once again on display this year on the 26th of August.
I witnessed the painstaking effort put in by the entire family with their complete staff working as a well knit team. This year, it seems the rain Gods also decided to put in their contribution for this noble and pious event! The morning rains ensured that the complete area where Lord Krishna’s birthplace was to be reincarnated was well washed with the purest form of water, rain water! They then gave the family and their team a reasonable break for them to set up the place. Not satisfied with some aspects of the set up, the rain Gods showed their presence again and selectively wetted the set up area which they desired to be redone. Satisfied with the redone area, peace from rain prevailed. And, for majority part of the time, the residents could come and do their darshans. The senior ladies came in small groups, sang their bhajans, did their individual aartis; the children came and were awed to see the spectacular set up. Other residents, domestic staff of residents, security guards, and other maintenance staff all felt at ease coming and paying their rituals and were amply rewarded with prasadam!
Not to be missed were the personal touches and small details planned by our neighbour for the worshippers: My wife and I were thrilled to bathe and symbolically ‘feed’ the BalGopala with milk and freshly churned white butter and then to play with the Lord on his Jhoola, giving small oscillations to the Jhoola with the attachment on the Jhoola.
The Aarti pre-poned to 9pm for the benefit of senior residents was attended by many and conducted with religious fervour: singing of bhaj-ans, ringing of bell and rythimic clapping of hands. The singing of Bhajansand chants of Achutam Keshavam and Hare Krishna by Bineeta, Jyotsna, Neelam and Ritika were mesmerising and melodious. Visitors kept coming till late hours and the rain Gods also kept showering their Blessings intermittently- never to disrupt but mildly suggesting they were indeed very pleased with the efforts of the Nirvana Community.
The modest Chadawa collection of Rs 3110 was used to organise 60 boxes of Prasadam for our Guard Bhaiyas.A thought that comes to my mind is that if a single family can create a setup that is so appreciated by the residents, maybe next year we could consider several families joining hands and scaling up the model that this family have so well demonstarted annually, to make Janamashthmi Celebrations a big event in the small/big AG Park – think about this!!
The bhog of panjeeri, saundesh, rasgulla, and delicious baked cake slices from Mrs. Kain, Piu, Ritika, and Vidushi, respectively, was distributed as prasad to the sangat. Each offering was a heartfelt contribution, enhancing the spiritual experience and joy of the occasion.
