The Yuva Kendra conducts elocution competition on Gita to increase awareness amongst youth every year. The meeting was supposed to invite speakers for the competition and give them some pointers for the speech. People discussed about selflessness, dilemmas, yoga, attached dettachment (ஒட்டி ஒட்டாமல் இருத்தல்), aptness of Gita for the current times, etc. Towards the end of the meet, everyone was asked to write their thoughts on the topic - 'Taking Gita as the base, let's change the current times'. Then everyone read what they had written. They were about to leave. Kajal bhabhi and Kunal bhai invited them to have pav bhaji. Maddy was happy and was feeling nostalgic about the pav bhajis which he used to eat in Sus-Phasan road, Pune.
The next week was hectic. Maddy woke up late on Saturday. Passed time surfing internet. Around 5:30 PM, Yogesh called Maddy and asked Maddy about his availability for the Gita Jayanti. They were supposed to start to Glendale by 6:00 PM. Maddy asked for 30 minutes so that he can get ready. By the time, he was about to leave, he saw Rakesh returning home from Artesia. There you go, Rakesh joined them. They reached the place by 6:15 PM. Boy, Maddy was taken aback. 35-40 people were out there. People aging from 10 - 60 were there in that home. He has never seen such a crowd for quite sometime in a single place (spare official meetings).
Maddy found a small place in a corner only. He went there and happily sat. Then he came to know that the speakers will speak from near that corner. Kunal bhai told that crowd not to clap hands as he told them that the speech is like Bhajan. 4-5 speakers spoke. Most of them spoke in Hindi and its sister languages. Yogesh spoke about "iPhobia" (iPhone, iPod, etc..). Suddenly, Maddy was told that he has to speak after the current speaker. No preparation.. Varied audience.. Spiritual topic.. The stage was set.
Maddy addressed that gathering with a shocker telling that that Gita is one of the sacred books that helps us out just like Quran or Bible. Then he followed with a disclaimer saying that he has neither read Gita nor other sacred books and so his speach might not be relevant. He was a bit scared to start off with such a note infront of pro-Hindu believers.
- Be unselfish. You brought in nothing and take away nothing. It is pretty easy to say so. Atleast, small steps towards this should be taken.
- Gita will be your answer to confusions. Knowledge leads towards truth as well as creates confusion at times. Arjuna was confused. So are many people. Arjuna got rid off as mentioned Gita. So will those many people if you happen to get to follow the the stuff mentioned in Gita.
- Gita also highlights different yogas, which is a really good concept. The four yogas are Bakthi, Karma, Raja, Gnyana yogas. More that one yoga can be performed concurrently. God is the only person who can perform all four at the same time.
phew.. The speach was over. Bhajans were sung. Dholak was there. Maddy enjoyed singing Bhajans after nearly 8 years. Kunal bhai and Kajal bhabhi were generous enough to serve refreshments to the crowd. Some aged people appreciated Maddy about his addressing to the public. He was in cloud nine.
Then he went out for a walk in the streets of Glendale along with a desi gang. He just loves Glendale. Such a lovely place. Some kids of Indian origins were there in the gang. They were "chirpping" a Tamil song (Devuda Devuda) from Rajini Kaanth's movie (Chandramukhi) and asked him the meaning of the same. That made him even more happier.
Maddy realized that when there is love, language or anything is never a barrier. There could never have been a better Saturday night. God thanks for that blissful event that Maddy experienced.
