Utsav Experience

You might think that out of nowhere why am I posting my own age old experience of Utsav. Just that it was required somewhere to be published so thought of sharing with everyone and also when all are writing some or other the thing about their experiences, I thought why not something as good as Utsav, that brought me into AOL. And the memories of first Utsav are still fresh in my head. So enjoy reading...

The Intro Talk

It starts with a few 'student looking' guys n gals coming to our college and asking us to listen to them. 'Aadhe ghante tak pakaega'- this was what I thought when I heard Art of Living ka talk hai. Like any other engineering student, with tons of attitude I walked past them without paying any heed to what they wanted to offer. I'll call it my fortune that my HOD called me and asked me to gather the crowd for the intro talk. 2 minutes later I found myself pulling my juniors for the intro talk for which I myself was finding a way to escape. With knowledge points of AOL yet to come, I couldn't accept the situation and my HOD as they were. But being the senior and of course, a good one, I had to obey him. With much reluctance, I had to sit for the intro talk and unwillingly I was in total acceptance of the situation.

I still remember the first sentence of the speaker, "You guys want to have sheer fun for the next half an hour?". Suddenly there was a shift in the aura, the naughty, restless minds were intrigued as if the talk had something completely opposite to what they had assumed it to be. After the session, many hands went up when asked about registering for Utsav, for some reason only I was destined.

My Tryst with my thoughts

After a hectic schedule of college hours from 8.30am to 3.30pm, I had to rush from andheri to MMRDA grounds for the first day of UTSAV. The thoughts like 'who had told you to register, now suffer'..'Why the hell am I going, do 500Rs. really matter?' kept running in my head. What else do you expect from a budding engineer when issues like assignments, girlfriend, (remember its not girlfriends), submissions, and if you are the president of your technical society then organising events, settling accounts etc. keep eating you bit by bit. After all that chattering and blabbering in my mind, I reached the venue where, as per the stats, around 2000 youths had come. I could see myself amongst the volunteers there because I had experienced what it takes to orgainse such a huge event. So atleast I was not in the clan of people who had complains for things as small as IDs.

And the UTSAV begins

The session started with a very young guy having long hair appearing on the stage. His voice, his gestures, his smile, his actions, everything appeared so full of energy. No doubt he was going to make the 2000 youths realise that they are living a life that is not even remotely defined youthful. Indeed he was Dinesh Ghodke. He started with the instruction...Shake your legs...your hips...your waist...your hands...your shoulders...your head and every possible part of your body...and keep shaking. It left us thinking, 'When was the last time we realised that there are so many parts in our body?' This excersise had left us tired and we realised another interesting thing, we were BREATHING. He claimed this as 'warm ups' and there was something more terrible to come.

Suryanamaskars

We were made to do so many of them that I had vowed of never coming back. The faces who had registered me kept flashing in my mind and with immense generosity I abused each one of them. After all days work, how can they expect us to do this and that too so many?? Every dark night has a bright morning, and finally the suyanamaskars got over and we were truly resting in peace.

BAWA

Until now there is nothing but lots of sceptisim about this UTSAV thing, which after the yogic sessions had turned into total disinclination. Now appears the main person, who claims to be the teacher of the previous guy. He was more towards the knowledge side and the Irony- He was a parsi, Mr. Khurshed Batliwala (fondly called BAWA). He took over the rest of the session and it was packed with tons of laughter. It was amazing how he could cross the barrier that most of us had and penentrated straight into our minds as if he got into our head and was teasing, 'I know what you are thinking!!!' That was his way through which he reached our hearts.

Sudarshan Kriya

First sudarshan kriya is like your first love, you can never forget it. Words fell short in describing the experience of kriya. The physical effect was that while breathing, I could literally feel the flow of blood in every capillary of my skin. On an emotional and mental level, I would say I felt something truly blissful. It is something that cannot be bound in words or expressions. After the kriya, when you open your eyes, the world is not the same. You'll feel that it has indeed changed, has become so beautiful. The people around you are so lovable, and you have nothing but love for everyone. You forgive and forget the most drastic incidents of your life and you start relishing each and every moment of this blissful experience. You feel a new life within yourself and you are all set to take over the world. Imagine a day ending in such a state. All that you are left with, is confidence to do anything and everything and a state in which you are drenched with smile and cheerfulness.

The journey back home

From Bandra to Kandivali at around 10.30pm with no signs of stress or tension, all I took along with me was the teachings of Bawa and a huge grin that at times turned into a laughter. I kept smiling for reason I still don't know. It was just the transformation that I had undergone, It had shook the dead person in me and I had discovered the most beautiful part of myself which had joy, happiness and love...not only for myself, but for everyone around.

Satsang Redefined

2 more days past and Bawa kept amusing and astonishing us by his facts and figures and the knowledge that reflected his experience. The final day had Vikram Hazra coming for a rocking satsang. He redeifned SATSANGs and made us realise how to get high without booz, pubs and chicks. It was another blissful state where at times, his chords used to struck the 7th level of existence and the people are left in an oblivious state.

An Intimate note to a sincere youth

All in all an experience of a lifetime. I consider myself lucky to be a part of first ever Utsav that transformed lives of so many youths in one go. 4 days is what it takes to change your life. Utsav indeed grooms the youth with values and enables them to realise their full potential and unlock the dynamism that most of the highly appreciated brains of the world lack. If only the youths of India were not blinded by the mundane happenings that claim short term pleasures, India would not take so many years to be a super power.