And so the Guru came

So, dear reader: have you ever had the police at your front gate - trying to organize a never-ending queues of happy, cheering people who would like to get in? Well, we have! Oh yes! Remember I told you we were waiting for the arrival of a Guru last night? Outside our house, in the hallway we had crowds of people carrying fresh flowers and fruit, waiting for hours. Hundreds of shoes parked outside our door. Because, -yes he came. We had a famous Guru right next door.

I guess it must be a bit like having a famous pop star visiting ( if you have ever been there..?) - crowds of cheering people throwing flowers and carrying posters with his picture. People lining up to get a glimpse of him, maybe to touch him while he pass by. Police, bodyguards, security, they were all there, with people, people and more people, waiting and waiting. The people - they who bursted out in laugh and applaud when he got out of the car. The ladies waving at him as he walked to the entrance. And then at the apartment. We were so lucky to be invited in to our neighbor next door, and got a close up look at the celebrations and of the guru himself. Very colourful and interesting to see:-)

The Guru was Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, quite famous we were told. His vision is a stressfree and violence free world. He is the founder of Art of Living, an NGO foundation with UNESCO consultive status. I suppose writing about him would deserve a blogpost of its own, but you can read more about him and Art of Living on their webpages here.

So have a look at what happened at our house last night and this morning:

Our house is lit up- ready to welcome the guru.

The crowd is getting ready: the car is almost here.

The guru gets out of his car and the crowd is cheering.

From the celebrations at our neighbors' A puja and warm welcome.

Even this morning people were crowding up to wait to see the guru. Another memorable day in Mumbai in other words:-) And I think my husband will remember this birthday forever: cutting cake and chatting with a real Guru doesn't happen every year:-)
Have a wonderful evening dear reader! Stay tuned!