AMMA BRAVES THE WAVES

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http://www.starofmysore.com/main.asp?type=specialnews&item=708

 

Amme Sharanam,

ota

 

 

Apart from resulting in death of thousands of residents in the

affected regions, the devastating Dec. 26 tsunami waves left lakhs of

people homeless creating a trail of misery beyond limits of human

endurance. Mata Amritanandamayi, whose Ashram at Amritapuri near

Quilon in Kerala is close to the Arabian Sea, led her devotees and

volunteers in a great rescue act saving life and offering succour to

the survivors. Star of Mysore was shown a video CD of Amma's act

following the disaster, on the eve of her visit to Mysore for two

days on Feb. 6 and 7, 2005. Here is a brief narration of the

happenings — Ed.

 

 

Multi-storeyed buildings have been raised by the Mata Amritanandamayi

Charitable Trust in Bogadi II stage, Mysore and many other places.

Mata Amritanandamayi, affectionately referred to as 'Amma', used to

give darshan in thatched huts upto almost ten years ago.

 

 

United Nations

 

 

Amma was heard with rapt attention by world's leaders of nearly 190

countries in the United Nations General Assembly in New York as well

its establishment in Geneva in the year 2002, after the prestigious

Gandhi - King Award for outstanding achievements towards world peace

was presented to her. Not resting on such laurels, Amma led and is

continuing to lead rescue operations for the benefit of survivors of

the Dec. 26 tsunami devastation on India's coasts.

 

 

It all happened all of a sudden at 11.30 am. The inmates of the Mata

Amritanandamayi Mutt in Amritapuri, barely 100 metres from the

Arabian Sea coast, panicked as sea water erupted as giant waves and

engulfed the Mutt premises, subsequently entering the ground floor of

the multi-storeyed structure.

 

 

On being informed, Amma who was leading the Brahmacharis and

Brahmacharinis as well the devotees, all numbering about 15,000 in

Meditation, sprang to her feet and personally saw to it that, as an

emergency step and without any immediate alternative, all the inmates

moved to the second and higher floors of the buildings.

 

 

The damage to houses, coconut trees and other standing crops were

very heavy about three kilometres away from the Mutt. Amma exhorted

the devotees and volunteers to chant verses from the Bhagavadgita in

chorus and soon prepared them to face the consequences of the

unexpected devastation with calmness.

 

 

After several hours, when the fury of the waves and swirling waters

came down, it was there for everybody to see that not a single person

had perished in the devastation, not any cattle had succumbed. Even

the Mutt elephant was moved to safety.

 

 

A large number of volunteers belonging to Rashtreeya Swa-yamsevak

Sangh also joined the Mutt inmates in the rescue act of a massive

scale. They soon got busy in organising food and serving it in an

orderly manner, although everything in the Mutt kitchen including

10,000 plates, had been washed away.

 

 

Prayer

 

 

In order to restore order among the thousands who had panicked and to

instill confidence that nothing would hurt them, Amma organised mass

prayer on the roof top of the 14-storeyed building in the Mutt.

 

 

Swimming

 

 

Amma, being adept at swimming and fearless, personally led the able

bodied among the Mutt inmates to go to the cellar of the building

where some of the volunteers had been trapped under water.

 

 

The rescue operations were enlarged to provide clothes and the much

needed provisions to the beleagured families.

 

 

The volunteers were formed into teams and deployed on the task of

constructing shelters for the homeless, starting from day one.

 

 

Amma personally carried heavy stones which was emulated by all,

including tiny and frail-bodied kids in the rehabilitation work.

 

 

Nagapattinam

 

 

On learning about the scale of devastation in Nagapattinam District

of Tamil Nadu, Amma toured the coastline and deployed the volunteers

of the Mutt on rescue work there, with local assistance and

Government machinery. Medicines worth Rs. 5 lakh were distributed

among the needy within 48 hours of the disaster.

 

 

Six ambulances of the Mutt were pressed into service for moving the

sick to medical camps.

 

 

Amma not only announced future plans for rebuilding the lives of the

survivors but also dedicated an amount of Rs. 100 crores for the

construction of shelters. Under the relief programme, 2,000 new pucca

houses will be constructed in Nagapattinam District for the surviving

homeless families.

 

 

She has also taken five students from among those families to study

B.Ed. course in the Mysore based college of the Mutt. —BRS