FW: Amma's Press Conference 9/23/05 - Simple, candid answers

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>> Amma's Press Conference 9/23/05 - Simple, candid answers

>>

>> Transcribed from Press Conference at Amritapuri

>> September 23rd 2005, Amritapuri

>>

>>

>> Q: Was the UN recognition of the Mata Amritanandamayi Math as an NGO because

>> of its tsunami relief work? What is the implication of this recognition?

>>

>>

>> AMMA: No, the UN recognition was accorded on the basis of all the

>> humanitarian work that the M.A. Math has done so far. With this recognition,

>> the UN may entrust the Math with projects in the future. The Ashram would

>> also be able to share its views with the UN members, and participate in UN

>> forums.

>>

>> Q: How many tsunami-relief houses has the Math finished building so far?

>>

>> AMMA: We have finished 1,200 houses, and the piling for another 1,000 houses

>> is going on. On September 27th, we will be handing over 550 houses to the

>> beneficiaries. We have already completed and handed over 150 houses. We first

>> finished building houses in Ernakulam, then in Alleppy, and then in Kollam.

>> In Tamil Nadu, we have finished building houses in Nagapattinam and

>> Kanyakumari, and have already handed them over.

>>

>> Q: How long did it take the Math to build these 1,200 houses?

>>

>> AMMA: For the tsunami-resistant houses, which need good piling, we took about

>> three to four months.

>>

>> Q: How long will it take to finish the houses?

>>

>> AMMA: We should finish within another three to four months.

>>

>> Q: There is a perception that some government agencies did not cooperate with

>> the Math. Are you happy with the government's attitude?

>>

>>

>> AMMA: Amma has nothing against the government. She does not pay much

>> attention to what the government does or says. She concentrates on what she

>> can do for society.

>>

>> Just after the tsunami struck, Amma walked four kilometres to participate in

>> the moksha deepam, a day to pray for the departed souls, to assess the

>> situation, to see how much damage the tsunami had done, the evaluate the

>> impact of the waves, how the houses had been washed away by the waves. Amma

>> had to study so many minute details so that she could do justice to the work

>> she was about to undertake. At that time, the government came up with a plan,

>> meant for the tsunami-affected in Cochin. It did not have a staircase, nor a

>> room upstairs. Amma thought this was not the right plan. Amma suggested that

>> every plan for such houses should have a staircase and a room on an upper

>> floor. This is because both grownups and children living here were gripped by

>> fear. Even the change in the sound of the fan, caused by fluctuation in

>> voltage, or the sounds of the wind would strike terror in their hearts of

>> these traumatized people.

>>

>> Amma also wanted the houses to have a column-bearing structure, and not a

>> load-bearing structure, because a tsunami can cause a house based on a

>> load-bearing structure to collapse. Tsunamis can even wash away huge

>> boulders. When Amma submitted this plan, the government accepted it. So Amma

>> does not have any difference of opinion with the government.

>>

>> Q: Amma, has the recent attempt on your life emboldened your mission?

>>

>> AMMA: Amma has no fear. Even the next breath is not in our hands. In any

>> case, the body will perish one day. So rather than rust away doing nothing,

>> it is better to wear away doing something beneficial to society. So there is

>> neither courage nor a lack of courage. But Amma's children are scared.

>>

>> Q: Does the Math have any other experience in relief activities?

>>

>> AMMA: In Gujarat, after the 2001 earthquake, the Math adopted three villages

>> and built 1,200 houses. We also renovated temples and mosques there. In 1997,

>> the Ashram provided assistance for people who had been affected by the

>> earthquake in Lathur, Maharashtra.

>>

>> Q: Was tsunami relief the first time the Ashram built houses?

>>

>> AMMA: The housing project is not new to the Math. We have been involved in

>> this work since 1996. We first undertook to build 25,000 houses, which we

>> finished in 2002. Then in 2003, we announced a 100,000 house-building project

>> across India, In addition to this, we have undertaken the tsunami-housing

>> project.

>>

>> Q: Is giving homes to the homeless the mainstay of Amma's mission? Is your

>> philosophy home-centred?

>>

>>

>> AMMA: Many other things are there: pension, orphanages, hospitals, nature

>> protection.... Amma doesn't have any projects. Amma just flows, like a river.

>> Most of the projects that Amma has undertaken happened spontaneously when the

>> situations demanded them.

>>

>> Born and brought up in this village, Amma has seen the pitiful plight of

>> villagers not being able to sleep at night when it rains, when their thatched

>> roofs leak. Some of them would have grownup daughters in their houses. Most

>> people here work as fishermen. If they get a good catch, they will have food;

>> if not, they won't. So Amma's life-long desire is that everyone should have a

>> shelter over their heads and at least one meal a day.

>>

>> Q: There have been some reports that houses built by the government in

>> Andaman have not been satisfactory. The government had gone ahead without

>> thinking about what the tribal folk were used to and what they needed. For

>> example, the government built houses with tin roofs. Is the Math taking all

>> this into account, before going ahead with the housing project? Are there any

>> experts advising Amma?

>>

>>

>> AMMA: There are devotees who are engineers and architects, including experts

>> from IIT who are volunteers, who design and build according to local custom

>> and culture. Some of the householder devotees, who are professionals in this

>> field, are also actively involved in the construction work. About 500 of them

>> go every morning to do this seva work, including carrying bricks and shifting

>> other construction material to the site. And no, we have not built houses

>> with tin roofs.

>>

>> Q: Did Amma have any premonition of the tsunami before it struck?

>>

>> AMMA: Amma does not like to predict anything. Even if Amma feels something,

>> she does not openly express it. However, in 2002, at the end of the US tour

>> in Boston, Amma felt that something bad would happen during the period

>> starting from the end of 2004 and in 2005. So Amma told the devotees that

>> this period would be bad for the entire world, and asked everyone to chant,

>> "Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu" ("May all the beings in all the worlds be

>> happy"). This message was published by a magazine [What is Enlightenment?].

>> Devotees circulated this message by email to everyone. Some devotees from US

>> were so frightened that they wanted to migrate to Australia or Canada. When

>> the tsunami struck, there were about 1,200 Westerners here in the ashram.

>> There were a total of 20,000 people here. Before the tsunami, pe! ople were

>> running to the seashore because they had heard that the sea had receded. But

>> Amma warned them that the sea would flow in, and therefore asked everyone to

>> move upstairs. So we made everyone move to the upper floors. Amma also asked

>> everyone to drive their cars to the mainland. If all these steps had not been

>> taken, at least 5,000 people would have died [in the Ashram]. More people

>> would have died here than anywhere else.

>>

>> Q: Amma, do you think there will be similar natural calamites in future?

>>

>> AMMA: When Amma looks into nature, she sees that nature's fury is not yet

>> abated. Nature is still turbulent, agitated. Only the cool wind of prayers

>> can shift these dark clouds. Only this moment is ours; even the next breath

>> is not ours. Amma has heard that the butterfly's lifespan is only one day,

>> yet it flutters around joyfully. Likewise, we should live joyfully. If there

>> is fear, you cannot live happily.

>>

>> Q: What did the Math do during the recent monsoon that hit Mumbai?

>>

>> AMMA: The Math sent two fully equipped ICU ambulances, as well as medical and

>> paramedical staff. We took medicines worth 20 lakh rupees. We were there for

>> two weeks, providing food, medicine, clothes, vessels, etc.

>>

>> Q: How much have you received in terms of donation for your tsunami-relief

>> activities?

>>

>>

>> AMMA: We never asked for donations. We did not even announce a fundraising

>> drive in our ashram publications. Amma also did not want devotees to solicit

>> for funds. But 60 percent of Amma's devotees have an attitude of sacrificing

>> for the world. That is Amma's real wealth.

>>

>> Q: What are future activities of the Math?

>>

>> AMMA: Before the tsunami, Amma had thought of undertaking two projects. One

>> concerns the suicidal rate in Kerala, which is much higher than that of other

>> states. Amma wants to do something about this. The other project is to

>> rehabilitate the sex workers in Mumbai and Kolkata--creating more awareness

>> among them, introducing self-employment programs for them, building schools

>> for their children. But because of the tsunami, we couldn't invest funds in

>> these.

>>

>> According to the latest figures, there are 35,000 sex workers in Kolkata

>> alone, mostly, girls between eight and 13 years. If we save them before they

>> are 18, they must be returned to their homes, according to law. And if that

>> happens, they will go back to prostitution again. So there are legal

>> loopholes. Amma is still discussing the project with legal experts.

>>

>> Q: Amma, could you elaborate on the project to tackle to problem of suicide?

>>

>>

>> AMMA: Amma is doing a study on this. The saddest thing is that parents who

>> want to commit suicide kill their young children first. Amma has asked a team

>> of devotees to gather newspaper clippings over the last five years, and find

>> out more about what people commit suicide, so as to study this issue

>> thoroughly.

>>

>> Amma is also thinking about starting a village for people with suicidal

>> tendencies, so that we can attend to them personally. Children of such

>> parents are more likely to develop suicidal tendencies. Most of these people

>> have borrowed heavily from loan sharks.

>>

>> Q: You talk about dharma, but at the same time what we see here are so many

>> social-welfare activities. Would you like to be known as a religious leader,

>> spiritual leader or social worker?

>>

>>

>> AMMA: Amma doesn't have any desire. You can call her what you want: "mother,"

>> "she,woman".... I don't care. Amma has offered herself to the world. Once

>> you become an offering, you have no claims.

>>

>> Q: Amma, you have such a big following and you are so powerful and people

>> adore you. Have you ever thought of going to politics? You would win.

>>

>>

>> AMMA: Amma does not have any desire to enter politics, because in politics,

>> there is always two (two political parties). When you represent a political

>> party, you cannot serve society fully. If you are ruling, there will be an

>> opposition. Amma does not have any party, she can serve everyone; she can

>> serve better. If the government gets 1,000 rupees, only 10 rupees go to

>> people because they have to pay their administration and workers. It's like

>> pouring oil from one vessel to another. By the time we reach the last vessel,

>> there is no oil left. Whereas if Amma gets 10 rupees, it goes to people as

>> 1,000 rupees, as in Amma's ashram, there are tens of thousands of people

>> willing to serve without remuneration.

>>

>>

>>

>>

 

 

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