The 103rd Chinmaya Jayanti was celebrated at Juhu Jagruti Hall in the presence of Swami Swatmananda. Was it a mere celebration of a birthday? Or was it a celebration of a life of transformation? Pujya Gurudev transformed from an atheist to an Advaitin, from a journalist to a nationalist, from passion to compassion, from Balakrishna Menon to a great master, Swami Chinmayananda. Chinmaya Jayanti is a celebration of his transformation and a great source of inspiration for all of us to bring transformation in our lives and to express our gratitude to Pujya Gurudev.
The celebration began with Bala Vihar children of the zone dressed as various saints of India. They spoke about the saints they were representing, who were Pujya Gurudev, Adi Sankara, Ahilyabai Holkar, Swami Vivekananada, Totakacharya, Tulsidas and Pujya Guruji. The audience had to guess the name of the saint after listening to the children. As part of this very interesting and engaging activity, children would thereafter ask the audience questions regarding the saint. This was a wonderful interactive session between Bala Vihar children and the elders of Prakash Zone.
Swamiji blessed the audience by explaining the first verse of Kritagnyata: ‘Samasta jana kalyane.’ With anecdotes on Pujya Gurudev and a clip on his talks, Swamiji gave a glimpse of his mahima. A short quiz on his life and work was then conducted. This too was a wonderful session with the audience being divided into two teams - Chinmaya and Ananda. The event concluded with Pujya Gurudev’s Paduka Puja. Everyone could feel the presence of Pujya Gurudev and his inspiring, guiding light.
