A different initiation this!

On April 26th this year, Sri Sri Swamiji visited this tiny village called Mittalam located near Ambur in South India. He interacted with the villagers and spoke to them about the greatness of the Maha Mantra and asked them to chant the Maha Mantra always.

Soon after the talk, Sri Sri Swamiji was thronged by the loving villagers who wanted to get as close as possible to Swamiji. Sri Swamiji was moved by their love for Him and their faith in His word.

With a smile on his face which never fades, unique to our Swamiji alone, He replied to every query of every soul. He listened to their prayers patiently and responded to them.

Soon, we saw one woman who came pushing through the crowd. She was carrying her little 3 year old boy and her face had the look that said a thousand sad stories.
She came right up to Sri Swamiji and said in a beseeching voice, ‘Swami, this is my son. He cannot speak a single word since his birth. You should bless him!’ Swamiji asked smilingly ‘Oh! He does not speak, does he?’ So saying, Sri Swamiji patted the boy on his back and said “say ‘Rama’ …”

TO THE UTTER SURPRISE OF EVERYONE, THE BOY WHO HAD NOT SPOKEN A WORD EVER SINCE HE WAS BORN, OPENED HIS MOUTH AND REPEATED AFTER SRI SWAMIJI, ‘R A M A’ !

Witnessing this miracle was indeed the most exhilarating experience. Everybody was utterly baffled and thrilled. The mother was transfixed and overwhelmed with joy!

One is immediately reminded of the incident in the life of Sri Bodendra Swamigal, wherein a littlle dumb boy spoke after having the leftovers (‘uchchishtam’) from Sri Bodendra swamigal’s leaf.

It make us wonder, if this fortunate little boy was waiting for this day when he would be initiated into the Rama Nama by Sri Swamiji Himself!

One cannot utter a better first word! Can one?