July 24th

Day 1: The Sweetest Birthday

My name is Saidharani Sailam, and I was a participant in the 2023 Giggling Geckos Summer Camp. I am 16 years old and I am from Edison, New Jersey.

Introduction

My birthdays have always been memorable in some way or another. As a family, we would always go to Shirdi for Gurupurnima, Tiruvannamalai, or other spiritual places to celebrate and receive blessings. I always remember people telling me how much my mom ran after Guruji for my 1st and 2nd birthdays, hoping to physically receive his divine blessings. Unfortunately, no matter how hard she tried, it was never possible. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to celebrate my 16th birthday in Tiruvannamalai. It was such a special experience, especially with the girls, aunties, uncles, Sruti Akka, and Ammagaru, whom we now endearingly call “Ammamma”. Not only did I receive blessings from Ammamma, but I also felt that I had received the blessings of Baba and Guruji, personally. 

This camp (Giggling Geckos Summer Camp 2023) was run by Sruti Akka, daughter of Guruji. It took place in Haritachala, an environmentally friendly farm devoted to organic sustainable living. This farm has a fruit orchard, a community kitchen, accommodation blocks for volunteers and its own serene private Sai Baba temple which is open to the public. There are two individual accommodation buildings. All rooms in one of the buildings are named after saints, like Ramana, Vemana, Rumi, Kabir, Babuji Tattaya and so on. While the rooms in the other building are named after holy mountains, like Arunchala, Tirumala, Mt. Kailash, Mt.Shasta and so on. All the rainwater that falls onto Haritchala is harvested through many different practices which is especially important as Tiruvannamalai tends to suffer from scarcity of water. A wide variety of native, medicinal plants grow wild on the land and are harvested and shared with our gurubandhus. Overall, Haritachala is known for its natural beauty and mission to give back to nature.

Abhishekam

The first major blessing of the day, which was my 16th birthday, was receiving the opportunity to give abhishekam to Baba. Abhishekam is the daily practice of showering Baba’s statue and cleansing it of any impurities. The Baba statue of this temple was inspired and meticulously designed by Guruji, himself. It holds a lot of value and importance in Sai devotees around the world. The Baba statue in the Tiruvannamalai temple is so simple, yet so expressive at the same time. His beauty and grace were exuding throughout as soon as I walked into the temple. I felt so blessed to have seen the sun shining down upon him slowly; this experience was like no other. As we were pouring the water upon him, some gurubandhus began singing Sai namam, and it felt so peaceful, especially early in the morning. Giving abhishekam to Baba was a unique experience, and knowing that we had the opportunity every day of camp, was amazing.

First Meeting

After visiting Poondi Swami’s temple with my family, where I saw Hasita and Keerthi (fellow “Geckos”) for the first time, we headed to Haritachala. Before entering, I was a bit nervous because it was going to be two weeks away from my family, and I had also not met the other girls in a very long time. However, my parents reassured me that Baba and Guruji would take care of everything and that I should not worry. As soon as I entered, people began wishing me “Happy Birthday,” as if they had known me forever. No matter how many years it was since I last saw them, the happiness and comfort were precisely the same – abundant.

A Visit to Poondi

Poondi is a town about forty minutes away from Tiruvannamalai. It is famous for Poondi Swami’s temple. Poondi Swami played an important role in Guruji’s spiritual journey and is highly respected among devotees/gurubandhus. Therefore, it was an important visit for our family, as we wanted to receive his blessings on such a special day.

Orientation

As soon as Sruti Akka and Ammamma entered, we began the orientation around the bonfire along with our parents. Sruti Akka went over the main objectives of this camp, and we were all more than elated to be there. As we all huddled in a circle listening to Akka, all the worries were gone. She began explaining how this camp is meant to create meaningful relationships (as gurubandhus, we all understand a bigger part of each other, often left out of other friendships), the importance of a digital detox (no phones for two weeks), communal living (sleeping together, sharing bathrooms), tools to improve our mental health (meditation, body scanning techniques, yoga), developing deeper connections with Baba and Guruji (silently sitting in the temple every morning), and improving our connection with nature (living as a part of it, rather than apart from it).

Setting Up Our Room

After our parents left, we went up to our rooms and began organizing all our stuff. Instead of sleeping in vertical columns, we decided to create a sunflower shape, so we could all see each other. Everything in Haritachala has a meaning, as we would soon find out, and so did this sunflower shape. Every night, we would discuss what we had learned throughout the day, and even share a “few” laughs, which would’ve been a lot harder if we weren’t in such a formation.

Job Distribution

Since the farm is run as a result of community effort, we each had our own jobs to complete every day. Some of us served tea in the morning and night, while others served meals. We each chose our jobs, and I was paired with Keertana for daily dinner serving. It was actually really exciting to have these jobs, as we all got to get to know each other better.

Dinner

After, we went to the community kitchen for dinner, we got to meet the aunties. Surprisingly, the first thing Malini Aunty told me was how she remembered my mom running after Guruji for my birthday when I was younger. It was so ironic because this was the opportunity we had always been hoping for, being in the physical presence of Ammamma or Guruji! The aunties and uncles were so helpful and they eventually became our second families; the amount of unconditional love from everyone at the camp was so bountiful.

Since it was my birthday, the aunties all made such tasty food: biryani and gulab jamun. Whether they knew it before or not, these were both some of my favorite foods, and I was so happy! This was also our first day eating with pitas, wooden boards, that we sat on to improve our digestion. Overall, the dinner experience was so much fun because we were able to establish a connection with our food, by eating with our hands. Back at home, we usually multitask while eating, and don’t really pay attention to our food. However, this camp improved our lifestyles and habits so much, and now we make it a priority to focus on our food while eating. Finally, everyone began singing “Happy Birthday”, and it felt like a home away from home!

Arati

Right after dinner, we all rushed to the temple for arati and sang along. We all prayed for a happy, safe, and fun camp experience, which Baba and Guruji more than fulfilled. As we exited the temple, I said my final goodbyes to my parents, which surprisingly was easier than I thought it would be. Sruti Akka had also given me a small candle and told me to light it in front of Baba and Guruji’s photo in our room, a memory that will always reside within me.

Gratitude Circle

Last but not least, we all, including the volunteers, began our first Gratitude Circle of the camp. We each shared why we were here and what we were expecting from the camp. It is safe to say that we all had our expectations fulfilled and had gained even more than we expected. In the middle, Manmohan uncle called me over, as Ammamma was coming out. I was able to touch her feet and this experience was more special than words can express. The amount of joy, peace, and overwhelming sense of gratitude that had overcome me, was so memorable. She handed me a packet of prasadam, complimented my new dress, and had the biggest smile on her face. This was the best part of the camp: seeing smiles and happiness on everyone’s face, no matter the situation.

16th birthdays are always considered significant milestones, but being able to share mine with everyone in Tiruvannamalai made it that much more unique!

Day 2 Article —>