August 5th

Day 13: Families have Fun

Time to Invite the Families to Join the Fun!

My name is Keerthi Padavala, and I was a participant in the 2023 Giggling Geckos Summer Camp. I am 18 years old and I am from Dallas, Texas.

Farewell Blues

Today was a big day for the Geckos! It was the day we were all waiting for, the farewell dinner. We all joked around that the farewell dinner was for us to say farewell to our parents since we were going to stay in Haritachala forever, but we knew that the camp was coming to an end and the day was filled with bittersweet emotions.Usually the Geckos have to keep checking on each other to make sure everyone is up and getting ready on time, especially Dharani and me, but today we all woke up seamlessly in excitement to go to the mandir, see the sun shine on Baba, and sing Sai namam with everyone on the last full day of camp. When we were in the mandir that day, it was a mix of happiness and sadness. Everyone was reminiscing on all the wonderful memories we had in Haritachala together, and even though we weren't ready to leave, we knew that Haritachala would always be with us no matter where we are. 

Dance Practice

After our time at the mandir, the geckos sneakily slipped away into GTR to practice our surprise dance. When we would spend time with Ammagaru throughout camp, she would ask us all to sing and dance for her. We were so grateful for every moment we spent at camp with Ammama eating her delicious creations, listening to her beautiful voice as she read us poems and stories, and seeing Ammama’s infectious smile. We really wanted to show our appreciation and immediately decided that we should dance for Baba, Guruji Thata, Ammama, Sruti Akka, and all the volunteers as a way of showing our love and gratitude. We decided to dance to the song Sai Baba Naa Manasee Nee Majili Kaavali, and since today was the day, we were getting in as much practice as we could. 

Reflections on Time Spent in Haritachala

We were dancing with blue tea cups in our hands to immediately switch our poses if anyone else walked in. Just as we were in the middle of a step, Sruti Akka walked in and we all immediately began sipping our tea as if nothing was going on. Akka told us that we had to do our closing interviews today to reflect on how we felt before and after the camp. We all got ready as Sweety Akka, Jahu Akka, Jagadeesh Uncle, and Tanvi called us for our interviews. Reflecting on the entire experience of Harithachala was so heartwarming. It was so nice to think about how each and every one of us grew over just two weeks. On the first day of camp, Akka told us six camp objectives: forming long-term friendships, communal living, connection with nature, connection with Baba and Guruji, digital detox, and dealing with stress and anxiety. When talking about our experience, we noticed how each objective became incorporated into our own experiences so well. The girls promised each other to send daily pictures to keep in touch even if we are far away (which we still do). Living with the geckos in one room not only made our bond so much stronger, but also taught us communal living. Personally, since I was going to join college right after the summer, I felt really prepared to live away from home in a shared space. Additionally, the morning farm walks, directly picking the vegetables we ate, yoga in the old satsang courtyard, and showering along with the bugs strengthened our connection with the farm as we lived “in” nature. Spending time in the mandir every day and listening to Akka’s stories about Guruji Thata helped us all form a strong, deep, personal connection with Baba and Guruji Thata in a way we were all hoping for. We were also happy to notice that we spent two weeks without our phones, and we had no stress since we were thinking about nothing but living in the present. Each moment in Haritachala was significant in its own way, talking about it and reflecting was a great way of closure with the farm and camp. 

Our Memory Wall

Recollecting memories didn’t end just yet. On the first day of camp, we noticed that there was a wall on GTR with the first camp’s group photo surrounded with inside jokes. From that day, we all worked to decipher each joke and find out its meaning. Every night before sleeping, we would all cuddle up in our sunflower and reflect on our day. During that time, I would write down the inside jokes of the day and by the end of it, my book was overflowing. Today was the day to take the jokes outside of my book and paint them on the walls of GTR for everyone to see. We had so many jokes, our favorite ones were real-life spotify, silent flirting, roomba romantic, sigging, snow akka, and ladder climbing. Oh and of course, we had all the uncle’s names: Mass Maharaj, Mega Star, Power Star, Jagadame, and Urike (content kosam). We all kept laughing as we painted our pictures and relived the funny memories of camp.

Farewell Dinner

The day went on and before we knew it, it was time to start getting ready for the farewell dinner. We all got ready together in our Babuji hall, Anshu was the pleater who helped us all with our half sarees, Dharani was the hairstylist, and everyone took any role they could to help. Just two weeks ago, our families dropped us off for camp as we were welcomed by Sphurna and all the volunteers, and now it was our turn to welcome our families to Haritachala. We were so excited to show our families everything we learned and explored at camp. Hasita showed everyone how she learned to ride a cycle after so many years, and I was very excited to show everyone how Sruti Akka and Sweety Akka ran behind me to help me learn the scooty.

After welcoming all the parents and showing them around, we asked Sruti Akka to bring Ammama so we could show our gratitude. We were all ecstatic when we saw Ammama. We did our dance and felt so good to see the smile on Ammama’s face when she saw our performance. We all expressed how grateful we were to Baba and Guruji Thata, Ammama, Sruti Akka, and everyone who helped make this camp possible. After the dance, it was time for dinner. We really enjoyed serving all the parents as we saw them attempting to sit on the pitas for the first time. We explained to them the benefits of sitting on a pita and taught them how to sit on it just like Sruti Akka did to us the first day of camp. 

Following dinner and aarathi, we had one huge gratitude circle for the last time. Everyone shared their experience at camp and the parents shared how they felt sending their kids to camp. While we were all deep in conversation, a poisonous snake slithered onto Manmohan uncle’s leg. As we all know the brave Manmohan uncle, he shook it off and moved it to the side. We felt that it was a sign from Baba and Guruji Thata telling us they are there for us all the time no matter what comes in the way. We continued gratitude circle for hours and talked about how we would never forget our time at camp. 

Last Night All Nighter

After the parents left, our night kept going. Since it was our last night together, we wanted to pull an all-nighter. Sreedevi aunty made her famous iced coffee and hot chocolate to help us with our plan. We talked all night with Sruti Akka, Sweety Akka, Jahu Akka, and all the girls about so many things. We expressed how we felt so close and comfortable with each other and started to open up about different issues that we were having. We discussed mental health, relationships, the importance of being your true self, and so much more. We had a much needed, deep, long conversation and before we knew it, the time was 6:00 am. It was time for morning mandir. We pulled an all-nighter and now it was the last day of camp. Our time in Haritachala was so meaningful and unforgettable. We created unforgettable memories, bonds, and learned life long lessons. Even though we may not be able to physically be at Haritachala all the time, Haritachala will always be with us!