The Delhi Yatra was an amazing experience for me. One of the things that I noticed was the variety of people that attended the Yatra, from poorest to richest, and from the youngest babies to the oldest; and they were all seated right next to each other, no VIP seats, everybody was together united by the same call – the call of yoga.
They came in huge numbers, around 1000–1500 people at every session. Seating those people for morning classes was very interesting. As the hall was getting full and people were still coming, we had to place them in any available spot – all around the stage, even in blind spots. The hall was a big sports hall, so some people were seated on chairs, and the spaces above and around chairs were also full. An incredible number of people were coming from 5 am till 8 am. Some would travel long distances and had to leave home at around 3 am in order to reach the venue on time.
Morning classes were a beautiful sight to see as one thousand people would move like one, as if in one single breath, creating a stunning dance with every synchronized movement, with Swamiji's voice guiding them, his voice creating the musical rhythm. In one of the sessions, Swamiji gave them one challenging asana, ardha baddha padmottanasana, which people were courageous enough to try, having complete trust in Swamiji's guidance. To my big surprise most of them managed to perform. Also the vibrations created by over one thousand voices doing bhramari pranayama, chanting the Mahamrityunjaya mantra and repeating Om resonated inside and far outside the Tyagraj Stadium.
Swamiji spoke on a huge variety of subjects in 'shuddha Hindi', in pure Hindi, in length and depth. One of the swamis was wondering what Swamiji was going to talk about in the next couple of days, when he had covered so many topics already on the first day. But the wisdom just kept pouring from him.
On the last day of the program Swamiji was continuously talking and interacting with people from 6 am till 11 pm. Can you imagine yourself talking that much, with every word, act and movement in its right place? Fascinating! It was lovely to see how the pure and true light naturally shone wherever Swamiji went and whatever activity he was engaged in.
Of course, the crowd was enchanted by Swamiji. All the faces seemed like sponges trying to take in every word he said. Many of them decided to take diksha on the last day.
There was one part of the program in which Swamiji was answering the questions from a group of children in English, which brought blissful tears to many eyes. They even asked Swamiji about his formal education, about which he hasn't spoken so often. He explained how he had completed the whole of high school just in one year at the age of ten, in order to get permission to travel abroad. At that time he was invited by Oxford University, and if he would have accepted their invitation, he would have been the youngest Asian attending Oxford.
At the end I just wonder how many lives were influenced and changed, or inspired to change during those four days.
I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to witness and participate in this magnificent program. Thank you very much Swamiji!
Sannyasi Madhuri, Serbia