A Glimpse of Heaven in Calgary

The spring of the year 2000 will remain a very memorable time for some fortunate Calgarians, who had the chance to meet our beloved `Amma'. My family and myself consider ourselves extremely lucky to have had the chance to get the divine blessings of `Amma'.

I still remember very well, that Thursday evening after leaving our daughter for a dance practice for an up coming show, my husband asked if I would you like to go and see the place where Amma’s puja was occurring. I had heard about the puja and Amma’s visit from a friend who had visited Amma the day before. I said yes and off we went to the home and were surprised to see the number of cars there.

We hesitated a bit before entering the compound not knowing what to expect. Our aim was to go and see whether we could arrange for Amma to come to the North Indian Hindu Temple where the Tamil Murugan devotees meet. But when we entered the house it was a great surprise for us to see people of both western and eastern backgrounds dressed in Indian attire and attending a puja.

Upon entering the puja area, everyone looked so divine and angelic. We joined in the bhajans and were astounded by everything happening around us. Later on it was time for us to go back and pick-up our daughter from dance-practice. Promising ourselves that we'll definitely return the next day, we left.
The next day was Friday, being a working day my husband decided to drop me at the place where Amma was staying and go to work. When we arrived we saw some of our Sai devotee friends and we went and joined them in singing bhajans. My husband then decided to stay for a short time and then leave.
After some time, for the first time we saw Amma coming and later doing the puja we saw Amma again. For me this was the most wonderful thing that happened in Canada. With great devotion we were able to participate in a puja performed in Tamil.

In Calgary we miss participating in a puja in the Tamil language. We do not have a Tamil restaurant, no theatres to show Tamil movies, no temples and no shops for Tamils. The only Tamil here is inside Tamil houses, or our monthly Sri Murugan Society gatherings. It was a big pleasant surprise here for the Tamil speaking Calgarians when we read in the newspaper about Amma’s arrival in Calgary.

Later on I found out that my husband felt the same and took time off work to stay and participate in the rest of the puja. We went home contented and decided to take our daughter also and go for the evening puja. Our daughter doesn't even speak Tamil and has never been to our native country. I was surprised to see her getting so involved in Amma’s puja and stayed till 11:30pm.

The next day, Saturday, brought a turning point in my life. The three of us again went to meet Amma and after the morning puja we took our numbers to get an interview with Amma. Our number was 49 and we heard people saying that Amma will not see more than 25 people.

Anyhow, we decided to wait and a friend of ours gave us, her number 46 because her husband got 43. Towards evening around 4:30 we were blessed by an interview with Amma. That was the most loving and kind eyes Amma had and Amma's sweet, charming smile and the blessings given by Amma was like, a welcoming rain in the desert, to our hearts.

Each of us was blessed by Amma with vibhuti, kumkumam and yellow rice and a beautiful smiling picture of Amma. That day we came home and talked and talked about Amma. The next day which was, Sunday, we did not go to see Amma since the crowd was increasing day by day and thought that we should let others get a chance to see Amma. After meeting Amma, our family started to light an oil lamp at our puja place and pray.

When I met Amma, my daughter and husband decided to tell Amma about a medical condition I have. When Amma heard about it Amma took some vibhuti in one hand, covered it with the other hand, prayed for a while with eyes closed and gave it to me saying that I should be all right. When I heard that I really believed that I'll get better.

Three days later, while I was getting ready to attend Amma’s morning puja, I noticed that I could open and close my fingers. Arthritis had affected some of my joints and my left-hand finger joints were the worst affected parts resulting in me not being able to open and close my fingers. I could not believe it. I ran all over the house, I screamed with joy and then phoned my husband. I could make a fist now!

Next time when we got a chance to meet Amma, we told Amma about my hand. Amma said, `It is all faith! If you do anything with faith it will happen.' I am a living proof that miracles can happen if you believe in it. After two days Narayani Amma left Calgary. The last day we were sad and felt that a part of our selves was leaving us. It rained heavily with thunder and lightning. Amma left, leaving us longing for the next visit.
By the grace of Narayani Amma I am getting better day by day and some day will be able to do everything like a normal person. My family has great faith in Amma and I believe because of our faith, in the near future we will have the opportunity to be able to visit Narayani Amma in India. In the mean time Amma dwells in our hearts and helps and guides us in our day to day life. We wish you a very Happy Birthday our beloved Amma.

This young man lives in Toronto and is a devout devotee of Amma. He performs daily pujas at his tiny apartment, sings bhajans and recites mantras all in the name of Narayani Amma. Naturally, whenever Amma visits Toronto, he will be there to worship and serve Amma. He has a small job, which doesn't pay him well, but allows him ample free time to do Amma’s service.

Last May, he got word from Amma’s devotees in Toronto that Amma was going to visit Calgary for 15 days. Initially it was believed by everyone that Amma would stop in Toronto on the way to Calgary and he was pretty excited to be able to be with his beloved Amma. As the days for Amma’s visit approached, it was learnt that Amma would not be stopping in Toronto but would go straight to Calgary.

He was crushed! His friends consoled him and suggested to him that he could go to Calgary and still be with his beloved Amma. But, he had no money to travel! His meagre paying job did not give him enough money for such luxuries. So, he intensified his praying. He would stand in front of Amma’s picture with tears blurring his vision and streaming down his cheeks, begging for Amma’s blessing so that he could go to Calgary to be with Amma. And, he did not see any way to achieve his desired goal.

His friends would ask him often if he was getting ready for the trip and he would reply with a heavy heart that he wasn't due to the lack of resources. One of his friends happens to be an Amma devotee. The day before Amma was going to arrive in Calgary, this friend called him and asked him if he wasn't packing his bags for the Calgary trip.

He thought that it was a cruel joke and told the caller so. But his friend only laughed and said to him, "My dear friend, don't worry about money. You are flying to Calgary at Amma’s expense. So pack your bags and be at my place ASAP to go the airport!" He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He thanked his friend, hung up the phone and dashed towards Amma’s picture. Oh! that bewitching smile of Amma almost choked him.