First of all, she started a pre-school out of her home many years ago. The first class consisted of her own two kids and two others. The school has since evolved into a pre-K through grade 12 school on an 8-acre campus, complete with an olympic-size swimming pool.
We spent the first half of the day at the school. We watched the kids assemble on the playground, and each class did a brief presentation of what they will be performing during tomorrow's Republic Day celebration. We all introduced ourselves in front of the 600+ kids and I even got to blow a few "notes" (I use the term very loosely) on a bugle.
Assembly of many kids!
After touring the classrooms and seeing some of the activities, we sat with Shoba in her office. Over her desk hung a large photograph of a man, and attached to the frame was a floral garland. The man in the photograph was Shoba's father-in-law and she explained that it was because of him that the school came to be.
When a woman marries in India, she moves in with the husband and his parents. And most women do not work outside the home - especially not women whose husbands have money. But Shoba's father-in-law said that as long as she did something good for people, he would support her decision to be a working woman. She named the school after him.
In addition to the school, Shoba also started a computer class program out of a part of her house. She offers a 3-month course in Microsoft Office and other programs to "economically backward" people [poor] so that they can learn skills that make them valuable to employers. There are twelve hour-long classes each day, and as soon as one session ends, a new one begins.
Oh, and the most amazing part? THE CLASSES ARE ABSOLUTELY FREE!! Shoba and her husband fronted the money for the computers and the software, and the salaries of the teachers are paid by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Unbelievable. This woman is a dynamo.
Later in the afternoon, we drove back up to the Panhala hill station. This time it was still light out so we could see more of the fort. I got to sit in a cave that a monk lived in 3,000 years ago!
"Hello..? Anybody home..?"
Oooohhhhhmmmmm.........
Around 7:30 PM, we met up with some friends of Shoba's who were attending a course in The Art of Living. They were in the midst of a Level 3 course and had taken a vow of silence. Somehow Shoba arranged for us to have a semi-private audience with the Guru who is like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's second-in-command.
This guy embodied peace and happiness. You could actually feel the energy of the room change when he walked in, and standing next to him was like standing next to a power plant! We each got to ask him a few questions. I asked, "How do I fill the void? How do I make the longing, seeking feeling go away?"
And the gist of his response was that the most important things in life are love and responsibility.
When the Guru left, a guy came up to me and said, "You had a great honor tonight. You must have done something very good in this life or in a past life, because it is very rare for the Guru to speak one-on-one with people like this. Remember this night."
That really got me thinking. It's all so strange how my trip to India came about. I truly believe I was meant to come here and to have these experiences. The sabbatical - it happened to bring me here. I feel like I have a new light down my path. A better understanding of my dharma... of what is meant for me.
We joined the hundreds of devotees in this huge tent where we all danced around like crazy freaks. Complete strangers were warm and welcoming, and I felt safe and open. It was a high no drug could induce. Then the Guru came in to speak to the crowd. Two young Indian women translated his message to English for me. He spoke of the three elements essential to a good life:
1) Meditation
2) Service
3) Truth
We finally got back to our hosts in Kolhapur around 10:30 PM. My host had saved dinner for me and we sat around chatting. I kind of slept in fits and bits - too excited from all I had experienced that day. It's okay though, we have a long travel day today so I can catch up on some rest. We're meeting at 9:30 today and leaving for Bijapur. I think there are some stops along the way.
Kolhapur was amazing.