God is great!!

God is great! Yes, yes, yes he is! Within the span of 3 days, we reached our goal for fundraising for this good cause!!! We have attained a little bit more than our desired goal of $2100. Thank you God.

God is great! The model house1 girls have all been doing their gratitude journal. It was impeccable to see them. I was so proud of them that a small teardrop came down my cheeks.

God is great! God and Papa Vidyaakar had given me an opportunity to conduct an event of children’s show yesterday. The staff at Udavum Karangal wanted to make the stay of the Hong Kong girls (roommates of mine, who have come to volunteer) a memorable one. They gave the girls the assignment of doing some fun events such as singing songs and practicing an Indian dance with the children of Udavum Karangal. The event went very well. I too participated in it, by training 8 girls to sing the song “Chinna Chinna Aasai” and singing with them.  Two girls, my dearest pen pal, another really sweet girl, and I together sang the song “Satham Illada thanimai keeten.” We sang the song somewhat well… it was a long time dream of mine to sing this song as it’s a record breaking song by S.P.B., and with the help of these two girls, I was able to sing with them. They were all enthusiastic, and they listened attentively to the suggestions I gave to correct our mistakes.

What was most amazing was the keyboard player that played for our songs. He too is a child of Udavum Karangal. He could simply listen to any song and play it easily on the keyboard. I was mesmerized by his talent. Moreover, I started thinking… what if he had the opportunity to have music lessons… I wonder where he would be. He later tells me that his dream is to somehow become a music director. He says he only has very minimal music books… and I asked him if he knows about Mozart’s music… and he had no clue. I was saddened that he didn’t even know of Mozart. But I was happy because he uses his talent well! I, however, had been given piano/keyboard lessons as a child, and I didn’t use it well. I told him that I sold my keyboard and my piano. He says, that’s okay…even A.R. Rehman sold his instruments as a child. I said, he sold it out of poverty…what reason did I have? He even wanted to turn my sad response of selling my instruments into a beautiful opportunity. I was overjoyed by meeting him… I have such high regards and respect for him and his talent. God is great… may God make his dream come true to become a music director. And perhaps… God’s little helpers could sponsor his music lessons & music books?!? : )  

After the event, Papa said a few words and he said, everybody please say thanks to Ramya akka for compeering this event and for the songs they sang… and the whole 500+ crowd said thank you. A thank you from them was nice, but not necessary… because the pleasure was mine. My heart only ached for a father’s approval, not the thanks. Nevertheless, I was thankful to God and so happy for having had such an opportunity to make these people smile for 45 minutes.

            When we finished, snacks were handed out. A girl in a wheelchair said, Ramya akka… you sang so very well. My heart went out to her. She knew my name… I didn’t know hers. I couldn’t remember which home (section) she’s from. She said can u lift it up? I was confused… I usually hear people saying, Ramya! Your pants are sweeping the floor, lift it up. So, I was like…what my pants? She laughs…and says… no… lift my wheelchair up to the pavement so that I can go. I then pushed her wheelchair to her home (Sumai Thangi – Burden bearer) and said byes. She said, she too wants to sing like me… I said, of course you can! You can even sing better than me! You just have to try!

What is funny is that I’m just a very average singer, but the amount of people singing my favorite bhajans are only like a LOT. You will not believe the amount of ripple effect here my average singing has had here. If I simply teach 20 kids the bhajans, they go and teach it to 100 kids in their prayer session and it is simply amazing to hear 100 kids sing bhajans.

Last week, I was worn out from the excessive heat and I took a day off. I also had to leave the next day to go home. So, I was gone 2 whole days. When I was about to enter the pathway to the psychiatric patients’ home… I was stopped and questioned by many people as to how come I didn’t come those two days! I had to explain in detail. Since I was in a hurry that morning, I packed my breakfast to eat later. When they asked me if I had eaten my breakfast, I said not yet. People were shocked because it was close to 10.00 A.M. A patient said, if you don’t eat properly then something will happen to you like it did to my mom. You better eat now! I was surprised as to how much they care for me. Another lady states, let me go right away and get you breakfast first. You must drink or eat something. How else would you have any energy? They left me only after they got a guarantee from me that I will eat after bhajans.  

Later on that day, I was walking towards the kitchen. Then three ladies said, how come you didn’t come for 2 days? I said, you noticed? What’s surprising is I barely knew they existed like 2 weeks ago. They know my name and everything about me. They watch out for me daily. These people are caretakers of the children. They too grew up here. However, they do not know the real world. They only know what is inside of Udavum Karangal. So, with awe, she asked if I’m a singer in music troops, and if I have released CD’s all over the world! I was shocked… of course… and with a smile, I replied… I’m not even sure if I have what it takes to release CDs inside Udavum Karangal. She then tells me, that they listen quietly when I teach bhajans to the children. A boy apparently said, akka akka, please come… that akka is teaching bhajans there. She said she listened for over 10 minutes before anybody spotted her. They then asked me if I could teach them some bhajans… I said of course! But, they said that they don’t have the time as their schedule is very full.  

God is great! He has given me the opportunity to be with so many blessed and wonderful people and witness such beautiful happenings! Just this last Friday I saw a beautiful family that have a newborn baby sponsoring a boy and a girl. What was sweet was to see them make their few months old child interact with the kids they are sponsoring now. I then heard that they called the day their child was born and asked Papa and the people of UK to name him. What an honor!!

God is great! There was this girl who was a chirpy teenage girl who always joked around. Not sure what happened, but she was avoiding me due to some misunderstanding. I was able to speak to her and get through to her, with God’s grace! She was then smiling and joking later today after I spoke to her. Each time I look at some of the children here… I can feel their pain mixed with joy!!

God is great! A young teenage girl who takes care of the children put henna on my hand so beautifully. I had so much fun eating dinner with all the volunteers/ care takers! It was a joyful night!

Yes, God is great! Thank you God for shining this light on me by giving me this opportunity to serve and learn life lessons.