Alpana's Source of Inspiration
O’
Krishna, in the cesspool of adversities, be my
Guide.
“Keeping me in mind, fight the battle of life.”
Says Lord Krishna.
The journey begins……
Though I have been singing bhajans since my childhood as a hobby. I did not realize that there is this source of inspiration inside me, whom we call God and who is behind it. It happened when I had gone to visit my parents, who were living in Haridwar at that time, to spend my summer vacation after my middle school exams. As my parents were staying at the banks of river Ganga, everyday we used to take bath in the holy water (water used to be chilly though) and enjoy watching Aarti of river Ganga in the evening. Apart from this daily activity, I used to sing and write bhajans by sitting on the stairs of Ganga in my spare time. Soon I realized that there is one old lady in white attire who used to come and join me everyday and enjoy singing bhajans with me. I used to call her AmmaJi.
Soon it was time to return back to studies as my summer vacations were getting over. I knew that it was time for me to say good bye to AmmaJi. She gave me lots of bhajans books and asked me to keep singing. Those were not just the books, but her unconditional love, which she had gifted me. She then blessed me by saying, “may you attain God through your singing”. I was profoundly moved by this gesture and refused to accept anything from her. But then she said “you have been sharing all your love by singing for me for so many days and now when I want to shower something on you, don’t say no”. AmmaJi is no more now but for me she’s always there as a source of inspiration within me.
It is well said that “where there is a will, there is a way”. Though I was born in a Hindu family, I’m fortunate to get to learn about other religions too. My family has high respect and devotion for all religions and saints and due to which, I got to visit every place of worship: Gurudwara, Masjid, Church or a Temple. And in all these places I found one thing in common, the devotional singing in praise of God.
Bhakti karo aise jaise Hanuman ne ki Ram ki,
priti karo aise
jaise Radha sang Shayam ki, or bhajan karo aise jaise shakti ho bhagwan
ki ………..