Shambhu's Offer

On the morning of my first day of work at Victory Factory, I met the guys -- Abedan, Sudhir, Sandhani, and the other workers -- at the Smile. From there they regularly car pooled from the block in Jamaica to Hollis (home of Run DMC), where Victory Factory was located.

I felt very self-conscious stepping into the Smile. Sahishnu -- already backed up with breakfast orders at the grill -- acknowledged me with a look. I don't remember ordering anything; I just sat there feeling strange and waiting for the ride to my new job.

Aside from the new job, I also got a new place to live. A room became available at Trishatur's place and I moved my few belongings the half block or so to his place. Trishatur was another of that handful of guys who really stepped up for me when I had needed it most. A long time employee of the United Nations, Trishatur -- like me -- had come to the Center at the age of 16. An autodidact, he has an affinity for languages and a love of foreign cultures. (See some of Trishatur's great photos here.)

In later years, Trishatur would play a significant role in my own formal education, but at the time of my move into his apartment, it was simply his acceptance of me that meant the world. I was just beginning to settle into a routine of waking up late, exercising and working half days at the Factory, when Shambhu approached me with an idea.

How would I like to join the Peace Run's full-time crew? Peace Run '89 was set to embark on a 50-State relay run in just a couple of weeks. Shambhu said that the team -- which was to be headed by Arpan again -- needed another solid set of legs and that I wouldn't have to worry about my expenses. He'd take care of it.

Shambhu was the brains and driving force behind the Peace Run (which in its current incarnation is known as the World Harmony Run). To me, though, Shambhu was more than that. He'd always taken an interest in my development. While his team could surely use another set of dependable legs for the upcoming run -- which would last about three and a half months -- I felt at the time that Shambhu's generous offer was more about getting me out of the city and giving me room to grow.

I was (and am) grateful for the offer and immediately accepted. A short time later, I found myself in a van emblazoned with the Peace Run '89 logo heading south out of Manhattan on what was to be an eventful summer.

Great shot above of Shambhu and Narada in San Francisco as the World Harmony Run '08 passed through. See some of Shambu's other great photos on his Flickr site here.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

David Moretti

Image
On October 18, 1981, I got the word that Sri Chinmoy had accepted me as one of his disciples. I was 16, a junior in high school. Young as I was, the story behind my applying to join what some in my family believed -- perhaps correctly -- to be a Hindu religious cult stretched back a few years and is a story of happenstance, serendipity and interesting personalities. Over the following nine years of my discipleship, I would meet some of the most unique individuals I've ever met and I'll do my best to draw attention to them as my story unfolds. First, though, I want to acknowledge my boyhood friend, David Moretti (pictured above). Dave was my best friend through grade school. His father worked for the Almaden winery when there were still vineyards in Silicon Valley, and his mother worked for a local bank. Unlike my parents, Dave's mom and dad hadn't divorced. I spent just about every day after elementary school hanging out at the Moretti's house. When the whole...
Read more

Hear Me Roar

Image
The time for former women disciples to come together, "in numbers too big to ignore" as Helen Reddy sings in her famous song, is now. With the huge exception of Jayanti Tamm -- and her book Cartwheels in a Sari -- there have been precious few examples of what the disciple life was like from a woman's perspective. That should change. There are now scores of women who spent significant time in the Center leading extremely disciplined lives, who are now living outside the shadow of the Center, standing on their own, each of whom have distinct and unique voices. I'd really like to hear from them (you all know who you are). And I don't mean just in guest posts here (though I love them). What I'm really advocating is a site for women, by women. Something like a spiritual Double X site . I take inspiration again from Jayanti, who is perhaps laying the foundation for such a site at her blog -- read the latest lion's roar here . That's Helen Reddy in the pho...
Read more

Lavanya - A Guest Post

Image
I WAS NOT AS SPECIAL AS YOU AND I THOUGHT This is the story of a few pivotal experiences of my 31 years in the Sri Chinmoy Centre. Telling it makes me feel sad, mad, ashamed, and foolish for staying and serving for so many years after I knew things were not as they should be, starting with our divine leader. Still, when I finally left the Centre, I swore to myself that I would never tell what I knew about him, and until recently I thought I never would. But when I left the Centre, I thought I knew what was true about Chinmoy, when actually I knew almost nothing. Now, as the real Chinmoy is gradually being revealed by piecing together all of our experiences with him, it seems I can’t keep my own story tamped down any longer. It needs to be told.  It’s not a good story, not a happy story, and I am not a heroine – on the contrary. But life is telling me it’s time to speak up. I probably should have spoken long ago. I definitely COULD have spoken about 40 years ago. Maybe I...
Read more