The following are highlights from Guruma's session she did with kids online on Oct 22, 2020 as part of Samarpan Meditation's Year of the Kids mission. The Q and A of this session will follow later.

1. Guruma Sessionwith KidsHighlights,October 22nd
, 2020
Here is storyof a birdas pera Maharashtrian tale. People normallytell the storywhengivingtheirkids
a bath or as theyhave come out of one.Thisisthe story calledThe Bird and The Crow. The birdhad a
waterproof home butthe Crowhad a home made fromcow dung.Whenthe floodscame,the cowdung
home fell apart.The Crowwentto the Bird’shome for comfort.The birdwas givingherbabybirda bath
inher bathroom.Everytime he wouldknockonher door for help,she wastellinghimdifferentthings
like “I'mdryingmy kidwiththe towel.” Or“I'm puttingpowderonthe child.” Or “I'm changingthe
child'sclothes”or“I'm puttingthe childin the crib.” Now the crow was shiveringbythispointandsohe
wentfar awayfrom where thisproblemof the floodingwashappening.The Birdcompletelyforgotthat
the Crow hadbeenrepeatedlyknockingonherdooranddecidedtogo and sipsome gingertea. She
completely forgottoopenthe doortocheck forthe Crow while doingall this.
The Birdfeltguilty asshe rememberedthatshe forgottoattendto the Crow.She lookedforhimevery
where butshe couldn'tfindhim.She wondereddidanythinghappento him? Assome dayswentby, the
babybird wasgrowingmore and more independenteachday.The Bird wentona longflightto search
for the Crowas the babybirdbecame older.The babybirdassured hismotherthat itwas OK forher to
go searchfor the Crow.He said “I can findmyfood.You can go and freelyfindCrow uncle.”
The Birdwenton a verylongjourneyandaskedaroundto see if anyone hadseenthisCrow.She
thoughtshe foundthe Crowbut justas she did,she noticedhe ran away.The Crow at thispointhad
gone intoa nestwithhiswife andkids.The Birdcame followinghimalongandshe askedforforgiveness
for notansweringthe doorearlier.She said, “Ididn'trealize itwasrainingsohard. I'mso sorry I kept
puttingoff answeringthe door.Ionlyrealizedtoolate thatyournestwas brokenandhere I wasI
couldn'thelpyou. Atthat time, the babycouldn'tflythenso he couldn’tgethisownfood.Now that
he'solder,he toldme to go lookfor youand say sorryto you.I feel sohappyto see youwithyour
family.”
The Crow saidhe had no problem withthe Bird.He said,“Leavingthere gave me a chance to go and
have a family.If Ihadn’t leftthen,Iwouldneverhave thisfamilyIhave today. Sodon’tfeel bad. If you
everhave anyneed me, mydoors are alwaysopen.”The bird thenrealizedshe shouldalwayshave her
doorsopen.The crowd thensaid,“Go back to your little one.”
So the moral of the story isthat we shouldalwayshelp asmuchas we can. If notat that very moment,
thenmaybe a little later. Asyougetolder,youwill be able tohelpyourneighbors, aunts,uncles and
grandparentsthatmuch more.Gettinga glassof water isnot the onlythingyoucan do to help
someone.
Do you spendtime withyourgrandparents?Do youtell themaboutschool?Youshould.My
grandparentsonmy father'sside diedearly. Mygrandfatherdiedwhenmyfatherwasveryyoungwhile
my grandmotheronmydad's side diedwhenIwasfouryears old.My grandmotherwasthe one who
inspiredme tobe a teacher.You may wonderhow she couldwhenshe diedwhenIwassoyoung.Here’s
how.
I learned myABC'swhenI was 4. My grandmotherloved mytryingtolearnbymyself.Mygrandmother
saidshe didn'tknowhowto read and write socouldI teachher? Now I don'tknow how true itis that

2. she didn'tknowhowto read or write andwas justsayingthisto see whatI knew butthentimeswere
differentbackthen.
My fatherandmy unclesare doctorsso in a familylike thisitwasabit hard to imagine thatmy
grandmotherdidn'tknowhowtoread and write butthenhere I wasat that age tellingherhow toread
and write .So for example ,if Iwere totell herhow to draw a U , I wouldmake a storyby sayingohand
thenthe mouse wentstraighttoget hisfoodand thenwentupand thenhe came downand thenhe
curvedto gethis foodandthenhe wentstraightupagain.Or if I wantedto tell herhow to make a T, I
wouldsaya stick wasstruck to form a T and thenwascrossedover. So thiswasmy way of showing
anotherpersonhowto make differentletterswhenwritingthemdown.
My grandmother, atthat point,saidbecome ateacherandI thentruly believedIcouldbe one because
of the faithshe showedinme.Sograndparentstryto lookfor the talentsyourkidshave inthe house.I
learnedthisbecause Ispenttime withmygrandparents.Youshouldtake themoutwithyouandshare
your stories andlife lessons. Asgrandparentsstepin,parentsalsogetrelaxed.Parentsandgrandparents
don't like seeingtearsinyour eyesdearchildren.Butif theyhave saidsomething toyouwhichhasmade
youcry, it will likelybe foryourgood.
People livinginyourhouse will have manystories.Some of themwill be fromtheirchildhood.Isawa
comic stripwhere it'sshowinghow the grandfatherissayinghow backinhisday at ₹2 there were a lot
of thingsyoucouldget.The grandson replies,“Were there noCCTVs then?How couldyougetall these
differentthingsat₹2?” He didn'tunderstandthatthingswere socheap back then.These oddstories of
our grandparents seemuselesswhentheytelluswhenwe are small butas theystick inour minds,
whenwe growup, we rememberhowmuchthere istolearnfromsuch things.
There are all kindsof people outthere.Doyouknow whothe goodfriendsare?If a teachergetsmad at
youor a childsayssomething,the childwhoconsolesyou orofferstosupportyouby studyingwithyou
isthe one that couldbe consideredyourgoodfriend.Thatfriendshouldtell youwhenyoudidthe
wrongthinglike copyingonan exam.The goodfriendmotivatesus.Theyshare theirknowledge withus.
I sharedthe followingstorywith Swamiji.Itwasaboutrainwaterharvestingbeingstoredin Junagarh.It's
a 200 yearold tradition there. Recently,we traveled toKutch. Now Ihadn't seen muchof Kutch before.
AndI thoughtwhat kindof places can I see while I'mhere for1 1/2 months?Where can I go where
there'slesspeople sothatinthis “unlocked” time period andthere’slessof aneffectof corona?
I came across a place called Dholavirawhichisabout5500 yearsold.It wasan established township
whichisnowin ruins.After1990, thistownwas uncoveredbyscientistsandarchaeologists.The town
was as advancedasthe timeswe are livinginnow.There were showerstallsthere inthese homes.
There were rainwaterreservoirsorplaceswhere youcouldstore waterforthe Townshiptouse.There
was a meansof takingthe water betweenplaces.There wasevenarare rock tank that one couldfind
there.The cleanestwatercomesfromthere. Youcouldalsofinda 10,000 seatedstadiumthere.Ithas
beenveryconvenientlymade.Justaswe have a conceptof a guestbathroomintoday's times,theyhad
one thenas well inthisTownship too.
We are needlesslyso proudof beingsomodern. We've heardof storieslikethe Wrightbrothers
comingout withmakinganaeroplane butthe ideaof makingan aeroplane hasbeenthere eveninour

3. oldtexts.We needtoknowhow to linkthe pastwiththe presentperiod.We are becominglazydue to
moderndevicesand inventions.Somanymachineswere discoveredbetweenmytime andyourtime.
Do youwalkmuch?Mumbaikars (those fromMumbai) probablydo.But kidsfromsmall villagesand
townships generallydon'ttendtowalkmuch.Theygo on scooters.We wouldwalk 1 1/2 kilometersto
school.We walkedwith school bagsthoughtheywere lessheavierthanyours.Youguysgettiredvery
quickly.Walking,runningandplayingare goodforyou.Not videogames.Trytoplay games like kabaddi
or tag whetherit’slockdownorunlockdown(GurumaisreferringtoIndiafacingcomplete curfew like
situationsasLockdownasper the Indiangovernment’swaytocontrol corona passingfastbetween
people.Unlockdowniswhere the governmentrelaxesitsrulesmore).
Kidshave negative feelings rightnoworare feelingresentful. Kidsare writingtome askingme to tell
parentsto letthemride bikes. Rightnow,parentsare notallowingyoutoride bikesbecause of the
circumstances.There is a riskof gettingsickif you go outin the opentoomuch rightnow. Doesthe sun
not rise if ithas set?That is to say,Corona isthere todaybut itwill gotomorrow.Meditation helps
protectyou fromCorona.But one shouldcare for themselvesingeneral bytakingthe necessaryactions
to keepsafe.
You gotthe opportunityforgoingtoschool physically andonline.Itwasoutof the questionforusto
try to go online forourstudies.Youreyesmaybe payingthe price due to the strainit's puttingonyour
eyes.Noworries.Thistime willpasstoo.Thinkof anygood that came from this.Mom anddad were
workingfromhome.Mom mayhave triedmakingdifferentthingsand she didsoveryoften.Itoo tried
manyrecipes.IcheckedYouTube forthem.It doesn'timpactme as much because Idon't tendto go out
and aboutas much either.But evenIfoundmyself doing the same.
Didyoulearnindoorgamesor make piecesof art? What didyoudo? Or what didyoulike about
lockdown?Maybe youhadbetterrelationshipswithneighbors.Earlieryouwere probablycaught
betweengoingbetweenhome,tutoring,studying,sleepandthengoingtoschool if youare one of the
olderkids.Youmay have playedalittle more inplaceswhere Coronawasnotas biga problem.
DidMom teachyou games?She didn't?Askherto. Askmomfor bangles forthisgame we usedto play
whenwe were small. Youneedabouttwoto fourpeople toplayand is for all ages.Your friendswill
tangle the banglesand thenpassit to the nextpersonsuch as yourself.Youthenhave topickup these
banglesina straightstack whenit'syourturn. Andthisgoesfrompersonto person.It'sa good way to
pass the time.Yourhandsbecome sensitive becauseitwill buildyourconcentrationasyoufocuson
tryingto pickup the pile of bangles.Withsuchsteadiness inyourhands,youcan do goodsurgery.Or
playgameslike OutPe out or Situliyaorstackrocks on top of one another.These are the thingsI had to
share for now.Now it'stime for yourquestionandanswersession.