The Ashram Life

I have had a very different notion of what an Ashram is, all along. Or I am not sure. Did I care about to even think of one? If at all I did, I would have thought that an ashram is a dull & boring place where everyone thinks & speaks of God. No one tells lies. Everyone would(should)be morally Mr.correct. Again, I did not think women lived in an ashram.
An ashram would be a painfully demanding place where you are inflicted with misery. It would be secluded from the outside world.
With all these assumptions in mind, no doubt, I would conclude that an ashram is the last place you want to end up at. Ugh!

I had the privilege of "living" in an ashram recently. A couple days only. Still. All I could think of it right now is, those few days were THE most happiest days of my life so far. And that is saying something. I will consider myself as one of the fortunate ones whose life has been blessed with many a child-like happy moments.
I will not consider myself as a religious person. I've always found myself going in that line, differ a little, completely reject it all along my life. Still, my questions were unanswered. I've debated on God & Religion n number of times with so many people. I wasn't even close to compromising with anything others had to tell me.
But since last year, I have been diverting all these questions inward. And now, at this ashram, I found a secret tool to aid in this process: SILENCE.
Everything I could not understand with asking questions, Silence is constantly helping me to decipher my questions & answers.
This place is no ashram, in fact.
It is so full of life. From 5.00 am until 10.00 pm you constantly do something...er...productive. Sometimes, there is no time to even walk. You got to run. And those times are many. Be it working in the kitchen or doing your practices or helping out in the various activities...there was always something to do. And this one day would be so eventful & productive that I hardly thought about yesterday or tomorrow. What a freedom! And two whole meals a day kept me healthy & awake every single day.

The part of the day I always looked forward to was 4.00pm. Volleyball Time!!! The last time I entered a Volleyball court was at school. And that was a long time ago. I had almost forgot how much I enjoyed playing VB.
There was so much to do that I did not have time to talk. So, all those silent moments added quickly & there was a new me. I was never really known for my silence. Not until now.
The ashram has around 40 residents on an average & this number would hugely expand during programs. Obviously, the work-to-be-done would also increase multi-fold. But the best part is, the amount of work, the sleeplessness of the volunteers & residents would be kept unaware from the participants. They were...I was treated specially when I was a participant. It is very easy & comfortable when I was the giver. But when I had to receive...it was so difficult. I struggled. I did not want to be special. I wanted to be one among them. But then, I learnt how to accept gracefully. It was not an easy lesson, to say the least.
Of course, the obvious one! All of the residents & volunteers looked the same. It was as if they all shared a common heart & mind and not to forget "focus". No one uttered one unnecessary word out of context. So much awareness.
They are ever-loving, ever-patient & ever-ready to help...whatever work they may have. What a privilege to be amongst them!
But then again, they are not the boring ashram people too. They enjoyed sharing a laugh at every chance they got. Which they did.
Again, it is not an ashram, for any of you who have trouble with that word. It is one big joint family, only that there are no differences as it is a like-minded group.
Now, how many of us would've dreamed of such a place? I know I have.:)
That is the Isha Institute of Inner Sciences for you.