On that particular weekend, I had plans to go to Scotland to celebrate my birthday with my family but Edinburgh Airport was closed and I ended up staying in Cabella. I wasn’t upset because this happened to be the same weekend Shri Mataji was returning from India to Italy.
The yogis in the villa had asked some of us yuvas to help with the preparation for Mother’s arrival. For the next eight hours, we worked hard at decorating the walls with saris and making sure everything was tidy. The problem was that the walls were made out of marble, so the sari was not sticking to it very easily and one of the yuvas felt we wouldn’t be prepared for Mother’s arrival. At this moment she received a phone call saying that Shri Mataji’s flight was 30 minutes delayed.
We continued to work until the very last minute, dhooping the whole house, placing flower petals and rangoli in front of the entrance way and continuing to fix the sari wall decorations. Around 11:30 pm, Shri Mataji’s van pulled up. I started filling up with so many emotions of gratitude, love and happiness. My hands and knees were trembling and my heart was beating so fast, as if I was seeing Shri Mataji for the first time. The four of us yuvas were standing in the front by the stairs holding flower petals. When we looked up, Shri Mataji was there, with all of the nursing staff and other yogis behind Her. The staff didn’t move Her wheelchair for what seemed like an eternity. She was facing us, looking at the sari decorations the whole time.
Some ladies came to do aarti and then Adi handed us the garland and told us to offer it. I had a huge smile and nearly had tears of joy running down my face. After Shri Mataji entered the elevator, we all stood there completely blown away with happiness and vibrations, trying to comprehend this very surreal moment of us being blessed to greet Mother back home.
I soon saw why I didn’t make it to Scotland.
Pragya Richards
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