Spiritual tourism as usual at ashram

There was not a murmur about the supposed attack among  devotees, disciples and tourists alike, who strolled the ashram unperturbed by the heavy security blanket enveloping the sprawling  campus. People come from all over the country attending a six-day meditation programme, as also those who attended Sunday’s  “Satsang”, were seen taking a break from their daily routine.

Giri Govind, Secretary to Ravi Shankar, said the disciples were hoping to persuade “guruji” to accept special security cover after the “assassination bid” but he would have none of it. “We were discussing the possibilities but he does not want anyone around him providing security,” he said.

Narrating the chain of events, Govind recalled that the bid did not bear trappings of an assasination attempt. “I and Guruji were on our way to attend an event in the City when the victim of the gunshot, Vinay, who was close to guruji found blood trickling from his thigh. None of us were even aware of a gun being fired,” he said.

Popular devotional songs like Vinayaka-Vinayaka and Om Gurudeva, which bear the hallmark of Art of Living, reverberated in the Yajna Shala or the Prayer Hall of AOL Ashram on Monday evening.

Disciples of Ravi Shankar clapped and danced to the beats  as if they had forgotten the events of barely 24 hours earlier. The very same Yajna Shala was the scene of Sunday’s supposed bid. Heavy presence of press, police and politicians during the  day disrupted the daily routine of the Ashram on Monday but the night purely belonged to the Ashramites when they assembled again at the Yajna Shala to listen to Ravi Shankar’s discourses.