Nirmaldeep Kaur is such a lovely and attuned student
of Soul! She spent a lot of time working in India where she met her husband Girish. They
now live in New Jersey, where she continues to do personal Ayurvedic chefing in addition to her other work. Here is her account
of her Mother’s Day Weekend!
God Came for the Weekend!
May
10, 2011
A dear friend and local chef has
been working on a lifelong calling, a series of films entitled "Holy Kitchens" http://www.holykitchens.com/ about the sacredness of food and our relationship to it, in service to others. His first film, "True Business"
actually focused on the Sikh langar. :)
Anyway,
in his second documentary on the role of food and service in Hinduism, he'd ask me to offer my own personal perspective on
the concept of "Adithi Devo Bhava" which means "the guest is God". Always happy to wax philosophic
about my love for Mother India and all that she's taught me, I spoke for a few minutes about how when I had moved to India
in 2005, an older couple (strangers to me) took me in for 3 weeks.
Every day they prepared each and every meal for me, organized my transportation to and from my new
job, took me shopping for new wares etc., and ultimately helped me find a new apartment, negotiate rent and move in. They
were so kind and eager to help. They never seemed to feel that in providing for me, that they would have less for themselves--
less time, less food. Giving was simply a way for them to express gratitude.
“Please don't thank us,” they would say over and over.
I began to understand that their actions were spurred by their
faith in the law of abundance. And their selfless service to me was really in service to God. It was truly a heart opening
and humbling experience. Life changing, really.
And
so, my three minutes of fame and joy in recounting this story on screen is slated for Saturday at the filmfest at noon. Thursday
night, my mother and I confirm our arrangements - she'll come on the train Friday mid-day to stay with my husband and I overnight,
2 nights. She's keen to see the film. We'll celebrate Mother's Day, but I ask her too, if she's amenable
to going with the flow and joining us on some other previously scheduled social engagements this weekend. She says she's game.
Later that morning, I get a text from my husband. Seems
his friend and colleague Vijay is in Los Angeles and has booked some meetings in NYC. He's taking the red-eye and lands at
5:30 AM Fri. Girish offers him to stay with us.
And... temporary amnesia sets in. I forget that this guest is also God and get perturbed that my husband
would agree to host him when my mother was coming. We'd also already committed to other social events throughout the weekend.
Did Vijay NOT know EARLIER that he would be coming to NYC for business meetings?
My husband, an Indian himself, is much more attuned to the rhythm of the seemingly unplanned
Universal flow and is un-phased by this. I however tense up and express dismay that he's complicating things.
"I hope you aren't thinking about bowing out of
the film," I snap. I was coming from a place of fear. ... that we'd be spending "more", ultimately draining
us of our time and resources and resulting in some sort of "less-ness".
It took only a few minutes before I began to laugh --Thank God!
The irony!
I'm upset because we have more guests and yet all I wanted to do was share with my husband and my
mother how a beautiful sweet couple had taught me that when we selflessly care for others-- we are all blessed. Ha ha!
There is more than enough for all of us! In our providing
for both my husband's friend as well as my mom, surely the Universe would provide. Our intentions were pure. Girish would
have the opportunity to spend time with a colleague with whom he's been hoping to do more business (organizing concerts).
And his spending time with Vijay would even allow mom and I some quality time alone, just the two of us. Plus, my mother LOVES
meeting our friends from India, she likes to *interview* them.
And
so.. we had delightful weekend. In going with the flow, and not resisting, everything went more smoothly than we could have
even planned. We really enjoyed each other's company. Mom just got on the train after thoroughly enjoying a social Mother's
Day. Girish's guest is still here. I'm about to make dinner before class. It's nice having more people in the apartment.
There's a delightful and creative buzz. Adithi Devo Bhava.
Nirmaldeep
