THE HISTORY OF CHINMAYA MISSION, DELHI

Mrs. Sheela Puri and Mrs. Shakuntala Bindra, who lived near the Sat Bhrava School in Karol Bagh where the yagna was being held, were among those who attended. They soon began to help in the work and Swamiji showed them how to fold and wrap the yagna prasad (which were booklets of the previous yagna discourses). He himself maintained a register and posted the booklets as Gurudakshina to all those who had participated in the previous yagna. He maintained great efficiency, even without our present day computer system. Mrs. Janak Kapoor also attended the yagna, though she could not come every day.

The President of India Dr. Rajendra Prasad's wife used to attend the havan in the mornings. One day Swamiji and a few other devotees were invited to spend the day at Rashtrapati Bhavan and have lunch with the President and his family.

1954. The second yagna in Delhi for 61 days was on Kathopanishad and was held at the GPO site, at the crossing of Parliament Street and Ashoka Road. It was organized by Mrs. Sheela Puri, Mrs. Shakuntala Bindra and Mrs. Rani Bhan. There was akhand kirtan for 21 days but no havan. There used to be meditation after the discourse. About a thousand people attended the yagna. Quite a lot of people stayed with Swamiji at his residence, which had been arranged at Ashoka Road. The yagna committee was looking after the kitchen arrangements. Mr. K.C. Bhatia met Swamiji during this yagna. He helped with the Mission office from then on until his retirement in 1996.

1955. Mrs. Puri and Mrs. Bindra were now fully involved along with Mrs. I.P. Gupta, Mrs. Kumar and Mrs. Rani Bhan with Mission work. Mr. K. C. Bhatia and Mr. Parsumal looked after the book section. Two yagnas were organized in 1955 from September 8 to October 28 and from October 30 to November 30. The listeners were increasing every day. Mrs. Sheela Sharma, who later organized Swamiji's yagnas in Allahabad and Rewa, and Mrs. Latika Sen Gupta (Lily Amma) along with her husband, met Swamiji during this time. Lily Amma, who is now in Sidhbari, donated her house in Chittaranjan Park to the Mission when she moved to Sidhbari in the late 1980s. Mrs. K. Vaidyanathan and her husband (who later served the Mission as President in the late 1970s), also met Swamiji about this time. (photo no. 1)

Swamiji passed through Delhi several times whenever he went to meet Tapovanji Maharaj in Uttarkashi. Once in 1955, he took some people with him from Delhi. Mrs. Janak Kapoor, Mrs. Chanchal Khosla, Mrs. Nano Atal, Mrs. Sheela Puri, Mrs. Kaushalya Khanna (Mrs. Bindra's mother) and Dr. Khosla's wife were among those who went with him. This was the trip when the famous photo of Swamiji with his guru was taken.

1956. there were three yagnas in Delhi. One was held in the Modern School grounds, which the President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, inaugurated. The other two were held in Rajinder Nagar. They were from September 18 to September 28, October 30 to November 30 and February 12 to March 22. Swamiji stayed with Choudhary Raghavendra Singh and also with Mr. Dua.

 

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