Welcome to Gouri's Blogs

Namaskaram, I am Anita Mohandas. But I like to be called Gouri, the name that was called in my ears by my grandfather on the 28th day ceremony. My parents, trying to be modern and westernised changed my name to Anita, to match with their son’s name Ajit. There started my westernisation, and with the advent of communism and convent education, though they always gave respect to our religion and spiritual studies, I got no training on our traditional day-today rites and rituals. But then, in the olden times, it wasn’t necessary to teach the children and the youngsters how to be. They learned watching the elders. Whatever I know, I had learned observing my mother who was meticulously religious. I grew up in Cochin. As a child, I used to attend the Gita classes conducted by the nearby Chinmaya Mission. The verses would be taught to us with their intended rhythm, and after that, the meaning would be delivered in brief. The verses were in Samskritham, a language that we were not familiar with. To be honest, the classes never inspired me much, nothing made much sense, and I found it all quite dreary. Later on, while I was in my early teens, I had the opportunity to listen to a discourse by Swami Chirunayanandaji. His firm grip over the Bhagavad Gita, his charismatic influence over the huge crowd, the commanding voice, the flawless presentation… Quite a mesmerizing experience! After several years, my husband had to attend some program in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh. The children were having their winter vacation, and so, we accompanied him. Our overnight stay had been arranged at Chinmaya Tapovan Ashram. Stunning place, facing the picturesque and majestic snow-clad Dhaulagiri ranges. As we were leaving, the head monk of the ashram presented us with this hard-bound copy of the Bhagavad Gita. I flicked through the pages. The verses were printed in small letters, with the comprehensive explanations underneath. Then and there, I decided that it was all way beyond my grasp. It found a safe slot in our fast-growing library, where the book never got disturbed for the next fifteen years or so.