I the *Ganapatipule Seminar Kitchen 2024* is Speaking...
Her Holiness Shree Mataji is the doer, the one who gets things done, and the enjoyer. Life Eternal Trust Mumbai and Sahajayogis all Shri Pravin Jawalkar, Gopi Mankar, Ashish Mankar, Govind Jadhav, Sachin Kolekar, Abhijit Murkute, Shantanu Waghmode, and all the kitchen committee members are my merely instruments, drivers, and carriers.There is a separate support committee for dining area which consists of sahajayogis from Mumbai, Thane, Ahilyanagar, Shrirampur,etc. at eleventh hour even sahajayogis of different States joins and offer their services.
At the International Sahaja Yoga Seminar and Puja, on one side there is the Yadnya of Knowledge for spiritual ascent, and on the other side, there is this Yadnya of Food. I served you at the Ganapatipule Seminar 2024, and you must have experienced this food offering. Most Sahaja Yogis enjoy the meals and appreciate the food and it makes me feel blessed.
The Ganapatipule Seminar Kitchen is like hosting a grand wedding in a remote area . Only by Shree Mataji's blessings, this temporary infrastructure is set up and the kitchen duty is completed smoothly.
Serving tea, breakfast, and two meals a day to 6000 Sahaja Yogis for 5-6 days is a laborious task. The team of chefs and their 150 staff members, along with the Sahaja Yogi kitchen committee, works tirelessly day and night to satisfy your hunger. I hope you will read and listen to my message.
In October, after the pre-Havan of the Ganapatipule Seminar, my committee members inspect the site. They clear the overgrown grass, level the land, repair the toilets and bathrooms for staff and prepare a plan to set up the mega Indian kitchen and dining area, foreign kitchen and dining area, senior citizen dining area, and tents for staff and committee members. This marks the beginning of the actual work.
No single caterer manages this task; instead, it is my committee of Sahaja Yogis, made by Sahaja Yogis for Sahaja Yogis who manages my duty.
The committee members hold several meetings in Pune. In these meetings, they consider the feedback from the previous year, estimate the possible number of attendees for the current year, plan the budget, finalize the chefs, review the previous year’s menu, and decide on the menu for this year. They also consider the dates and check if there are holidays at the start of the seminar, as this leads to early crowds. Every small detail is discussed.
A list of materials including tea, coffee, dairy products, vegetables, breakfast, and meal ingredients is prepared, and the pre-purchasing begins.
Wheat for chapati, roti and puri is purchased and grounded at below 40 degrees to maintain quality. Preparing such a large quantity of flour is time-consuming. Raw materials are procured and chutneys, pickles, and gravies for various vegetables are prepared.
Before the seminar, groceries are purchased. Ready-made flour, chutneys, pickles, gravies, groceries, oil, ghee, etc., are loaded onto a truck in Pune and sent to Ganapatipule. Fresh vegetables, fruits, milk, curd, cream, khoya, ice, bread, eggs, chicken, mutton, etc., are procured as needed. Most of these items are sourced from Pune or Kolhapur, as they are not available in Ratnagiri.
A week before the seminar, the volunteer kitchen starts operating. Initially 50 volunteers begin and this number grows to 300 by the start of the seminar. The pre-seminar volunteer kitchen is full of work, fun, and joy. I encourage you to experience this fun by volunteering someday.
For the comfort of kitchen workers, a lot of mechanization has been implemented. The kitchen has a large dishwasher, dough kneading machines, vegetable cutting machines, trolleys for transporting raw and cooked food and there is a permanent tandoors, for even gas supply to all the shegdis there is a gas bank. The committee loves to serve tea to all Sahaja Yogis. You must have noticed the tea tanks and pipelines set up for tea. Drink as much tea as you wish! Previously, I even had an automatic chapati-making machine too.
All food is prepared under hygienic conditions. A grease separator is installed to ensure that debris does not block the drainage. This separator collects floating oil and debris, preventing it from flowing into the drainage system. The collected waste is disposed of in a pit. Chemicals are sprayed regularly to prevent foul odors around the grease separator, dishwashing area, waste pit, toilets, and bathrooms. The organic compost from the waste pit is used for the plants in Nirmala Nagari.
This year, for breakfast, you enjoyed sevai upma, bread-misal, sabudana khichdi, upma, tea, and fruits. For dessert, you tasted gulab jamun, dudhi halwa, mohanthal, amrakhand, jalebi, sheera, sevai kheer, and moong halwa. Even though sweets were limited, they were provided upon request. Some Sahaja Yogis wonder why sweets are not served at the refill counter. How can one answer such a question? The menu is carefully planned, as it forms the main course – chapati, roti, puri, dry sabzi, curry, dal, rice, kadhi, khichdi, buttermilk, sweets, chutney, pickle, papad, farsan, etc. The foreign kitchen offers eggs, chicken, mutton, and fruits for international Sahaja Yogis. With the mantra “Om Twameva Sakshat Shri Annapurna Sakshat Shri Adi Shakti Mataji Shri Nirmala Devi Namo Namah,” you enjoy the meal and even if your stomach is full, your heart isn't.
You are wise Sahaja Yogis. You know this is not just food but Shri Mataji’s prasad, the divine offering. That is why we say, "Food is Brahma." We must respect and savor the food, but not waste it.
Sahaja Yogis attending the seminar do not see the inner workings of the kitchen; they only see the outer dining area. You stand in line, receive prasad, and leave.
A Senior Citizens Dining Hall is set up for the convenience of elder Sahaja Yogis. Despite our best efforts, some shortcomings may remain. If everyone crowds at once, you may have to wait longer. Sometimes, even volunteers do not get priority during peak times. There is a saying 'the taste of spices and dishes changes every ten kilometers.' Some may not like certain flavors, but remember, Sahaja Yoga is our family. If you notice any shortcomings, inform the committee members. By Shree Mataji’s grace, they are eager to serve you and me.
As the seminar ends, you return home, but here the cleanup and packing begin. Leftover groceries are returned and the final accounts are completed. This means the work that started after the pre-havan ends a week after the seminar.
I am not alone as the kitchen; there are many departments and committees working in harmony.
Let these memories stay fresh, and meet me again in Kitchen 2025.
Jai Shree Mataji!
Yours humbly,
Ganapatipule Seminar Kitchen 2024.
Wording by Yogiraj Deokar. Pune.
