Ageh Bharti visits Ma Kusum Bharti at the Osho Prem Bindu meditation center – and also remembers Osho’s early travels in the Punjab and a small event involving Kusum and Osho in Kulu Manali.
Remembering the early days
On 16th February this year, I started off for Amritsar by train to meet with Ma Kusum Bharti, reaching the following evening. Her life partner, Swami Kapil Bharti left this world in 1996, at the age of only 52 years, due to chest cancer. Both have been great lovers of Osho since the early days when they lived in Ludhiana. Osho visited Ludhiana three times. His first visit was on invitation of Mr Gil, Senior Superintendent of Police, and for the following two visits, Kusum and Kapil had invited him.
I was fortunate to have been there all three times. I travelled twice with Osho from Jabalpur, and for the third visit in August 1970 Osho came from Mumbai and I from Jabalpur.
Very few people know that Osho’s last lecture in Amritsar had to be stopped unfinished (for the first time ever) on 23rd August 1970 because of a disturbance by two or three Orthodox Hindu groups. This was also his last public talk and all scheduled dates for Chandigarh and Amritsar were subsequently cancelled (see Osho’s first visit to Ludhiana – Osho’s last public talk).
On special invitation by Osho, Kapil and Kusum lived in the Pune Ashram starting January 1976. A large room with all facilities in Jesus House was provided for them. However, after eight months, they returned to Ludhiana and I now asked Kusum why. She said that Kapil Bharti had not been happy about some things at the ashram and also complaining about certain people. Kapil brought the complaints to Osho’s attention, who asked him to go and live outside and told him that the geographical distance makes no difference to those who know love.
I feel that to bow down before a buddha is easy but to accept the members of the ‘sangh’ is a difficult task!
However, I was not going to report in detail here about all that; I am only introducing Ma Kusum Bharti so that when I recite a little story later, you know about her and will enjoy hearing about it.
Osho Prem Bindu now
On the morning of 18th February many sannyasin friends kept arriving at Kusum’s residence. Another meeting was set at Osho Prem Bindu meditation centre from 5 pm to 9 pm. I was glad to see the centre which has been lovingly created by Swami Krishna Gopal Bharti who died about four years ago. The second storey was constructed later, by a group of trustees. It has a kitchen, washrooms and a large dining area with a pleasant hall.
Every day at the centre, Dynamic Meditation is offered in the mornings; on Sundays, following a short break after Dynamic, sannyasins gather for a discourse by Osho; later Nataraj Meditation invites. Also, six meditation camps are conducted throughout the year.
At my visit, we were about 50 sannyasins who sat together for satsang and later, dinner. After responding to friends’ questions, I promised to come back to have more time to be with all of them.
Interlude in Manali
I now jump to the story mentioned briefly above. When Osho returned from America and was staying in Manali, about 100 to 150 people would be there and Osho used to appear outside the building to give darshan. Kapil Bharti had been in Delhi to receive Osho at the airport on 17th November 1985 and he, Kusum Bharti and their son Asang Bharti proceeded to Manali to have darshan with Osho.
When they arrived it was raining, and Osho was not giving darshan for two or three days because of that. When Kusum heard about it, she penned two lines:
“Oh rain! Please stop, Beloved Lord has arrived.
Heer has to see her Ranjha!”
She was humming the lines and weeping at the same time! The more she sang, the more tears flooded. The more tears flooded, the more deeply she sang! And suddenly, the rain which had been continuing for hours, stopped – Osho appeared and gave darshan to her and all those present.
Such small events have remained unrecorded until now and I gladly share them with all…
oshoprembindu.com – facebook.com/oshoprembindu
¹ The story of Ranjha and Heer has similarities to Romeo and Juliet
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