Chanderpaul: Meditation helps me concentrate and relax

Wednesday, November 06, 2002
FROM LOKENDRA PRATAP SAHI

Shivnarine Chanderpaul with wife Amy during his visit to Bharat Sevashram Sangha in the city recently Jamshedpur: The Chanderpauls made a quiet entry on the rooftop of The Regent Monday night and, as crackers took centrestage, appeared to enjoy every minute.

In many ways, the ambience did remind Amy (nee Shivnarine, incidentally) and Shivnarine of festivities back in Guyana.

“Well, yes, Diwali is quite a big affair even at home… Holi, too,” informed Shivnarine, interacting informally with The Telegraph.

Amy, in a designer salwar-kameez and sporting mehndi on her hands, concurred enthusiastically.

In fact, she added: “It’s nice to actually be part of the celebrations here (organised by the hotel’s management).”

Amy is also a Hindu and the Chanderpauls are worshippers of Shiva. Moreover, they have a “Guruji” — Vidyanandji Maharaj, who is currently in his ashram in New York. Indeed, it’s Vidyanandji who co-ordinated the Chanderpauls’ visit to the Bharat Sevashram Sangha (BSS) centres in Calcutta and Jamshedpur.

“I only had to contact the local representatives… The rest was thoughtfully done by Guruji himself,” Shivnarine pointed out. Talking about his visits to the two centres, he said in manner as calm as his batting: “Both trips made me feel better…One does get that sense of spiritual upliftment.”

Shivnarine was introduced to Vidyanandji while a student at the Swamiji College and, later, sought his guidance on meditation. “Really, meditation helps me both relax and concentrate… At times, I’ve even meditated out in the middle,” he revealed. Shivnarine’s level of concentration, of course, is exemplary.

Clearly, the “blessings” received in Calcutta probably helped Shivnarine author that excellent 140 at the Eden. Now, the question doing the rounds here is: Will he be similarly ‘rewarded’ at the Keenan?

Smiling, Shivnarine himself had this to say: “We’ll speak about that after the match! As you know, I have faith in Lord Shiva…” The Chanderpauls’ trip to the BSS centre in Jamshedpur was on Monday evening, a few hours after their arrival from Calcutta (via Ranchi).

Source: The Telegraph