Fond Memories of Martin

by Ganesh

om namo bhagavate śrī ramaṇāya

I have many fond memories of interaction with Martin over the past 10-plus years at Arunachala Ashrama. Like everyone else, I was amazed by Sri Martin's diction, clarity, intonation and pronunciation of the vedas. Many a time, I have been fortunate to have accompanied him at Arunachala Ashrama, during the veda chanting. which usually happens around 3pm or so, right after one of those big celebrations. It could Jayanti, Aradhana, Advent or our Mahsivaratri function. I had reached out to him, many times, to get the right pronunciation and the diction, so that I could correct myself. From Sri Rudram, even the ganam parayanam of śrī-suktam, to all the suktams, purusha-suktam, narayana-suktam, durga-suktam to name a few. I am deeply grateful tro Sri Martin for correcting me and making me aware of some of the intricacies when it comes down to the chanting of those vedas.

Way back in 2014, I think in March on the 20th, if I remember the date correctly, after getting the blessings from Sri Ramanasramam and Arunachala Ashrama, we decided to start a satsang, at our home in NJ. We wanted to have veda chanting and chanting of Bhagavan's works on a day-to-day basis, as part of our daily routine; Martin, Peter, Dennis, Sri Mohan and other fellow devotees from Arunachala Ashrama, graciously accepted our request. They laid that foundation for us, which is a practicve continuing up to this day.

My humble Namaskarams to Sri Martin on this wonderful day. May we all have fond remembrances of him. As Sri Mohan said, it is a moment of celebration to remeber Sri Martin on this beautiful day.