In an amusing survey of Indian spirituality (”The Swamis,” December 20, 2003), The Economist spears a paragraph for Mata Amritanandamayi, a “God-woman” widely known as “Amma.” Her fiftieth birthday attracted more than one-million people to Kochi (formerly Cochin) in Kerala this September. The party lasted three whole days. An illiterate daughter of a fishing family, Amma is an unusual sage. She is not famous for philosophical discourses. Rather, she goes for hugging. At her gatherings, thousands queue up to be clasped to her bosom. They relish the warmth and wisdom of the encounter. She is believed to have hugged more than twenty-million people to date. Asked why she did it, she once replied it was like asking a river why it flows. The mighty newspaper’s account of Amma’s prowess ends up sounding a dash sour, though. They have not been persuaded, it appears to me. Unbeknownst to myself, however, I have been her follower for years.

Addendum I (October 3, 2016)

Indeed, I love hugging people. Whenever an opportunity arises, I hug everyone who does not object to being hugged. While I am at it, I love to give people a good squeeze, too. Some of them even groan in my hands, but the squeeze always gives me quite a kick. Come to think of it, I may be the opposite of Mata Amritanandamayi or Amma: people feel better after she hugs them, and I feel better after I hug people. Thus I cannot but wonder how she would feel if I hugged her. Would she feel better? If so, would she feel surprised?

Addendum II (February 24, 2020)

Over the years, and especially in the last decade, I have written quite a bit about hugging. It appears to be of great importance to me in my dotage. If my parents or my children showed up at my door out of the blue, I would hug them with all my might (“Just Hug Them,” May 16, 2012). When my friends are in dire straits, I hug them with feeling (“On Hugging,” December 25, 2015). And when a friend of mine dies, I hug her or his dear ones with abandon (“Spoiled by Pain,” January 15, 2017). To be sure, there is much hugging in my writings. As I put it in the first addendum to this piece, I feel much better after I hug people who are facing hard times, but I have no idea whether this helps them in any way. I can only hope that it does, but that is all. In fact, no-one I know has ever reported such an uplifting experience to me. Ah, would that I had Mata Amritanandamayi or Amma’s miraculous touch!