Most of Amma’s followers were delighted to see Kanye West sharing about her healing powers. (Source: Mata Amritanandamayi/ Twitter, File Photo)
People in the West have, more often than not, looked at India as a fascinating land, full of colours and diversity. Many, including well-known personalities, have shown interest in India and its variety of cultures. From Beatles to Coldplay, musicians and artistes too have headed to India in the past, some for finding solace, others for making music. Joining the list is now Kanye West. What seems to have intrigued the 40-year-old rapper wasn’t music, but the hugs that spiritual guru “Amma Mata” apparently gives. Yes, sharing a photo of Mata Amritanandamayi, West tweeted about the power of hugs and went a step ahead and even quantified them.
Taking to Twitter, the rapper wrote, “Sometimes we all need hugs,” and followed it with a photo of Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, captioned it as, “Amma Mata had given over 32 million hugs.” West was sharing his views about mobile phone addiction and even compared Google to “dopamine”. While it is unclear how he connected the Indian guru in this conversation, it sure did grab the attention of the Netizens, many of whom were Indians.
sometimes we all need hugs
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) May 21, 2018
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Amma Mata had given over 32 million hugs pic.twitter.com/OBotiHWZUU
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) May 21, 2018
Look at your phone as tool not an obligation. Would you walk around with a hammer in your pocket? You would pick up a hammer when you needed it you would never be addicted or obligated to it. Use your phone like a hammer only pick it up when you need it.
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) May 21, 2018
there was a time when we completely operated without phones. We’re addicted to our phones.
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) May 21, 2018
Google dopamine
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) May 21, 2018
I got one of Amma’s legendary hugs in 2016 at an event. They had a finite amount of tokens you had to use to redeem a hug and It was a mind blowing experience. She represents love and gives everyone a @Hersheys kiss with a rose petal after the hug. 👈fact cc: @APompliano
— Steve McGarry (@stvmcg) May 21, 2018
Soon, the tweets garnered a lot of attention on the microblogging site and left many dazed. Some joined in, in the comments’ section by sharing their experiences of meeting her
Many followers of the guru from India and abroad, thanked the artiste for showing his respect for the spiritual teacher.
I’ve received at least 6 of her hugs. She’s the best!
— Amber Mark (@Amb3rMark) May 21, 2018
This is the first time I’ve ever retweeted a @kanyewest tweet. Hopefully it won’t be the last time. See you at LAX Hilton for Amma’s visit?
— Peter Malick (@silvertone) May 22, 2018
Yep! She visits the US every year. Just look at https://t.co/nHz7tIv6sX for dates
— Elizabeth Corley (@ecorley108) May 22, 2018
I was at Phoenix airport yrs ago with a flt delay, my son was 14 months & crying uncontrollably & wouldn’t stop. I didn’t know her, but she came up to us – took him, whispered in his ear & HE STOPPED! He never cried like that again. He’s 15 now & calm as ever! #Saint 🙏🙏🙏
— Sadhana Ginde 🙏 (@SadhanaGinde) May 22, 2018
I m one of them .🙏🙏🙏
— Harien J S (@Harie_Amma) May 22, 2018
I’m in Amma’s temple in Barcelona right now 😅 good energy pic.twitter.com/oCZkYM5FAQ
— Höchster THC 🇪🇺 (@Hoechster_THC) May 21, 2018
Good Tweet from Kanyewest on a Spiritual Guru from India. Beloved Amma @Amritanandamayi Devi.
She is such a sweet person that one feels re assured about the idea of Good & Compassion.
Pranam Amritanandamayi amma https://t.co/Is5VSWJAAn
— Rahul Easwar (@RahulEaswar) May 22, 2018
Hug life ✊🏾https://t.co/io8Agwjz2c
— Dhruva Jaishankar (@d_jaishankar) May 22, 2018
But not everyone went gaga over his tweet. In fact, a few got into the mathematics of it and tried to figure out who West arrived at the figure of “32 million hugs”. “@kanyewest I did the math on this so you can understand you have lost your mind. In order for Amma Mata to hug 32 million people she would have to hug 1 person every minute of every hour of every day, FOR 61 YEARS,” wrote one user on Twitter.
Who Cares?
— God (@ATweetOfGod) May 21, 2018
I just want to know who was counting?
— Anu Ogunbiyi (@nuogunbiyi) May 21, 2018
I was a recipient of one of her hugs. It was…a nice hug. A find a hug from my actual mother much better.
— A. Ali (@kharthoom) May 22, 2018
@kanyewest I did the math on this so you can understand you have lost your mind. In order for Amma mata to hug 32 million people she would have to hug 1 person every minute of every hour of every day, FOR 61 YEARS.
— Nino White (@Nin0White) May 22, 2018
What is happening I don’t even https://t.co/UE06WH5EJI
— Mihir Sharma (@mihirssharma) May 21, 2018
Amma is 65 yrs old and has given 32 million hugs
That’s 32000000 hugs till date
~492307 hugs each year
~41025 hugs each month
~1348 hugs each day
~56 hugs every hour@kanyewest you sure that’s the right number? https://t.co/pVBUenUgVb— Sidhartha Shukla (@shukla_05sid) May 22, 2018
Did Ye like google hugs and find Amma lmao @KimKardashian ya man needs a hug https://t.co/7pGtQRn90s
— bægel (@shrutia96) May 21, 2018
It’s not sure for how long West has been following Amma Mata, but the spiritual guru has followers all across the globe. She conducts many hugging sessions across international countries including places like the UK, US, Australia, Brazil among others and lasts for very long hours.
Interestingly, a day later, his wife, Kim Kardashian West too tweeted the same thing about needing hugs, but shared photo of her kids.
Sometimes we all need hugs ❤️ pic.twitter.com/hn0esXNFuU
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) May 22, 2018
Well, we can’t agree more, West! Everyone needs a hug sometimes.
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