Dear Swami, Happy 2008!!!

1/1/08

Smiles, smiles everywhere! The mood was upbeat with a lot of anticipation and excitement. We had all assembled in Kulwant hall by 7 am. Swami was expected to come at 8.30am. I sat in my place admiring the beautiful decorations above the portico. The alumni brothers were all seated in the front, some running here and there to make sure all arrangements are in place. They had all come with their families too.

Finally, at 8.30 am, we herald the New Year with the beautiful darshan of our lord. Lo and behold! Our Lord arrives in chair escorted by a procession of Vedam chanting and flag march by ex students. This darshan indeed seemed a special one, majestic with students holding a grand umbrella over Swami and waving peacock feathers around, as if welcoming an Emperor. Well, Swami is the king of our hearts and I can tell He was loving every moment of it just like us. It’s our great fortune to have such a nice darshan on the very first day of 2008. As He came by, some of us wished Him "Swami, happy new year".

Swami came to the portico and asked the programme to begin. Since yesterday there was a lot of confusion regarding the sequence of programmes as the present students too were ready with their programmes. This morning, Swami again changed the schedule and asked the Institute Band to perform first. After their pieces, out of the blue, Swami asked two elders to address the gathering. Later, He called an ex-student and asked him to speak. This brother was equally unprepared but spoke very well sharing two sweet experiences of his student days. Swami was very happy and materialized a chain for him. Later, there was a music programme where the alumni sang some songs, one of which was composed by our Lord way back in 1985! The morning session ended around 10.30 am.

Swami arrived in the evening at around 4.30pm. First, there was a bhangra programme by some ex-students who tried their best to dance in the limited space provided to them right before Swami. Swami was amused with their steps, but He blessed them all with padanamaskar. A Band programme followed, this time by ex-students who were part of the Band group in their student days. Swami was enjoying all of their pieces. For sometime, it felt like Swami had become the conductor as He was moving his Hand to the tunes more often than the Band leader himself! Soon after, there was a picture slideshow on a giant screen where old photos of swami with students were shown. Simultaneously, some ex-students narrated experiences from their student days with Swami. One of them narrated an incident where Swami had come to his rescue in his job. Swami took his form and worked in his office, while he went to a parents’ meet accompanying orphanage children.

Swami was extremely happy. He motioned for the alumni brothers to stop. It was His turn now to share His love and He motioned for the mike to brought over. I’ve mentioned about the discourse in my next post. At the end of the day, all I can say is, we couldn’t have asked for a better beginning to 2008. Thank you Swami.

GOODBYE 2007

The end of 2007 couldn’t have been celebrated better than this. While the world is still coming to terms with increasing unrest and violence, Puttaparthi is a striking contrast of peace and love pervading all around. After all, the life in Parthi revolves around SAI.

Swami has been showering so much love on us these days. A few weeks ago, we were upset about the way He was apparently ignoring us, coming late. But Alas! Foolishness is our second nature, for we fail to see the love that envelops this place, regardless of His physical presence.

On the 27^th, as part of the Christmas celebrations, there were a couple of programmes by devotees from South California. The elders sang carols while there was a short and sweet play on the childhood years of Jesus performed by children. Swami was very happy with the programme and He gifted clothes to the entire group.

For the next few days, Swami, though arriving late, would spent more time with us outside on the portico while the bhajans went on. He would call students and take letters.

On the New Year’s day, many alumni from the Sathya Sai University gather in Prasanthi Nilayam and offer a programme. Over the years, this day has gained increasing importance as the “Reconnect Day” for the Sai students as these alumni come from various parts of the world to reconnect with their golden past in Prasanthi Nilayam when they basked in His love.

Due to the preparations for the Annual Sports Meet of Institute on Jan 11, many students are not able to make it for darshan on time. But the students’ block never looked empty as it was occupied by hundreds of alumni brothers. On 31^st evening, Swami came for darshan around 4.40 pm and went inside interview room. Soon, He came out in chair and went across the Ladies side blessing all devotees. Swami later came straight to the portico and sat before the students. He called the birthday boys and blessed them. These boys were indeed lucky as Swami spoke to most of them. To one boy, He asked “which class?” the boy replied “10th standard” Swami said “after 10^th?” the boy replied “Swami, whatever you say” He spoke to another birthday boy and materialized a chain for Him. Swami could see that many ex-students were sitting there. He called one of them and asked what programme was being planned for the next day. All the while, Swami was looking very happy, like a proud mother to see Her children come home. He called one alumnus and scolded him for gaining a lot of weight. It was a sight to watch as Swami animatedly showed us his walking style with a huge tummy.

At around 6.15 pm, he asked for aarati to be given and went to Yajur Mandir. We knew the New Year would begin on a bright note.

CHRISTMAS DISCOURSE

26/12/07

Swami arrived in the evening at 5 pm, as all devotees patiently waited for His discourse. He asked a professor to speak for sometime. At around 5.30 he got up, with a beaming smile, ever ready to bless all of us. Here are a few excerpts from His divine discourse.

• Anger is the cause of failure. It leads to commit many sins.
• All conflicts arise due to lack of love. All problems, difficulties are nothing but our own imagination. There’s nothing like restlessness in the world. There’s Shanti everywhere. Peace within your heart will get reflected in peace around you. Everything is governed by the principle of “reflection, reaction, resound.”
• (Swami asked a boy) “What is your name?”(he replied “vikas”). No, you are not Vikas. You are Brahman. If you ask God “what is your name?” he will reply “Aham Brahmasmi”
• You are not one but three (one you think you are, others think you are…)What others think you are is a matter of imagination. The true self is “I” which is common to all of you. Christians worship this “I”
• One is not born with the name. It’s just for the sake of identity.
• All beings take birth by the Will of God. (At this point, Swami materialized a chain and placed it on the mike.) We run after materialistic things which are nothing but shadows (maya). The shadow changes according to the position of sunlight but the object remains same. The object is the Brahman.
• Love is the basis for faith. LOVE, the first letter stands for Lord. Everything arises from the Lord. Without creator, there’s no creation.

Swami discussed in detail about the life of Jesus.

• Jesus was a son of a carpenter named Joseph. Joseph loved a girl in his village. After sometime, he noticed she was pregnant. It was election time then. So, they had to return to their native village. There was no transport available, so they had to ride on a donkey. When they reached the village, they found all houses were occupied. They went to a place nearby where donkeys were kept and spent the night. Mary had labor pains, but Joseph thought it was because of long hours of travel. On that holy night, Mary delivered a baby boy
  

• Jesus grew up under the care of his mother. One day there was a function in Jerusalem. Jesus went to the function and got separated in the crowd. His parents thought their son was lost and cried in despair. But He returned back at night, much to the relief of his parents. He told them that he had joined a gathering in listening to the speeches of wise elders in village. The pundits said that there is only one truth, which is the self. Later on, contemplating n this truth, Jesus went around mountains near the village. He came down by the riverside and met Peter, a boatman. Peter introduced himself and his father to Jesus. He told Jesus that they were not able to catch any fish in the river anymore. Jesus pointed out a place and asked them to go and fish there. To their amazement, they found plenty of fish. All the fishermen thanked Jesus and accepted Him as their master.
  

• Seeing this popularity of Jesus, some people were jealous of Him. They decided to conspire against him. (Swami narrated episodes of how Judas betrayed Jesus and how Jesus was crucified). When Jesus was about to be crucified, Mother Mary came to him and cried. Jesus pacified her saying body is just a water bubble, the true self can never die. But she said that she couldn’t bear such torture to her son. Jesus replied “I am not anybody’s son. All are my children”
  

• The next day Jesus appeared for the supper. The king was surprised and asked how he could come here. Jesus said, “I can go anywhere, at my Will. I am God. None can kill me” These words moved the king and he decided to bow down to Jesus.

• There’s nothing beyond the Will of God. Any person having complete faith in these words will be protected. Faith is most important. Today, people have lost the two eyes of faith and have become blind. With faith and love, one can achieve anything. Faith grows in love.
  

• Many foreigners have faith, but sometimes love is missing. Both are like +ve and -ve forces. Develop this “Master Faith” in the Lord. If you strengthen faith, you can achieve anything.
  

• Bhagwan isn’t ordinary. The mistake of such thought lies in your vision. Swami’s happiness is in you. You are not separate from Him. This is the fundamental truth.
  

• Bhagwan makes you work like instruments. He wants you to become ideal instruments in His mission. With Jnaana, Vijanaana and Sujnaana, Swami wants all of you to become powerful instruments.
  

• You think your qualifications make you succeed in life. There are so many educated people in this world. In fact, educated people are the ones who ruin the world today. Thus, with secular education, a spiritual life is very much essential.
  

• Students, you are ripe fruits. But fruit must have the sweet juice (of love), otherwise it will be discarded. You are not here merely for learning, but to learn from Swami. Have strong faith, grow your love. Believe in the principle of oneness.
  

• (Swami sang the bhajan “Hari bhajan bina sukh shanti nahin...”) Bhajan alone gives you true peace. You may earn your degrees, but do not forget the chanting of Lord’s name. It is the easiest way to attain moksha, be it a tiny tot or an old man.

Swami later put the chain around the neck of a student. After a bhajan, aarati was given. He sat through he entire aarati. It was 6.45 when he returned to Yajur Mandir. It was the longest discourse given by Swami in recent times, but we just couldn’t figure out how time passed by so soon!

A MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS

Things seem to be getting better in mandir day by day. As Swami started coming late for darshans since last month, His interaction with us was limited to a few occasions. Christmas has truly brought the yonder days back. I’ve already discussed about the drama episode before.

A couple of days before, Swami asked a boy whether students are practicing any carols for Christmas. He was enquiring as to what songs were being practised for the 25^th. The boy replied that Christmas programme was ready and mentioned the various carols. He said even the Jingle Bells song was ready. Swami was pleased.

On the Christmas morning, all of us were ready and seated in Kulwant hall by 7 am. However, Swami arrived only at 8.30. In the beginning, there was a violin recital by a group of kids from Primary School. The boys played three beautiful pieces including the jingle bells song. As soon as that piece began, four tiny tots dressed as Santa appeared. They went to Swami and got their sacks blessed. Swami was very amused; He even joined them in throwing the chocolates to the students!

Soon after, there was a programme by the Institute Band group followed by carols sung by students. Swami was indeed enjoying the music and songs; He patiently waited till 10.00 am so that students could sing all the songs.

The evening session was no less exciting. Though Swami came a bit late at 5pm, the programme went on as planned. There were four speeches, first being a talk given by a youth wing member from Argentina. She narrated experiences from her life and how Swami brought her back into His fold. Swami was pleased with her and materialized a chain. The next speaker was another youth, originally hailing from Fiji, now settled in Mumbai. He too spoke on similar lines and His talk was interspersed with some melodious songs. Later, there were a couple of speeches by senior overseas devotees. First was Mrs. Hilcott who spoke about the various episodes in Prasanthi Nilayam during Christmas in the past. Her talk was very interesting and transported us to those wonderful days of the seventies and eighties.

After the four speeches, the master of ceremonies requested Swami to give His Christmas message. It was already 6.30 in the evening, so Swami said that devotees have been sitting for long, He does not want to trouble them more. However, He consented to give His discourse the next day.

This year’s Christmas was special for more than one reason. The huge gathering of devotees made the environment look as if it was Sivaratri. The decorations in mandir were fantastic. There was a special huge candle brought from Georgia, a statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe besides many other fancy items. The mood of Swami was something that struck me the most; because of late, there were hardly any interactions with Him to talk about. Today, he looked like a proud father celebrating His son’s birthday. The bottomline remains; we are all truly merry this Christmas.

Christmas Gifts from Sai

It’s been quite a dreadful time for me in the past few weeks. To meet the project deadlines, we (MBA) boys were cutting all corners out, even to the extent of going late for darshans at times. Our Mother Sai knows it all, for He has changed the darshan timings these days. It’s all His grace that made us complete our projects on time.

Though He arrives late, Swami makes it a point to bless all of us, sometimes by spending time in the portico or watching the programmes put up by the various groups of devotees. Parthi always seems crowded as every other day, new groups of devotees land here. Though it’s Christmas time now, the huge crowds make us feel it’s Swami’s birthday festival coming soon!!!

For the past one week, Swami had been enquiring as to what the boys were doing, why they were not putting up any programme. “So many groups put up drama, when will our boys present one?” he remarked. Therefore, a Burrakatha (folk song) was presented by three boys few days back.

As Christmas is a couple of days away, the decorations in Kulwant hall have already begun. Yesterday, Swami sat in the portico for an hour and blessed us all. He asked a professor to give a speech in telugu. There is a statue of an angel kept near portico along with other decoration items. Swami kept looking at it (with an expressionless face), turned towards a student and asked, “what is all this? Is Christmas round the corner?” In matters of humour, none can beat Him.

Some boys showed a card to Swami yesterday, regarding the drama. He was pleased and consented to see it the next day. I can say He was more than just pleased because He kept on enquiring today afternoon whether the actors are ready. The Vice Chancellor came running to Kulwant hall and told the boys, “Swami is waiting for you. Get your make up done as soon as possible.” Our lord finally arrived at 5 pm and went straight to the bhajan mandir where the actors were waiting. He said, “I was waiting all this while for you to get ready. Is your make up over?” He spent quite sometime talking to the actors and then came to the portico.

At this juncture, I must mention about one of the actors. This boy was initially dejected when he got a small role (as Sravankumar’s father). He was praying desperately that Swami should look at Him. As Swami sat in Bhajan mandir before drama, a boy pointed out the main roles of Rama, Lakshmana, Sita etc. Swami looked at Him and replied, “ But where is Sravankumar’s father?” That actor’s happiness knew no bounds. Since he was also one of the few who could speak telugu, Swami preferred to ask him most of the questions too.

The drama was very brief and very beautifully enacted. It had incidents from Ramayana like the devotion of Sravankumar, Shabari and Guha. The songs were well sung, which was one of the main reasons that made Him happy. After the programme, Swami blessed all actors with photographs. He materialized vibhuti and surprisingly, rolled it in his palms to make a lump before giving it to every boy. He materialized a chain and gave it to the student who acted as Shabari. Swami looked very happy and stayed on till Aarati was given to Him. He said, “I am very happy with your drama. You should have portrayed how Sravankumar’s parents curse Dasaratha after knowing about their son’s death. Anyway, next time, I want you to put up this drama in Poornachandra Auditorium with all the sets and costumes. I will personally come and direct it.”

Well, that’s our Director Divine, the Will behind Ramayana as also behind each of our lives. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

HRIDAYAVAANI

Some incidents touch our heart. But some of them create impressions, lasting a lifetime.

Hridayavaani was one such festival that moved many. I’ve been writing about our convocation drama in my previous posts. These 25 days of hard work, prayer, spirit of brotherhood, love and faith in our Swami has made us so much stronger today.

We were ready with recording of dialogues & sets by the 15th, and thus began practicing in the Poornachandra auditorium (PC), the venue of our drama, from 17^th itself. Our teacher incharge had shown Swami a list of names for the title of drama and Swami chose “Hridayavaani”. The name truly resembled the spirit and essence of the story, which was based on Swami’s teachings and projects.

On 21^st , Swami agreed to see our practice in PC, this time with the dress rehearsal. We were eagerly waiting for Him in the backstage from where He would enter the auditorium. The programme in mandir got over pretty late as Swami was busy distributing sarees to the VIPs . It was 11 am when He came. We were greeted with a beautiful darshan as Swami blessed us all, though we could see that he was apparently tired. He stepped down the stage and sat in His usual place, accompanied by a few elders. The drama went well and as each scene progressed, our confidence grew stronger. Swami was very happy with our rehearsal. While He returned, He remarked to an actor “ Black pant”. He was unhappy with the boy’s costume. So the boy had to find an alternative pair for the next day.

22^nd Diary:

The mood is upbeat, all of us are eagerly awaiting the most crucial moment of our lives, the chance to act in front of our Lord, that too on the day of our convocation. This day is special for every student, a matter of pride and great blessing, of being recognized as His students.

The convocation programme is scheduled to begin at 3 pm. The Vice Chancellor, professors and council members as well as Institute band and vedam groups are ready for the procession. The drama boys have to stay back in PC for make up as the drama would start immediately after convocation. So we have to be content with the darshan of our Lord as He comes out of His residence.

Lo and behold! Swami comes out in a sparkling white robe, looks at everyone and indicates with His hand “begin the procession”. We are all very excited as Swami has hardly come for convocation in white.

Our make up is over and we are waiting for Swami’s arrival to PC. The convocation programme in Kulwant hall has been brief , giving Swami plenty of time to speak. Swami spoke for one and half hours. At 5.30 pm., He returns back.

Swami enters the backstage with an enchanting smile, enough to boost our confidence for the evening. He identifies some of the actors, blesses us and goes outside to join the audience. Except for this moment, the backstage is a scene of chaos, all of us trying to make sure things are in place.

The drama begins at 6 pm. Throughout the play, Swami is in rapt attention, and becomes emotional in certain scenes. Mind you, no one else can give so much attention after having watched a full practice twice before. But that’s our Mother, always ready to cheer us up. I’m reminded of what a teacher told us after the first practice that Swami saw 10 days ago. He said “Swami listens to each word and gives it due importance. That is why He feels so touched by the scenes.”

After the drama , He comes on stage and blesses us all with photographs. He looks at the same actor who wore black pant yesterday “ your dress is good today. Very happy.”

As He’s taking aarati and returning back, we form a path (rather narrow the path) and wish Him in unison “Swami, Happy Birthday” He looks at us amused, “Oh birthday? But I am always happy”

Indeed, everyday is His birthday, a celebration of love that fills the emptiness within our barren hearts and transforms us each day, from a bud to a blooming rose, ready to spread its fragrance to others around. It is the Hridayavaani of every heart. We bow in gratitude to this eternal fragrance of love. Sai ram

FIRST MOMENT OF TRUTH

Since many days, we’ve been expecting Swami to come to college and see the drama practice. He too has been showing a keen interest in the play.

Yesterday, all of us were expecting Swami to come in the morning, as He said on the previous day that He’d see our practice after bhajans. Due to the recording session of dialogues in progress, we slept late in the night, the day before.

It was 10 am in the morning but there was no sign of Swami coming. He did not come out of Yajur mandir for the bhajans too. Finally at 10.30 we got the message that Swami had gone upstairs to his room. We were dejected a bit, but knew that the afternoon would be most probable time for Swami’s visit.

At 3 pm all of us assembled again in the auditorium. Satyajit had conveyed the message that Swami would come after 3.30pm. There was a lot of anticipation as usual. Many senior people also came and waited. Swami came at about 4 pm.As soon as He stepped out of car, He asked a teacher, "when did boys come?" Teacher replied, "Swami 3 pm" . Swami was upset "I told you i will come at 4 pm , then why did you call boys early and make them wait ?" That's our Mother's love.

As He entered the auditorium, He saw the drama troupe. The boy enacting the role of Tanesha (king) was ready in his costume. He asked the boy, “who are you?” the boy replied, “Swami, I am the king”. “king emi?” He asked again. “Swami, sultan of Hyderabad.” Swami looked at Him and replied “ Phir Hyderabad jaao (then go to Hyderabad)”.

He sat in the center of front row and asked us to begin. There were quite a few emotional scenes and touching scenes in the drama. He was in tears on the more than one occasion. There’s a scene where Ramdas sings in prison and Rama and Lakshmana watch from behind. After the drama, He called Rama and said, “you sang well. So, you two help Ramdas in repaying the debts, isn’t it?”

Overall He was very happy and said “short drama. Chala bagundi (very nice)”. Well, experience tells us that there is always calm before the storm. He did not point our mistakes today.