Photos:28th Dec. 2007 & updated Christmas report from Saistudents...

December 28, 2007

December 28th - Felicitation of Swami's devotees (photo-above ) Mr.Gopala Rao garu "...Mr.Gopala Rao garu Swami's devotee, who recently celebrated his 100th birthday, was felicitated. .. read more (SBOI - external

link) Photos & updated Report: 2007 Christmas Celebrations - Prasanthi Nilayam 23rd-25th Dec. December 25th, 2007 Finally, the day for which preparations had been on for the past week dawned. In Puttaparthi, it began with the Nagarsankeertan at 5:45 am. After that, Kulwant Hall was full again by about 7:30 am. Swami came out for darshan at about 8:20 am and was welcomed by children holding candles. He went around for a complete round of darshan. He was in orange and that was a sort of surprise again as many expected Him to be in whites! Four cakes had been placed for Him to bless in the portico. The cakes were marvellous to say the least. Two of them depicted the nativity scene so beautifully. The cake and icing formed the stable and surroundings while beautiful idols of Jesus, Mother Mary and Joseph had been placed to perfection. One another cake that could not be missed was the one from the General hospital. The icing on the cake

was a literal 'icing on the cakes' made on Christmas day. Well, believe it or not, the nativity scene was painted on it with icing! Swami appreciated each cake as He lit the candle and cut them. It was after the cake cutting that Swami came out and sat on the stage. As soon as He sat, He saw the primary school children sitting right in the front with their violins. He immediately asked them as to what they were upto. Two kids went up to Him and offered the card that carried the details of the programme. The violin concert began. The tiny tots played with beautiful synchronisation and in unison. The final piece they played was the famous Jingle Bells. Not one, but six Santas came up to the stage with their bags full of goodies. Swami smiled and as the Santas showed their bags, as though asking for His approval, He picked chocolates from their bags and put them in other bags. He also threw a few of them to the boys sitting in

the front. The the Santas went about in all directions, hurling the chocolates to a gleeful crowd. Meanwhile, the violins became silent and the children bowed down to Swami. Like a mother, Swami called the children up in the front and gifted them with Hazelnut chocolate bars. Then came the beautiful sight as the Santas were at the receiving end of the gifts! Swami gave each of them chocolate bars too. The second programme of the day was the one by the University brass band. The bandmaster and another student went up to Swami with the card bearing the programme details. Swami blessed the programme and it began. The band played four beautiful pieces and everyone applauded in joy and appreciation. Then Swami signaled in a sweet manner, "Is it over?""Just one more piece Swami!" was the answer.Swami nodded in agreement. The band began playing the piece, "Love is my form." The whole audience clapped to the rhythm of the

song. After that, they bowed to Swami and sat. The final programme was the carol singing by the students. Two students again took a card to Swami. Swami saw through the details of the programme. The carols began with, "We wish you a merry Christmas." It was threaded along by Fred, Scrooge and the spirit of Christmas (characters from the famous Dickensian play, "A Christmas Carol.") The whole programme went along crisply and everyone seemed to enjoy it. The students sang about nine carols and in the middle, the carol, "Jingle Bell Rock" was sung. It was at this time that the senior Santas arrived! They too received blessings from Swami and went about distributing that to everyone seated. As the carols progressed, Mr.Scrooge was getting transformed by the Christmas spirit and Swami asked, "How many more?""Swami two more""OK" was the reply with a smile.Swami sat listening to the carols and at about 9:45 am received Aarthi as Prasadam was blessed for distribution.

Swami then retired. The evening programme had four speakers scheduled. Swami came out for darshan at about 5:10 pm. He went straight on the stage and after a short while of Veda chanting, He asked for the speeches to begin. Mr. John Behner of Latin America introduced the four speakers of the day - Ms. Inez from Argentina, Mr. Sumeet Tappoo from Fiji, Ms. Poppy Hillcoate from Australia and Dr. Michael Congleton from the USA. The first two Youth speakers spoke of the transformation Sai has brought in their lives. Ms. Hillcoate spoke of the joy she experienced in past Christmases at Prasanthi Nilayam, and Mr. Congleton spoke of the joy derived from selfless service. After the four speakers, Mr.Behner asked Swami to bless everyone with His divine discourse. The time was already 6:30 pm. Swami said, "All are tired now. They will be fresh tomorrow and then I will speak to them all." A roar of applause made its way throughout the hall as everyone cheered at this promise. Swami was all smiles. He asked for bhajans. As bhajans went on prasadam was distributed and then receiving Aarthi, Swami left. December 24th, 2007 Puttaparthi had undergone a transformation, like it always does on the different occasions to suit the taste of the devotees gathered at His Feet. Christmas trees, small and big, seemed to have sprouted up in different parts of the ashram. Frosty had arrived in front of the western canteen and a smiling Santa with his sleigh and gifts too sat on the lawns near the canteen. The climate too chipped in with its contribution, chilling the air and making every night into a truly "silent" and "holy" one. Though the air was cold, there seemed a warmth in everyone as they prepared for an evening of carols in front of their dear Swami.In the

evening, the whole of Kulwant hall had been decked and a huge gathering of the overseas devotees waited for Swami's arrival. Swami arrived in the car and went around slowly granting darshan. He alighted near the interview room and came straight outside. Three big candles had been kept on the stage and they were lit in Swami's presence as He smilingly watched on. With a gentle movement of His hand, Swami halted the Vedam chanting and then beckoned the overseas devotees to begin. The first part of the programme was the children's choir. The little ones began with shlokas from the Bhagawad Geeta adapted to the western style of soft music. It had a very pleasing effect and one could observe the effort that had gone into getting all the pronunciations clear. It sounded very pleasing to the ear and in the middle, during one of the shlokas, Swami began to nod His head in affirmation. What was the shloka being chanted?

Ananyaschintayantomaam - meaning "whomsoever thinks of me without any other thought, I shall take care of their ultimate salvation without doubt." Anyone who could catch the import was thrilled - the others were thrilled simply seeing His reaction! There was a small enaction by the children for the carol, "We three kings of Orient". The choir lasted about 20 minutes after which the adult Christmas choir began. They began with the triple chanting of the Ganesha Gayathri. Wow! What a great feeling it was as more than two thousand voices chanted it with the bass and alto harmonics, so natural to the foriegn throat, and sent a feeling of reverberation in the mighty Kulwant hall. 2007 years ago,(well, make that 2003 according to some as they say that Christ was born in 4 AD) the angels in the heavens sang out as the father and mother of Christ, Joseph and Mary, waited for the divine child to arrive, in a stable. Today the

privilege of the angels had been given to the blessed humans to sing out as the Father of Christ waited to shower His Divine Love on them! They began with a carol - "Listen". It literally made everyone sit up and listen as the ladies and gents alternated beautifully doing justice to the wonderful lyrics and composition. The carols that followed had been subtly modified and the devotees used them as a medium to convey their deep Love and yearning for Swami. There were smiles on every face and they reflected the Love being radiated from every heart. Some of the songs were fast, some were gentle; some of them had the power of God being expressed while still others reflected on His tenderness. They sang eleven carols and the final concluding piece was "O Holy Night". As they concluded, Swami beamed with joy and benediction. He sent Prasadam to be distributed to all. Then, the

conductor came upto Him and offered, "Swami, would you like some bhajans?" Swami smiled, "Yes please." With a quick swing of her arms, just like the way she had been conducting the whole evening, she signaled for the bhajans. The bhajans began in great earnest. As they progressed, Swami called out for a lady instrumentalist to come on stage. With a wave of His hand He got a chain with a pendant for her. There was bliss on her face as He put the chain around her neck. She was in tears of joy and was finding a dire shortage of words to express her feelings. Even then, her eyes spoke eloquently of the feelings coursing through her and Swami understood everything. The bhajan, "Hari bhajan Bina" started and Swami seemd so happy. He enquired as to who was singing and the singer was blessed with a padanamaskar too!! After that, Swami received Aarthi and left. Before that He got it announced that the next day there would be a

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