September 25 2008 (source:http://saistudents.org/alumni/home/news.php)

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September 25 2008

The Sri Sathya Sai University, today had important guests visiting. The

Vice-Chairman of the University Grants Comission, Mr Mool Chand Sharma

and his team of academics had arrived. And so in the afternoon also,

they were seated on chairs and they too joined the devotees in the wait

for the Lord to arrive. It was about 4:40 pm when Swami arrived for

darshan as the Veda chanting classes were on. As the children from the

the Primary school had arrived the hall was not only full today but was

also complete! It being a Thursday - the holy day decided by Sai - also

added to the wholesomeness of the occasion.

Swami came down the gentle slope through the ladies side and

was welcomed by smiles and salutations. Letters exchanged hands and

blessings were blown in all directions by the gentle breeze that had

stirred up seemingly to rejoice His arrival! Swami moved from the

ladies side to the gents side through the central students' block.

Swami blessed all the boys holding trays and then via the Veda chanting

group, He moved towards the stage. He materialised vibhuti for a

devotee and then came near the Vice-chairman of UGC. He rose from his

chair and fell in prostrations to Swami and Swami lovingly patted and

blessed him. After a heartfelt exchange of words, Swami came to the

stage. All the other members of the UGC team too sought His blessings.

Blessing them, and granting padanamaskars, Swami sat on the stage

listening to the Veda tutorials that were on. As that got completed,

Swami asked for all the students to chant all that they had learnt in

the past few days. And so the Rudram began in all fervour and

enthusiasm. Everyone were at the top of their spirits and the top of

their throats too as they strained to impress Swami with their "vedic

knowledge"! Swami too, on His part, kept a vigil and was liberal with

appreciative looks to all those who had picked up well! He called many

students and accepted letters from them. He called all the birthday

boys and blessed them too by sprinkling the holy Akshatha grains.

Then came what could be the very special moments of the

evening. Swami began spotting those students who were chanting very

sincerely and called them to accept letters. There were quite some rice

grains that had collected on His lap as He had blessed the birthday

boys. Swami picked them up and began sprinkling on all the boys He was

calling! They were all so happy and thrilled at this act of special

Grace. The rest of the 30-40 minutes, Swami sat with a smile, His hands

swaying to some celestial rhythm! Blessed indeed was the day as

everyone had the golden opportunity for an hour long darshan. These

days when it becomes so difficult to have His darshan, a day like this

is indeed a bounty out of His Love and Compassion.

Swami then moved towards the behind door of the bhajan hall.

On the way, He recieved many letters and a privileged few had the

opportunity to kiss His feet. Bhajans began soon after and Aarthi was

taken at 6:00 pm.

 

September 22 2008 The

devotees from the Medak district had also planned a distribution of

livelihood items to the poor and needy of their district. And Swami,

being one who always encourages service, had graciously permitted the

distribution to happen in His divine presence. And thus it was that the

materials for distribution like sewing machines, sprayers, bicycles,

carpentry kits and so on were arrayed in Sai Kulwant hall this evening.

The Vedam tutorial that began at 4:00 pm was on as Swami arrived and

took a detour straight to the stage before coming to the centre also.

Moving on to the stage, Swami blessed the completion of the Vedic

chants and then blessed Prof. Anil Kumar to make the introductory

remarks and also read out the names of the recipients of the

distribution materials.

In his inimitable style, the professor spoke about the

wonderful service activities that had been taken up in the district

with Love and reverence for the Swami in all. During the course of his

speech, he mentioned about a young bread-winner who had a second lease

of life thanks to the Super Speciality Hospital here. He needed more

than Rs. 80,000 for his operation and was at his wits end as to what

had to be done. And Swami's hospital at Parthi ensured a wonderful

happy ending to what could have been another tragic story of dwindling

health due to lack of finances. It is said that familiarity breeds

neglect if not contempt. The way that the hospitals run by Swami

together have completed more than 30,000 operations completely free of

cost is a wonder that makes us drop our jaws and gape in awe. Its not

about the quantity or the number but the quality of the treatment and

the way it has transformed the lives of these people that is truly so

divine and magnificent. Experience the feelings of a drop in this ocean

of patients here.

 

The narrative was very touching and as it was completed, Swami asked,

"Where is he now?" And so on the PA system the announcement was

made,"Mr.Sathyanarayan, please come to the stage!" And there, embedded

in the crowd, a solitary figure rose and stood in a sort of confused

manner till the security personnel escorted him to the stage. He stood

near Swami barely able to speak, and as his blank face showed, barely

able to think also! Swami waved His hand and creating a beautiful gold

chain, put it around Sathyanarayan's neck. The overwhelmed devotee

bowed down to His feet and Swami lovingly raised him and patted his

cheeks. There was thunderous applause. The magic of Love is such that

it thrills everyone - the Giver, the reciever and the audience alike.

The grateful and dazed patient slowly made his way back to his place.

Midway, he was intercepted and the devotees gave him a place right in

the front to sit! Its always true that once you win the Love of the

Lord, the whole world will seem to give preferential treatment to you!

The speech went on for a few more minutes where the speaker described

the spiritual sadhana taken up by the devotees before this pilgrimage

and about the water project that Swami had set up at Medak. After that,

he began to read out the names of the worthy recipients.

As the names were read out, the devotees came forward and

accepted the gift after reverentially offering a rose to Swami. And

thus, cycles, grinders, sewing machines, iron boxes, carpentry kits

were distributed. It is heartening to note that all the recipients had

also recieved training for some weeks prior to their trip and thus were

skilled at using the equipent being given to them. One of them wanted

to desparately touch Swami's feet. He made a plea and then went to

Swami and had his heart's desire fulfilled. After the distribution,

Swami permitted a musical programme - the same group that had performed

yesterday. And thus He kept up His promise. They sang popular Telugu

songs which everyone enjoyed. There were two main singers among the

gents and two among the ladies. They sang for about 35 minutes and

after that, Swami gifted them with sarees and Safari pieces. Then

recieveing Aarthi, Swami retired for the day.

 

Click here to see photos of the event.

September 21 2008 Props

had risen up in the marble blocks of the Sai Kulwant hall. Little boys

holding flags stood in front of them to welcome Swami. That is almost a

penance these children do. Every time when there is a programme by the

children from a district in Andhra Pradesh, the basic stage framework

is almost the same and it inevitably has children holding banners and

flags, standing and waiting for the Lord's arrival. At 4:00pm, the

regular daily Vedam classes began. It was around 4:25 pm when Swami

came out for the darshan rounds. Swami moved through in His natural

sweet and graceful manner. As He passed by the props, He seemed to

carefully study every bit of it. His eye for detail and perfection has

not changed one bit.

Today also happened to be the concluding day of the Cardiac

conference being held in the Super Specialities hospital. This

conference held in collaboration with the Indian Association of

Cardio-Thoracic Surgeons boasted of the best surgeons in the world

giving live demonstrations. Notable among them was Dr.Valluvan

Jeevanandam. A few words about the man will not be out of place here.

Dr. Jeevanandam has a special interest in treating patients

traditionally considered inoperable. He has repaired damaged hearts in

several patients awaiting transplant, enabling those patients to forgo

transplantation. He also has successfully performed transplants

involving patients who do not fit the standard criteria for transplant.

All the participants had seated in front and Swami blessed

them accepting letters and speaking a few words - words which mean the

world to the recipient - to some of them. It was a wonderful sight.

Great surgeons and 'aspiring-to-be-great-surgeons' taking the blessings

of Dhanvantari Himself! Swami moved on to the stage where the other

surgeons too sought and received His blessings. Swami then sat on the

stage and presided over the classes. After the completion, Swami asked

for the drama to be staged. The coordinators came up to Swami and

offered flowers and the details of the programme. Swami blessed the

district president with a gold chain. It all happened so simply that

the president was just dumbstruck. With a sweet smile, Swami put the

chain to his neck and blessed him by placing His hand over his head.

Then minister Ms. Gita Reddy and another lady moved to the stage and

offered the program at His lotus feet. Swami accepted groundnuts that

they offered and quickly popped one into His mouth too. That act was

followed by a gentle smile which was actually a reflection of all the

smiles that beamed at His act. Swami blessed a marble Shivalingam and

silver padukas that were brought for His blessings. All the office

bearers made most of the opportunity as they fell at His feet joyfully.

Then after a brief introduction, the programme began.

The drama, based on real life incidents, centred around a

young man, Bheeshma who has been inspired by Swami's Love and

teachings. He acts as the center of serenity, peace and harmony in his

village. Being young in age, he still displays admirable maturity and

conscientious thinking. He inspires the children of the village to go

Godward. He wins the respect of the elders and inspires them to work

together and build a much needed bridge without any external help. When

some of the foreign-resident members of the village arrive there with

ideas of constructing factories to exploit the natural resources, he

transforms them to construct a school and hospital instead. Having done

all this, he says that he has to move on and share the wonderful Love

he has received from Swami with people in all other villages too. The

drama had its share of dances. Little boys and girls performed with

sweet synchronisation and devoted dexterity to highlight the points the

'hero' of the drama was making. The grand finale song was the theme

song shall we say and its first line was "Sai Rama Nauka". The dance

featured a boat being rowed by the hero and the lilting melody was one

that would transport the listeners to a traditional sleepy village. The

tune itself was so relaxing and refreshing.

The drama concluded and all the participants came forward into

the final formation. Swami called out for a little boy and patting him

asked, "Whats your name?" He replied, "Aravind." Swami smiled and

blessing him, told him to return to his place in the formation. Swami

then moved down and sat amidst all the children. He told them to come

close and cluster. When that was done, a beautiful group picture was

the result. As Swami moved up the stage, He granted permission for a

music programme too. The time was already 6:05 pm and it was indeed an

act of Grace that Swami decided to shower love on the singers. Since it

was a programme that Swami scheduled on the spot, the singers and

artistes had a difficult time trying to move ahead and tune their

instruments. Then, Swami so understandingly went into the interview

room for 5 minutes! That gave them sufficient time to arrange

everything and get ready. Immediately, Swami came out, a smile dancing

on His beautiful lips.

The performers - a vocalist, violinist, keyboard player, a

tablist and chorus singers among the ladies comprised the team. After

they sang two songs, Swami blessed them and promised another

opportunity the next day. It had already got quite late and Swami

recieved Aarthi after blessing the prasadam to be distributed to one

and all. There was a plethora of Aarthis performed today and that was

also a wonderful sight. Camphor and the holy fire was being waved from

all sides. The fact here is that anything done in the Lord's presence

becomes so wonderful because He is the source of all that wonder and

grandeur! Swami asked them, one by one, to place the Aarthi plates down

and then retired to Yajur mandir.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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