2010 May Edition
The annual alumni meet at the Lotus feet is an eagerly awaited event in the calendar of every alumnus of Sri Sathya Sai University. More so in the recent past as Bhagawan’s personal attention on this event has been increasing with every passing year. This year too, Bhagawan’s interaction with His students had been very lively, conferring immense joy on the assembly of the alumni brethren. With the desire to relive the unforgettable memories of the blissful student years, the alumni gathered to draw from the fountain of infinite bliss. The Divine Chancellor immersed Himself in the wellbeing of His beloved students very early, in fact as early as the 18th of December 2009. He took personal care and attention to ensure that comfortable accommodation was made available for the alumni and their families. Here are some excerpts from conversations that Bhagawan had with a few alumni during the meet.
Alumni Co-ordinators & Office bearers
The 1st of January saw Swami being welcomed into Sai Kulwant hall in a procession grandly organised and meticulously executed by the alumni. After Swami had completed the round, He called upon a senior alumni co-ordinator. He was not the least expecting what was to come. He said “Tomorrow you all should assemble in Poorna chandra. I have specially selected the speakers for the occasion – Prof. G Venkatraman and Sri V Sreenivasan. Swami will make all the arrangements.” Overjoyed by the unexpected shower of grace, the alumni co-ordinator responded “Swami, we are overwhelmed. We will follow whatever You say. We have assembled here only to sit around You and spend time in Your presence. We don’t have any other desire.” Swami was very happy and blessed the alumnus saying “Chala Santosham”. On the 2nd of January, after the talk given by the senior members of the organisation, a colourful dossier was presented to Swami. This contained the list of students who have up position in the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations in India and abroad with their positions. The yeomen service being rendered by these alumni, in their own capacities was highlighted. Bhagawan graciously looked at the list presented by two senior alumni and eagerly listened to the active involvement of His students.
Swami then interacted and blessed a group of alumni who represented the office bearers across the organisation. The group took detailed reports to Swami who went through the report with a lot of interest. The alumni members explained to Him the various activities undertaken successfully through His grace in various parts of the world. They also mentioned that with Bhagawan’s blessings, more and more of students would be taking the opportunity to serve Swami. They prayed to Swami for His grace. Nodding, Swami blessed them saying “Santosham”.
One of the alumnus then mentioned that by Swami’s grace, about 1300 boys had assembled for the 2010 Alumni Meet. Swami asked them, “How many parents have come.” He replied that about 4000 members had totally assembled in the auditorium, adding that all were very happy as Swami had made so many arrangements for them. Swami sweetly replied, “I am the happiest amongst you all.” The student then prayed to Swami to speak to the assembly, as everyone was very eager to hear Him. Swami then coughed and mentioned, “Boys, my throat is not good. I have cold, which is why I am not able to speak properly. I feel very bad that I am not able to speak to you.” The alumni then immediately pleaded that Swami should not speak to them and strain Himself. One of them prayed that Swami should cure Himself and become fine. Swami just nodded His head and said, “Yes, Yes”.
He then started asking each of the boys individually about themselves. He asked them where they were from, their families, children, their ages, whether they had all come and what the boys were doing at their places. To one of the boys from London, He asked, “What is the meaning of London?”, and when the boy did not know Swami replied, “London means big bathroom.” When one of the boys was trying to tell Swami that he was currently living in a particular country, Swami told Him that He knows and went into details about it. He very emotionally told the boys, “I only want boys to be well. Swami’s love for boys is immense. My blessings are with you wherever you are.” He then gave the boys Padanamaskar and blessed them.
Visakhapatnam Alumni Group
The Visakhapatnam alumni group is lead by a Sai student who is a medical doctor running a hospital for the needy. Consequently, lots of activities by the group revolve around medicare. The group got an opportunity to present the service activities to Bhagawan. Going through the report page by page, Bhagawan with avid interest saw pictures of villagers undergoing cataract surgery, children from government schools being screened for diseases, and so on. The alumni mentioned that it was due to Swami’s anugraham alone that refractive errors could be corrected and books and spectacles could be donated to the needy. Swami listened to the narrative and mentioned, “You are all doing good work.” He then asked the alumni medical doctor, “How is the hospital? Is your mother keeping well?” The alumni mentioned that his mother was fine by Swami’s grace. Showing His omnipresence and omnipotence, Swami then mentioned “Yes, she is very good. She does lots of service. I like her very much for that. She was worried about your hospital. See! Now you have completed the hospital building!” Filled with joy the alumnus responded that it was due to Swami’s grace alone that the hospital could be rebuilt. It had collapsed due to negligent construction in the neighbouring plot. He mentioned that they had received Swami’s invisible help saving, protecting and guiding them at every step. He then added that they have christened the medical venture as Sai Dhanwanthari Healthcare Pvt. Ltd Swami was extremely happy and said, “Chala manchidi”. He then gave consent to go ahead and restart the hospital in March.
Hyderabad Alumni Group
The Hyderabad alumni group was also blessed to share their activities at the Divine feet. During the interaction, the alumni showed Bhagawan a presentation that was prepared to be shown in the VIP villages adopted by the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations of Hyderabad. Swami was a curious listener to the narrative and He blessed the endeavour. On the 1st of January, a small book was offered to Bhagawan by an alumnus from Hyderabad. Swami graciously blessed the offering.
Drama Group
On the afternoon of the last day of 2009, actors had assembled in Bhajan hall. After finishing the darshan round outside, Bhagawan entered the Bhajan hall with great anticipation. Eagerly, He cast His looks on the colourful gamut of actors and derived great joy. The alumni dressed as Sage Narada, King Sugriva and Lord Yama particularly interested Him and He enquired about them. Two of the Sai students who played a prominent part in directing the drama then explained to Swami the role of these actors. After moving around in the hall amidst the artistes and interacting with them, Bhagawan instructed them, “Once I go out, assemble outside”.
Throughout the drama, Bhagawan immersed Himself in each scene and at the end of the drama looked extremely blissful. Speaking to the actors after the play got over, Bhagawan blessed them immensely mentioning, “All boys are very good. They acted very well. Good boys! Swami is very happy!” In fact, Swami interacted with most of the boys during the photo session. He mentioned that He was very happy. On the 2nd of January, the drama co-ordinators were blessed with the opportunity to present to Bhagawan an album containing photos of the drama. Bhagawan spent a lot of time in going through the entire album, reflecting on the scenes and pointing out various characters in the different scenes. Granting padanamaskar to the group, Bhagawan blessed them saying that He was extremely happy.
Vedam Chanting during the 2010 Alumni Meet
Introduction:
It is was a BIG day for the ‘Vedam’ boys for they would be honoured to lead the Lord of the Universe into Sai Kulwant Hall. And this is no mean task! For the procession, the boys had to figure out a number of critically important things such as, the students who would be part of the procession, synching the procession chanting with the regular mandir chanting, and decide as to who would start the chanting. They may sound like trifles, but as they say ‘trifles make perfection, but perfection is not trifle’.
His Children are His Pride
One interesting thing to be noted here is that without anybody’s conscious effort, the 40–45 boys who were part of the Vedam group represented all the batches from the earliest (1970s) to the most recent (2000s). As a result, when Bhagawan looked at each boy, He saw the full spectrum of His boys. Gathered before Bhagawan were boys who joined as toddlers and were now grown men. Some boys noticed tears in Bhagawan’s eyes. Did the sight of His children as His pride and joy bring tears in His eyes?
The importance of a Backup
Before the much blessed day, the boys planned on how to coordinate the procession chanting and on who would start the chanting. A name was proposed and a backup person was contemplated. For reason’s Divine, the idea for a backup person was dismissed. The next question was on how to coordinate the procession chanting with the regular mandir chanting that goes from 4.00pm to 5.00pm. After some thought, a plan was devised that if Bhagawan came out before 4.45pm, the Vedam group would begin in a certain way. If Bhagawan came out after 5.00pm, then they would begin with a Ganesh mantra. Bhagawan, in His previous avatar took the form of Lord Narasimha – half man, half animal. On New Year’s Day, Bhagawan came out at 4.55pm, neither before 4.45pm and nor after 5.00pm! After some quick thinking, the boys were ready to chant and looked to the boy who was supposed to start. He opened his mouth was open, but no sound came out. This was Bhagawan’s reminder on the importance of a backup!
Bhagawan knows the Desire in Everyone’s Heart
The next day, there was a short procession with about a dozen alumni from the Poorna Chandra stage to the seating area in the auditorium. There were two boys who desired to offer the Poorna Kumbam to Bhagawan. However, only one boy could do it and the second boy would have to wait until next year. When Bhagawan came out, the first boy offered the Poorna Kumbam to Bhagawan as the second boy looked on. As Bhagawan blessed the Poorna Kumbam, a thread in the boy’s dhoti got caught on his toenail and a little more pressure would have unraveled his dhoti in front of Bhagawan. The boy was faced with a choice: give up the Poorna Kumbam or give up his modesty. Bhagawan willed otherwise. The second boy, noticing the predicament, took the Poorna Kumbam from the boy and led the procession giving the first boy the chance to retie his dhoti. Only Bhagawan could fulfill both boys’ desires!
