Music moves even the …Lord! That testifies to its potency. It can transport you to a world where love is the unavoidable truth and peace the inescapable reality. And being able to be a pilgrim in such a world is the preserve of a blessed few. Counting such a wonderful blessing are the alumni members of the Sai Symphony Brass Band. Apart from marking the 85^th year of the Lord’s advent, as a festive footnote, 2010 also marks the 25^th anniversary of the band. The genesis is worth a recall. Swami’s 60^th birthday celebrations were around the corner. Just a few days shy of D-day, members of the newly formed band realised they were not able to coax the desired sound out of their instruments in spite of earnest efforts. Worried, they put forth their concern to their Lord. “Swami, we are unable to get even sounds properly from our instruments. Shall we have the Police Band perform?” Pat came Swami’s reply, “Your duty is to practice. Leave the rest to Me.” The rest is history. That has come to be the story of the genesis of the Sai Symphony Brass Band.

During the Alumni Day celebrations, a few members of the band who got to speak a couple of words in the Divine presence only reaffirmed this truth. One member recalled that he did even know the name of the instrument when he first came across it. But practicing earnestly, he realised that the player, the listener, the instrument and the music are all colours sourced from the same prism – that is Divine leela. Another performer recalled with gratitude how Swami had helped him get in touch with his instrument within the incredibly short span of a week. In context, the member hadn’t been in touch with his instrument for ten long years! But then when the alumni members of the band finally got together to get their chapter going, all he had was five days to make the keys of his instrument dance to the notes that were on the music sheet. By Swami’s grace coupled with his efforts, the task at hand was retrieved from the realm of the impossible.

“These are My Band Boys”

Swami’s motherly pride has always been a very powerful source of inspiration to all of us. One member had this aspect as a fond memory. The event was the University convocation and the chief guest was the then President of India, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. Post the medal awards and the speeches, the dignitaries prepared to make the formal exit behind the Chancellor and the chief guest. As they prepared to line up behind the University brass band as is the custom, Swami directed the gaze of Dr Kalam towards the band and remarked with immense motherly pride – “These are My band boys.”

With such a legacy of grace and love behind them, the members of the alumni band are never short of inspiration. All the four pieces performed for this year’s alumni meet by the alumni band were original compositions or original arrangements by the members themselves.

The first piece after the invocatory Ganesha prayer was titled, The One. It summarized the journey of the bond of love between Swami and His students – the ebullience of being in the Lord’s physical presence during student days, the yearning and longing of being in His presence once the student leaves the portal and the joy and renewal of fond memories when the student gets back to the Lord’s presence.

The second piece termed Dharma captured in sweet Telugu the mission of the Lord which is the resuscitation of Dharma.

The third piece, an instrumental, was aptly christened The Power. With powerful guitar and trumpet forays, it summoned glimpses of the Lord’s power and majesty.

The final piece, a custom arrangement of AR Rahman’s award-winning Jai Ho heralded the glory, grandeur and the sheer triumph that is the Divine advent. With earth-moving rhythms and counters travelling in syncopated paths, the melody soared as the Phoenix that knows no stopping. Of academic significance, the new rock drum kit of the band, affectionately named ‘Maapu’, made its debut before the Lord.

Indeed, the band members consider themselves very fortunate to gain the privilege of ushering in the New Year. Year after year, it’s the band that gets to do the first ever performance of the year in the Lord’s presence. Such a special blessing from such a sweet Lord, the band members remain eternally indebted.

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!