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The Divine Will
Source:
Radio Sai
E-Magazine, January 15, 2004
http://www.radiosai.org/Journals/Vol_02/02Jan15/02_Cover_story/The_Divine_Will/divine_will.htm
The Divine Will
The story of how the Bangalore facility
was put up
by Satish Nayak
The author was involved in the setting up of
the project
When
a project is the result of a Divine Will, normal human limitations
and norms do not seem to apply to its execution. The speed and
mode go beyond credible human limits and the presence of the
Divine is made evident at every stage.
It was at the end of
May 1999 that the Government of Karnataka requested Baba to accept
the grant of the 52 acre plot of land on which the Sri Sathya Sai
Institute of Higher Medical Sciences has been constructed. All
procedures were completed in time and it seemed the Government's
red tape was on a 'double fast-forwarded'! On Sunday August 8,
1999, with Baba's blessings, a ceremony happened at the South West
corner of the plot, when devotees and volunteers joined in a
prayer session.
The formal 'Bhoomi
Pooja' [ceremony of beginning a construction] and the laying of
the north-east corner foundation stone were carried out on
Thursday September 2, 1999. The doyen of the trust's construction
engineers, Col S P Joga Rao was there to cut the first sod.
In a project of
this size, in the normal course, the following minimum
steps would have been taken in sequence:
-
Concept
-
Architectural and
functional designs and drawings
-
Structural
specifications, designs and drawings
-
Project estimates
-
Tendering and
contracting
-
Mobilisation and
start of execution
All
these activities were telescoped, and many of them were carried
out in parallel. A good part of these activities continued during
the execution phase of the project also. This was possible by the
divinely inspired spirit of cooperation among the consultants,
architects, contractors and suppliers, ail of whom took on the
project as a joint and a united endeavour. Each party involved had,
no doubt, its own limited objectives, but the one over-riding
objective was to please Baba by completing the work to the
required standard within the specified time. There was a lesson
that all those involved learnt: Unity in Diversity i.e., diverse
individual objectives, but one sole unified over-riding objective
can produce a synergy, which can extend usually accepted
limitations beyond expectations.
Two prime
contractors were chosen: one for the main hospital complex and the
other, for the residential complex. For the main hospital complex,
under the prime contractor, there were as many as 21 nominated
subcontractors in 29 contracts, in addition to a myriad of other
sub-contractors. Directly contracted suppliers of materials and
equipment numbered 421. Inputs from all these sources had to be
received strictly in time and order of sequence so that the
project schedule could be maintained . One could see the
commitment of all these parties to the common cause; each of them
gladly bent over backward to fulfil their obligations. Such
commitment, one could clearly see, was possible only because the
Divine Hand was guiding them.
During price and
schedule negotiations with all these diverse parties coming from
all over India and abroad and belonging to various religions, one
could sense and see a common theme: they wanted to participate in
this unique humanitarian endeavour, even if it meant foregoing
some profit, or going that extra mile to meet the requirements of
the project. There were, no doubt, humanly created problems like
strikes, transport problems and power shortages in various parts
of the country from where items had been sourced, but none of them
were such that could not be compensated by human effort, aided by
Baba's Grace. There was hardly a case where alternative sourcing
had to be done to cover contract failure.
It was a case of: 'Without
God on our side, we are nothing; with God on our side, we are
everything'.
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