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Behind the Gloriuos 80th Birthday
"A Thrilling
Experience…With The Eternal Enigmatic Being"
"It
was a thrilling experience… an experience that is etched in
my memory for ever!" a Sai devotee, with an expression of
great fulfillment and joy on his face, says. He was a
witness to the glorious ‘festival of bliss' that was the
80th Birthday celebration of Bhagavan Baba on the 23rd of
Nov, 2005.
"Whenever I recollect those
blissful moments….", another devotee, his face shining with
a great sense of elation says, "…Swami in the bright yellow
robe seated on the swan-like grand silver throne… so
majestic, so magnificent and so full of benevolence with a
beatific countenance on the Birthday evening… the
lotus-shaped impressive stage on the west from which soul
stirring music by the who's who of Indian music was filling
my heart …every artist weaving magic with the instruments
and their voice, enlivening every cell of my being… And
then, the laser show! I can never forget that. What a grand
finale!
The laser show just arrested
me with its myriad patterns frisking and dancing in perfect
synchronization to the scintillating digital music,
accompanying this, were the fireworks! Sparkling beams of
bright light on that pleasant star-studded night…bursting
and brightening that beautiful night…an unforgettable play
of light and sound… add to this, the cool breeze… and
ultimately, and most importantly, all this excitement in the
immediate divine presence of the Eternal Enigmatic Being, my
most beloved Baba - the very light of my life. No one
present there could remain untouched with the magic of the
moment and I was no exception!" concludes a Sai devotee who
had come for the occasion from Orissa, a state which is
miles away from Puttaparthi.
Every devotee who was present
in the Hill View Stadium on the Birthday evening can very
easily relate to this. Truly, the 80 th Birthday celebration
was extraordinary. It was festivity at its best. Every
devotee who had gathered for the occasion went home with
memories to last a life time. Memories that drench every
cell of their being with love and bliss whenever recalled.
It was to enjoy this moment with Sai on
the 80th year of His earthly sojourn, to make the moment as
special as possible, to make the long-awaited day as
glorious as it could be that a sea of humanity had gathered.
Truly, it was a birthday by the devotees, for the
devotees, and in its truest essence, of the devotees.
Truly the most precious day for every devotee is
the day Swami entered his/her life and for each one of them
the Lord's Birthday is an event head and shoulders above
their own birthday.
Swami's Only
Concern…His Devotees
Swami, pure selfless love that He is, if
He were concerned about anything during the Birthday
celebrations, it was about the devotees comforts and their
well-being. Elderly devotees who were in close physical
proximity of Bhagawan only know how Swami used to enquire
everyday about the arrangements made for the devotees
concerning their food and stay - and least about what major
functions were being planned for the Birthday celebrations,
be it dances, concerts, or fireworks. Whenever the
elders who were chalking out elaborate plans and embarking
on grand ideas to mark the day presented Swami with their
plans, He would be quite uninterested, to say the least.To
get His consent to make more shelters for the devotees would
be far easier than to organize say, confetti being sprayed
from a helicopter on the Birthday morning.
‘Big Stars' Came
Because THEY Wanted To!
If the big concert
happened and leading musicians played, it was
because they wanted to be part of the celebrations.
It was a cannot-afford-to-loose opportunity for
everyone. If the fireworks or the laser show
glittered and lit up the night sky and provided a
grand finale to the celebrations, it was because the
organizing devotees had not only worked hard night
and day for it but also prayed even harder that they
be allowed to have the show. For, as already
mentioned, with Swami to organize a mass marriage or
mass feeding for the poor is easy, but never a
cultural or entertainment extravaganza.
As ever, never an
invitation was sent to anybody to come to Prashanti
Nilayam. Devotees poured in hundreds and thousands
from the 18th of November when the Rathotsavam
(Chariot procession) was celebrated, as is done
every year. The Ladies Day celebrations followed on
the 19th Nov.
Responding to the
prayers of more than 11000 delegates gathered for
the 8th World Conference, Swami consented for the
World Conference to be held for two days on the 20th
and 21st Nov. On the 22nd was the Convocation of Sri
Sathya Sai Institute of Higher learning with the
Governor of Karnataka being the Chief Guest and
finally the D-Day was on 23rd Nov. |
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Pt. Shiv Kumar
Sharma and Amjad Ali Khan seeking Swami's
blessings before their performance
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A plethora of distinguished
personalities – politicians, musicians, sports-persons,
educationists, doctors, lawyers, you name it from every
field – and a large motley multitude comprising of Sai
devotees from more than 145 countries had converged to pay
their homage to Baba - their beloved, their divine mother
and father.
"An Exciting Family Function"
- G Sai Prasad from Hyderabad
As one Sai Youth from
Hyderabad , G Sai Prasad, put it,
"One would think that celebrating 80
th birthday at Prashanti would be very festive; perhaps
it was so for lot of devotees. For me, however,
celebrating our lord's 80 th birthday was more like
being part of an exciting family function, like
a marriage of a brother or kid sister."
Experiencing The One
Through the Many - Ricardo from Italy
Another devotee, Ricardo from
Italy , said,
"I'm proud to be here. The conference
is very well organized. The people here are very well
taken care of. In spite of the huge crowd everything is
working nicely. We are all mingling as a human
family. We can experience the one through the many."
In fact, this was the feeling
that many devotees echoed and the whole celebration
transformed itself into a grand family function…a great
family union. You could see the theme of the world
conference – Unity, Purity and Divinity - in action. And
Swami, the divine mother, played the role of a host to
perfection to the thousands who had gathered to receive His
love and benediction.
Food was served free
of cost to everyone from the 18th of Nov to 24 th.
Everybody enjoyed being in Prashanthi those seven days and
relished the food that was served as ‘Prasadam', as
one devotee, Keenan from Australia , said during the
birthday week,
"I Have Never
Seen Anything Like This" – Kennan from Australia
"I have only spent 7 months
with Swami. I hope to spend more time and I have
been blessed to be here for the birthday
celebrations. Swami is just
taking care of all. He is feeding thousands of
people and not one is being left with an empty
stomach. They don't put a limit as to how much
you can eat - you can eat as many times as much
as you want, it's incredible, I have never seen
anything like it!"
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Yes, incredible it was!
In the Birthday week at least hundred thousand
breakfasts, lunches and dinners including snacks were served
every day. Every devotee looked at the arrangements
made with awe and wonder.
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"Everything is
Conducted in an Atmosphere of Love and Dedication" -
Pradeep Kamath
Pradeep Kamath,
another devotee from USA , said,
"I've attended the other
birthday functions, the 70th, the 75th, and in
each one of them you see a tremendous amount of
love and dedication from the Sai devotees,
especially in all the arrangements they make for
the devotees. Everybody gets fed and there are
almost a million people! There is never any
violence or any other incident here!
Everything is conducted in an atmosphere of love
and dedication and respect."
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Many Keenans and Kamaths like
this who had come from all over India and the world, while
enjoying the elaborate arrangements made for the devotees,
wondered - "How does this all happen?"
HOW
WAS THE MAMMOTH UNDERTAKING ACCOMPLISHED?
FOOD AND ACCOMMODATION
ARRANGEMENTS
How lakhs of people were
assiduously fed everyday? How did the Ashram canteens and
their staff cope with such tremendous pressure? How were
tens and thousands who landed in the small holy town
accommodated? Who looked after Ashram security? Who looked
after managing the tremendous crowd at every gate and every
point of action? Who metamorphosed the Hill View Stadium
from a cricket field to a big open air theatre? Who did the
planning at the many levels and of course skillfully
executed it all?
It is to provide clues to
questions like this and to pay our tribute to thousands of
Sai volunteers who worked tirelessly, anonymously and
selflessly behind the scenes for weeks together, that we
have this special cover story.
Many would not know that the
planning for the Birthday celebrations began with the dawn
of 2005 itself and it gained vital momentum during the Guru
Poornima celebrations in July 2005. The All India President,
Sri V Srinivasan, in right earnest, called a meeting of all
the State Presidents of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations of
India and formed the main Organizing Committee.
Simultaneously various Sub-Committees were formed for
various specific activities like the Food Committee,
Accommodation Committee, Security Committee, Decoration,
Sanitation, Health and Hygiene, etc.
‘Free
Food For All' – Bhagavan Baba
The most crucial of all was,
understandably, planning and organizing food for lakhs of
devotees every single day for the whole Birthday week from
the 18th of Nov to the 24th. It was a mammoth undertaking
and every devotee who came for the birthday went home with
pleasant memories of the variety of dishes that were rolled
out in all the seven days – each day's menu being special
and different. But nobody knows how many selfless men and
women with blue and orange scarves had worked towards this
end, not for days and weeks but for months.
The First Meeting of
The Food Committee
In fact, the first meeting of
the Food committee was organized by Sri S G Challam, the
Service Wing Coordinator of Sathya Sai Seva Organisations,
Andhra Pradesh, and a member of the Food Committee on the 20
th and 21 st of August 2005 in Guntur, a city in Andhra
Pradesh as Andhra was assigned a major role in the food
management. It was a conference of elders, active workers,
experts, planners and thinkers where modalities of
discharging the major responsibility of food was discussed
in great detail. Data from previous world conferences were
studied, a reasonable estimate of men and material was made
and men of experience and expertise were identified for each
activity. It was going to be a "Anna Yagnam" – a
great sacrifice of offering food to thousands and the whole
Sevadal cadre of the state was really gearing up for it.
The Second One
Followed Soon…
Soon this was followed with
another conference again in Andhra Pradesh, but this time in
the city of Rajahmundry . Now finer details of every
activity were worked out and planning went to micro-level.
Various sub-committees like Manpower planning, Material
procurement, Material Handling, Stores, Cooking, Kitchen
Utensils, Kitchen Sanitation, Transportation, Distribution,
Registration, etc. took shape and committed volunteers with
experience were picked up to lead these committees. The role
of every volunteer involved was clearly defined. The
preliminary menu of the dishes was also made, estimates of
the material required done and sourcing of all the
materials, from utensils and vehicles to knives and brooms
started immediately!
The Third Meeting With
The All India President
Come October and there was
another meeting convened by the All India President (AIP) of
all State Presidents and a detailed discussion of the
developments made in every sphere of arrangement - from food
and accommodation to decoration and security - was made. It
was in this meeting that the AIP conveyed the news about the
likely announcement of ‘Free Food For All' by Bhagawan for
the Birthday week. Soon estimates of different items
required were done and the great feeling of togetherness
with which all the states joined in to offer their mite is
really overwhelming. To give you just a glimpse -
Each State Wanted To Be A Part
Of The Sacrifice…
While
Andhra Pradesh offered rice, oil, tamarind and spices,
Tamil Nadu said it will take care of all the vegetable,
sugar and tea requirements. Punjab joined in to offer a
variety of pulses and wheat flour while cooking oil came
from Gujarat . Similarly, Kerala offered jaggery and
vermicelli and the state president of Madhya Pradesh
said all beaten rice and some pulses would come from his
state. All tea and coffee would come from Karnataka and
Assam. Bihar and Himachal Pradesh would supplement the
milk supplies. Like this, every state wanted to be a
part of this sacred undertaking and every state
supplemented the rest of the requirements and lent their
helping hand in every manner possible. It was decided
that by Nov 10th all the supplies would reach Prashanti
Nilayam, and that's what precisely happened. The
execution stage had begun after months of planning.
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All the
provisions required...rice, oils, wheat
flour, etc.were offered by different states
of India
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The Food Supply Network
Now with
the supplies in place, activity shifted to preparing the
infrastructure in Puttaparthi.
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Four kitchens were readied for the purpose
– The South Indian Canteen, the North Indian
Canteen, The Andhra Kitchen behind the North 3 Block
and the newly constructed make-shift Punjab Kitchen
behind the North 5 Block.
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Four main distribution points were
identified inside the ashram with totally 80 food
counters! Two distribution points were
meant for devotees and two were for delegates. For
men devotees there were 25 counters and for women
there were 27. For the delegates, there were 13
counters for gents and 15 for the ladies.
Additionally, there were separate counters for
staff, police, Sevadal volunteers, press and the
physically challenged devotees. Temporary sheds were
erected with proper water facilities and barricades
at appropriate places were raised for smooth flow of
traffic.
- One
main store and four sub-stores – one for each
Kitchen – came up.
- Four
tractors, six mini-trucks, two vans, a mechanized
hydraulic trolley and two hydraulic fork lifts drove
into Puttaparthi for distribution of food from the
Kitchen to the various distribution points.
- The
information and communication accessories like
computer systems and wireless sets were organised.
- Water
points were set up at various locations inside the
ashram to quench the thirst of the teeming crowds.
Similarly, to maintain cleanliness, there were
garbage bins at suitable locations.
The Sevadal Volunteers
Kept Coming….
Now, who
was doing all this? By 16th of November, nearly
2,500 Sevadal volunteers from all parts of India, with a
majority from Andhra Pradesh, had gathered and were in
action. This number grew to 3,000 by 19th Nov and on the
Birthday there were nearly 4,500 volunteers who
had literally taken charge of every aspect of the
Birthday celebration. They were ubiquitous in the Ashram
and their dedication to selfless service was contagious.
A large
number, nearly 60% of them were
from the home state of Andhra Pradesh. Another 20% came
from the neighboring state of Orissa, Karnataka and
Tamil Nadu. The rest were from the far away
states of Haryana, Delhi , Punjab and the like in the
north, Sikkim and West Bengal in the East, Kerala in the
South and Gujarat in the West. More than 40% of this
workforce were in their thirties and they were ably
supported by another 40% who were middle-aged.
Every
activity from major to the minor was carefully thought
through and executed. For example, once the menu for the
seven days was finalized, the cooking of various items
was beautifully shared among all the four canteens
depending on their strengths and skills.
What Sumptuous Menus!
During the
Birthday week, the typical menu for the day
included idli and upma or
pongal with chutney for breakfast; puri
or chapathi, flavoured rice, vegetable
curry, curd rice, pickles and a sweet dish for
the meal sessions, and pakoras, vadas,
etc. to go with tea and coffee during
snack hours.
While breakfast
items and flavoured rice were prepared at the
Andhra Kitchen, the Punjabi kitchen took charge
of preparing the chapathis and
puris and the appropriate side dishes such
as peas curry, paneer curry, etc. |
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How The
Different Canteeens Shared the Work
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South Indian
Canteen |
Coffee, Tea, Curd
Rice daily and 20000 laddus on the eve
of Birthday |
North Indian
Canteen |
Sweets and Snacks |
Andhra Kitchen
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Breakfast and other
Rice items |
Punjab Kitchen |
Rotis, Puris,
Chapathis and side dishes
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Curd rice,
coffee and tea were the domain of the South Indian
canteen while the kitchen attached to the North Indian
canteen supplied the snacks and sweets for the afternoon
tea. So, it was a great collaborative effort making
optimum use of all the resources – men, material and
expertise - available.
The food
arrangement being the most challenging operation had
more than 30% of the volunteers working on its various
aspects. To this workforce joined another 400 young
enthusiasts – The Hyderabad Sai Youth Group. "The
dedication and commitment of all these volunteers is to
be seen to be believed," a senior member of the Sai
family said.
In The
Seven Days Of Free Food...
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2,28,000
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devotees were served with
Breakfast |
3,71,000
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devotees were served with Lunch |
2,31,000
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devotees were served with Snacks
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2,88,000
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devotees were served with Dinner
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In Other Words... |
6,59,000
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devotees
were served with Meal and |
4,59,000
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devotees
were served with Breakfast and Snacks |
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No One Went
Hungry, Thanks To Continuous Cooking
In the
course of one week, more than 6 lakh devotees
partook of the Prasadam Bhagavan had so
graciously blessed them with. It was Bhagavan's
command that no one who came to Prasanthi
Nilayam should go hungry and so there
were days when food continued to be plied to the
counters long after the regular hours. Indeed,
on November 23rd, the lunch session that
commenced at 10.30 a.m. continued till tea-time
at 4 p.m. and the tea session spilled over to
the dining session which concluded only after
9.30 p.m.
Thus, on that day,
the kitchen fires never stopped blazing
and the volunteers were on their feet all day
distributing and serving the food at the
counters!
And were all the
distribution points only inside the ashram? No.
Apart from the four distribution points inside
the Ashram, food had to be transported to the
Primary school, the Higher Secondary School
Hostel, the Senior Boys Hostel, the Bangalore
students Hostel, the Anantapur girls Hostel, the
Staff quarters and even to the railway station!
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All the arriving devotees were
served first with Bhagavan's Prasadam as soon as
they alighted from their train. Recalling his experience at
the railway station, a British devotee, Mark says,
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A Sevadal
directing a just-arrived devotee at the railway
station
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Food being
served to incoming devotees at the railway
station
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"One of the Best Days of My
Life" – Mark from UK
"I
smiled out of joy as I looked upon the station
forecourt. On the left were many tents under which full
meals of prasadam (rice and sweets) were being
served to the just arrived railway passengers in perfect
discipline. This was such a caring gesture which seemed
to assure the devotees that the rest of the facilities
would be of the same thoughtful nature. There were a
host of Sevadals on duty and the blue and white scarves
gave me a feeling of being welcomed home.
The 80th Birthday fervour
was sparkling in the air. It was the 21st November, and
the overcrowded station bore testament to the lakhs who
were converging to celebrate the biggest birthday party
on the planet! Such a huge number of people required a
similarly matched amount of shepherding, guidance and
practical help. And this was evident on leaving the
station steps.
A fleet of shiny new blue
and white buses were arrayed to take us to the ashram
just in front of the station. I stepped into one and was
immediately welcomed by the other passengers. We were
all Sai pilgrims going to see our Master and the shared
excitement was palpable. The journey was short and then
we were left to merge with the sea of humanity who were
blessed enough to seek His Grace and join in the Party
at Puttaparthi – one of the best days of my life!"
That was not all, there
was a distribution point in the Puttaparthi village too!
There was a counter set up at Sri Pedda Venkama Raju
Kalyana Mantapam, so that devotees staying outside would
not be put to the inconvenience of having to stand in
long queues inside the ashram.
Incredible Effort from The
Sevadals
Undoubtedly, it was not
easy managing the timely distribution of food at every
point. The first step was, of course, cooking.
There was non-stop cooking which went on for 16 -18
hours everyday in every kitchen. It was just
spontaneous outpouring of love of thousands of men and
women who volunteered, unasked, to lend their mite to
this mighty and holy endeavour. These volunteers, who
came from different parts of the country, the young and
the old, hailing from various walks of life, selflessly
toiled for a fortnight, setting aside thoughts of their
own comforts and convenience doing all sorts of
activities in the kitchen – cleaning and cutting
vegetables, washing vessels, shifting bags of rice and
other items from the stores to the kitchens – and then
moving the cooked food to the various counters and
actually serving at the food counters. Their motto – ‘Cook
With Love, Serve With Love.'
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Sevadals at
the Punjab Kitchen
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Snacks
getting ready at the North Indian Canteen
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And that's what they
exactly did. Just to give you an idea of the staggering
scale of activity that was involved –
In the seven
days of cooking, more than 170 tons (170,317 kgs) of
food material were cooked. Rice alone, of this,
constituted 45 tons. Chapatis and puris were
made out of 14 tons of wheat flour. 18 tons of oil was
consumed and 13 tons of sugar went into the sweets and
other preparations. And then, 50,000 litres of milk were
used for various preparations apart from tea, coffee,
etc. while 31 tons of vegetables were cooked and 12 tons
of pickle was served.
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Work in
Progress at the North Indian Canteen....
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Shifting
Food to the distribution points...
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"They Were Truly the Unsung Heroes" – A
Central Trust Official
All this happened silently.
Selflessly. The whole exercise was like
a great sacrifice and all the sevadals offered
themselves completely - body, mind and soul
– to see to it that every devotee who
landed in Puttaparthi was fed properly. "They
were truly the unsung heroes", recalls a Central
Trust official who was present at the scene of
action during those days,
"They were not
superhumans, but with the unlimited strength
and endurance they derived from Bhagavan,
all the fatigue and stress were forgotten.
They braved the weather that suddenly turned
inclement, never allowing their enthusiasm
to flag or the work to be disrupted. They
would cheerfully go about their work,
singing Bhajans full throated, thus
motivating each other and also charging the
atmosphere with such divine vibrations of
the sacred Name of the Lord."
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In The Seven Days
Of Free Food...
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1,70,317 Kgs
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of Food Material
was cooked |
The Major Items
were...
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44,680 Kgs
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of Rice
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31,115
Kgs
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of Vegetables |
13,850
Kgs
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of Wheat Flour
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18,555
Kgs
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of Oil
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13,350
Kgs
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of Sugar
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12,727
Kgs
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of
Pickle |
50,000
Ltrs
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of Milk,
etc. |
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Recalling a moving
anecdote which really summarized the whole ambience of
the work place in the kitchen, another Central Trust
official says,
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Sevadals at
the Punjab Kitchen...
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Work in
progress at the Andhra Kitchen...
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"Theirs was a Labour of
Love" – Another Central Trust Official
"In the
Punjab Canteen, as the volunteers rolled out the
chapathis in thousands, a young man gifted with
a melodious voice kept their spirits up by singing
Bhajans without break for up to eight hours!
Can you imagine that! Theirs was a labour of love… a
tale of great sacrifice. They wanted no reward, no
recognition, no appreciation. The work itself was
the reward. Most of them, you won't believe
it, denied themselves the bliss of having Bhagavan's
Darshan or witnessing the grand celebrations
at the Sri Sathya Sai Hill View stadium,
though they had come from states thousands of miles
away. Their focus and dedication was complete, to
say the least. Yes, they did not see Bhagavan, nay
physically, because they saw Bhagavan in their work,
every moment. They did not miss Bhagavan on that
auspicious day too for their hearts and minds were
with Bhagavan, always."
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Food being
served to the devotees by the Sevadals...
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Distribution of Food -
Andhra Pradesh Sai Youth Come Here
After the cooking, the
next major task was to ensure that the food cooked
reaches the distribution points in time from the
different canteens. This is the area where the Andhra
Pradesh Sai Youth did a splendid job, as ever. They have
been handling such work whenever there is a big event in
Prashanthi Nilayam and during the 80th birthday they
again amazed everybody with their energy, expertise and
meticulous planning.
You could see that they
were putting their corporate experience to full use by
the way they went about doing their task – days ahead of
the birthday week they were identifying and numbering
the different routes to the distribution points,
stocking adequate number of vessels required for every
route, estimating the vehicles and number of trips
required for each route, clearly marking ‘From' and ‘To'
destinations with the Vehicle in-charge's name and
Mobile no. on the windshield of each of the 9 LCV's and
two pick up autos, constituting separate loading and
unloading teams for each vehicle, positioning
multi-lingual experienced youth in each of the four
canteens to bring about perfect coordination with the
distribution points as well kitchen in charges and of
course, picking the right persons for the right jobs.
Did they fully succeed
in utilising their corporate experience? K S Ravi Kiran,
a Project Manager at GE in Hyderabad , who coordinated
the activities in the Punjab Canteen says,
"The Only Awareness There
Was…We Are Here For Bhagawan" - K S Ravi Kiran
"I was part of
the Youth group from Hyderabad and was thrilled to
take up the responsibility of food distribution to
the Schools, Colleges, Railway station and the
multiple Canteens for devotees. With an
International MBA degree I was ready to take
the task head-on using my Project and People
Management skills, only to fall flat and realize on
the first morning itself that the task was beyond
the capabilities of a single human being or even
a group for that matter. It needed united human
intervention at the physical level and abundant
Divine Grace for all the activities to come together
and fall in place. And they did, very magically!!
People
from different parts of the country met and
instantly/naturally became aware of the Universal
Brotherhood (and Sisterhood!). With the mornings
starting at around 3 am, after an almost oblivious 2
hour nap, and continuing until mid-night there
was no time to think about the "differences", the
body and the clothes. The only awareness was of the
fact that we were all there for our beloved Bhagavan
and we had a role to play in the historic event.
At home
where we seek help to lift a gas cylinder or for
that matter the study chair, here the potential
multiplied multifold. A heavy vessel needed not
more than 5 Sai Children, Sai's name did the
magic."
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The
Hyderabad Sai Youth in action....
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The youth not only
transported food items, they were engaged in other
activities in the kitchen too like the cleaning the
vessels, kitchen sanitation, etc. And like Ravi Kiran
many youth realised that they were doing things that
they had never imagined themselves capable of doing!
Recalling an experience
on the same lines, G Sai Prasad, a Country Manager at
Nokia Research Division, India , who coordinated
activities in the Andhra Kitchen says,
"No Hard Work...Just The
Divine Thrill of Seva" – G Sai Prasad
"During the
activity I could see myself doing things that I
otherwise would not push myself into – getting up at
3 in the morning, or lifting super heavy vessels,
etc. Often I was compelled to take a leadership
stand and manage the team as if I was in some sort
of warehouse doing just-in-time material management.
All in all, with the encouragement of other Sevadal,
elders and undeniably Swami's grace, the activity
floated to completion just as easily as it got
ramped up. That is, the end of the Seva was just as
graceful and unclimactic as the beginning. As such
was the case, I am left to wonder if WE really did
anything in the food transport, or, was there some
other unseen hand??
I am a
conventional fellow. I can't venture a
guess about some magical stuff
influencing our deliveries in some
unseen subtle ways. I can only say that
while doing our Seva duty, we thought we
were doing some ‘hard work', but really
we never were stressed or strained,
instead, we walked away with the gift of
thrill in our hearts. Sometimes this
feeling was so abundant that we
expressed ourselves freely on the
tractor routes with some fast and
furious bhajans and shouts of "Sathya
Sai Babaji Ki Jai".
On the
day of the birthday, some of us
spontaneously wrote love letters to
Bhagavan on our white T shirts. That is,
it was not uncommon to see lot of us
with pink and blue crayon scribble of
"Happy Birthday to our most beloved
Bhagavan" on our dirtied white T-shirts.
Loud bhajans on delivery routes, shouts
of "Jai" to Bhagavan on loading docks,
painted T-shirts… now does that sound
like hard work? No. To me it sounds like
a family function where the kith and kin
were enjoying the occasion. And, that is
exactly how I would characterize our
Beloved's 80th birthday service
activity."
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This is how
the Hyderabad Youth celebrated their Dear
Lord's Birthday...While HE was in the
Stadium
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Yes, for the youth it
was a great family union…a grand get-together to
celebrate the birthday of their divine mother, the
mother who is most precious than all the wealth of the
world. And they did everything that is possible, the
hard work and the unearthly working hours was never a
pain, it was a blessing on the contrary.
Sai Prasad again going
down the memory lane with great joy recalls,
"Throughout the
duty we were surprisingly unmindful of the birthday
Darshan or bhajan activities. Our world was food and
its timely distribution to the devotees. Despite
enduring some of the so-called "hardships" – which,
by the way, never appeared to us as such – and,
despite not having a chance to even glimpse Bhagavan
even for a moment during those famous birthday days,
we never felt saddened or felt deprived of anything.
The thrill of Seva,
the excitement in the air, the rush of work was so
palpable and enveloping us that we rarely missed the
other stuff. It was as if the joy that all the other
devotees had enjoyed was somehow packed in Seva and
delivered to us in disguise as "the rush" from doing
a good activity."
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For the Sai
Youth of Hyderbad, it was not hard work...it
was divine thrill
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Miracles Happened! – Ravi
Kiran
Yes, it was hard work.
It was thrill… not without challenges. With unclear
skies and so many other uncertainties, it called for
tremendous presence of mind and faith in the Divine.
Recalling one of those pressure-filled moments, Ravi
Kiran says,
"It rained the day before the
Birthday and the Roti making facility got
flooded in the Punjabi Canteen. With fewer hands to
make the Puris we were really short of the
60,000 target-number for that evening. All
the Seva Dal started reciting Sai Gayatri and the
hands which did the task of lifting those huge
vessels with equal ease started rolling the dough. Miraculously
in less than 90 minutes we were able to cope up with
the lost time because of rain and were bang on
target. Later helped poured in from unexpected
quarters and the whole operation was a success."
Just to get a glimpse
of the sense of dedication that these youth had for
their beloved lord, (which really made miracles happen)
listen to what Ravi Kiran has to say -
Pushing Through the Pain…
A Great Learning Experience.
"I cannot help but
mention the incident with one of the younger Sai
Brothers. With rain water all over the canteen floor
his feet soaked for a long time to the extent that
they turned white in color and wrinkled. He was busy
delivering food in-time to all the canteens,
collecting the empty vessels. I met him at
around 11:30 pm when all the work was done. He was
sitting alone on the steps that led to the canteen
and was visibly in terrible pain which he realized
only after he had fulfilled his duties for that day.
He was in that state since morning, but the
"movement" did not stop. The sense
of duty overpowered his temporary pain and his
senses were pushed to do the tasks that they
wouldn't have done on any other day. It was
a great learning experience to work amongst such
simple yet great souls."
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They did
tasks they had never imagined themselves to
do...and did it spendidly!
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"Was There A Divine Hand
At Work?" - Gangadhar Sarma.
A great learning
experience…an eye-opener in fact! As Gangadhar Sarma,
a project Leader in Wipro, who coordinated the
transport activities at the South Indian Canteen, says,
"Though there was a
tremendous pressure during the seven day period of
free food distribution, the entire team worked in
such a manner that the pressure was not felt… during
the activity the team could do things that otherwise
would not be possible... Bhagavan gave us the
strength and energy to do the activity without much
stress and pressure. At the
end of the Seva, there was a feeling in the team
that did we really pull this of or was there a
divine hand at work?"
"The Best Part of The Seva
Was the Bhajans" - Gopi Krishna
The
‘Unseen Hand' of Swami is an experience and a revelation
that every Sai youth can vouch for. As Gopi Krishna, a
management expert and a senior member of the Hyderabad
Youth Group, says,
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"The operations were
definitely tough, more so with the large
number of devotees present inside the
ashram, moving up and down for Darshan and
the other programmes BUT the entire
operations went off flawlessly without any
problem, accident or wastage…. There was a
tremendous feeling of togetherness and Love
within the team. Though there was
tremendous pressure during the seven day
period of free food distribution, the youth
took it in the most pleasing manner with
Sai's Name on their lips and it taught each
one of us what Unity can bring.
The
best part of the Seva was the bhajans our
teams were singing while transporting food.
That gave us the strength. It was a
great team work with abundant blessings from
the Universal Team leader – our beloved
Mother Sai. Each and every
one of the team members felt the divine
presence of Swami within him, around him and
behind him protecting him as the eyelids
protect the eye."
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Hyderabad
Sai Youth -
Vibrant Bhajans and Energetic Seva
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A sterling example of
what selfless service and sacrifice can do. A great
reminder of that immortal declaration that Lord Krishna
gave to Arjuna thousands of years ago in the battlefield
–
"Ananya Schintayantomaa Ye Janah Paryupasathe
Thesham Nithyabhiyouktanam, Yoga Kshemam Vahamyaham."
Meaning…
Whoever
is constantly engaged in thoughts of Me,
I shall take care and look after his welfare in all
respects.
"We Could Feel Swami's
All-Pervasiveness" - Sri Challam, Andhra Pradesh Sevadal
Coordinator
Sri Challam, the Andhra
Pradesh Service wing coordinator, recalls the hectic
says during the birthday and says,
"We could feel
Swami's all-pervasiveness in every moment. There
were many tense moments and in every such situation,
Swami gave us relief and eased out our position."
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It was the
Sevadals' total dedication to the cause that
drew divine grace and made the whole operation a
success. Many would not know that there was even
a feedback committee of 8 experienced Sevadal
volunteers. These Sai workers discreetly and
casually conducted opinion surveys about food
quality and quantity from devotees everyday.
Every day a sample
of 50 enquiries were done at every point which
meant 200 responses per session. All these
inputs were carefully studied and put to good
use so that devotees would have no problems as
far as food is concerned. These volunteers also
assessed the flow of devotees and helped in
making accurate kitchen estimates which was no
mean task in planning and forecasting.
"You Have All Done
Well" - Swami
The fulfillment of the whole
exercise was when Swami Himself on the 25 th of
November blessed the food committee members by
expressing His Ananda, His great satisfaction
and happiness on the preparations done and even
mentioned how all the devotees ate with
satisfaction. That was not all! The most
merciful Lord again on the 1 st December blessed
the Sevadals saying "You have all done well."
Not once, but three times! There is
nothing more that every Sevadal could aspire
for. Their mission was achieved, their sacrifice
had found fulfillment and their work truly had
transformed into worship.
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"This
appreciation", Sri Challam, the Sevadal coordinator
says, "of our most beloved Lord goes to all the
Sevadal, Group Leaders, District Batch In-charges,
State In-charges, District Sevadal coordinators and
District Presidents who have motivated and conducted
training classes for the Sevadals in the past one
year and of course to the thousands of Sevadals who
worked day in and out in a great spirit of
dedication and sacrifice."
Well, food
was only one of the major arrangements surrounding the
80 th Birthday celebrations. There were many others –
accommodation, security, sanitation, crowd control,
decoration, maintenance, etc and every one of these
activities were done by Sevadal.
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The Moving Devotion
of Mahabubnagar Sevadals
One could see the
youth of Mahabubnagar going around the ashram
with water cans on their back distributing
drinking water to the thirsty. This was their
way of offering their gratitude to Swami, who
had provided them with drinking water in the
year 2001 through the Sri Sathya Sai Drinking
Water Project.
Another very
moving scene was to see the Mahaboobnagar
Sevadals utilising trolleys in service. They
would rush to the aid of devotees, especially
elderly people, who needed help to transport
their luggage to their place of accommodation in
the ashram. The luggage was placed in trolleys
which were wheeled by the youth themselves. What
a thoughtful and heartwarming gesture! Nobody
had asked them to do it.
Some of them were
senior executives in reputed companies but this
job of a ‘porter' was not menial for them. You
cannot help but be moved with their dedication
and devotion to their beloved lord. |
"More Than 30,000 Entered
Through the Ganesh Gate" - Sri Veera Reddy
Similarly, hundreds of
Sevadals were busy controlling crowd at crucial
junctions of the Ashram. Sri Veera Reddy who was
managing the crowd at the Ganesh gate says,
"Generally after
Darshan and bhajan the devotees
will go out from the Mandir, but from 15th to 30th
Nov, in addition to the devotees already within the
Mandir double the number of devotees entered in the
Mandir for availing the free food facility offered
by the Bhagavan. Daily more than 30,000 people
entered through Ganesh Gate in addition to the
devotees already in Mandir for availing the morning
breakfast, mid-day lunch, evening snacks and tea and
also evening dinner. Purely because of divine
blessings of Bhagavan, we were able to manage the
crowd without causing any inconvenience to the
devotees."
ACCOMMODATION FOR THE
THOUSANDS
Now, coming to the
other principal task – providing accommodation to the
hundreds that landed everyday. No effort was spared by
the ashram authorities to ensure that none would have to
be turned away at the gates of Prasanthi Nilayam and
everything that was possible was done with the help of
enthusiastic volunteers.
In addition to the dormitories that are usually
available, more than 25 large shelters were put up to
accommodate the hordes who were pouring in by the day.
And work on these shelters started months ahead of the
birthday.
There were separate
accommodation arrangements made for the nearly 12,000
delegates who had gathered for the world conference.
Every inch of Ashram space was utilized judiciously and
a lot of planning went into allotting shelters for every
state of India and every region of the world. You could
see big boards on the temporary shelters saying –"
Maharashtra ", " West Bengal ", etc.
Some devotees were even
lodged in the Deena Janodharana Pathakamu complex – the
orphanage near the ashram. There
were free medical camps running and doctors were
available round the clock for consultation and treatment
near the large shelters. It was a great
sight to see people from different regions and speaking
different languages living and moving with each other so
cordially and comfortably. In the Sai family, there is
no stranger. "Sai Ram" is enough introduction and "Sai"
is the common bond.
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The 8th
World Conference session in progress...
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THE 8TH
WORLD CONFERENCE
The two-day World
Conference which had 8,000 delegates from India and more
than 3,500 delegates from overseas was a sight to
behold. It was a motley crowd of different cultures and
regions, languages and beliefs but there was an
underlying feeling of great brotherliness. All were just
like children of one God, come to be with their dear
father and they took back with them some of life's most
precious moments. To give you some glimpses –
"We're So Blessed
To Be Here" - Clive Gregory from Canada
"It's so
awesome, so wonderful and so beautiful to
see Baba every day. I have had friends who
have had their knees healed and operations
cancelled because Baba healed them.
For myself,
Baba is working on me. It's a work in
progress. I see so many people who come from
all parts of the world. I was very blessed
last year because I was chosen to lead the
western devotees for Christmas and we had 50
people on a team that were from 35 different
countries. It was awesome and you got to
hear so many stories of people's experiences
with Baba - of how He would come in their
dreams, of how they would be motivated to
serve Baba in their countries and here.
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Having
read all of the Sathya Sai Speaks books, all of the
Vahini books and all of Kasturi's books, it's
overwhelming and I am in awe to be in God's presence
every day. I say it humbly from my heart because
I sat yesterday when Swami came out from the
veranda, I started to cry because I felt so much
bliss. And we are all so blessed to be
here, and I know Swami sits there and He enjoys all
of our love for Him as well, because thousands have
come here from all parts of the world to be here for
Swami's 80th birthday. And we're so blessed to be
here now.
Today I was helping
the overseas and Indian delegates that have come for
the conference to find their seating. Everyone is so
happy. How can you be somewhere where there is so
much love? I've been in baseball stadiums, in
Olympic stadiums, everywhere for different events,
but this place is special. I know that
Baba's wish of Dharma, world wide peace and
love everywhere will come true, because if He can
find a place in my heart He can find a place in
everybody's heart.We all love Baba and I love
everybody."
This is the real
miracle. The way Swami enters each individual's heart
and then slowly, silently but surely brings out a U-turn
in the individual's outlook. Many years pass and the
individual cannot believe the amazing changes that have
come about in his attitude towards life and society.
And all this happens without Swami speaking a
word to the devotee physically even once. His
presence is enough. His power is there everywhere.
"I Am Doing the Same
Thing...But With A different Consciousness Now" -
Ricardo from Italy
Ricardo, who was there
for the World Conference from Italy , expressed exactly
the same sentiments when he said,
"I met Swami for
the first time in 1991. I then came to
Whitefield in 1993. Since then my life has
completely changed. My life now is full of joy.
I never felt myself alone ever since I saw Swami
for the first time in the physical form. And now
everywhere I go I see a friend walking beside
me, with whom I exchange all of my thoughts,
needs, fears, joys - everything!
I am proud to be
in the Sai Organization and I am doing Seva. All
of my life has been reenergized by this meeting
I had with Swami. I am doing more or less the
same thing I was doing before, but with a
different consciousness, with a different way of
looking at others. I really hope that with
Swami's grace the world will be a much better
place than what it is now.
Apart from that my whole
attitude towards life has changed. Whatever I'm
doing now is kind of a Seva for others,
including parents, friends, and everyone. I'm
proud to be here." |
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The theme of the
conference was Unity-Purity-Divinity and you could
really see how there was this tremendous feeling of
brotherliness. It was a practical demonstration of the
power of collective positive thought which can do
miracles.
"To Be Here Is So Special"
- Hector Casteneda from El Salvador
Moved by the love and
unity so evident during the conference, Hector
Casteneda, Central Coordinator for Mexico , Central
America and the Caribbean, mentioned the following to
Heart2Heart,
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"Well, we are
here for Baba's birthday and to come here at
such an auspicious time is something you
have to experience. There are so many people
here that have come from more than 170
countries. And I was impressed to see
members of so many religions who have
converged here - that is something I have
seen for the first time and you have to just
experience it.
You have to
feel the love of the people that come to see
Swami. I know that it is very difficult for
someone to stay here at this time because
there are so many people; but the love that
He spreads and the love that all the
devotees spread all over makes you feel very
comfortable. To be at this special place on
the Avatar's 80th birthday is something
special, because we know that something
better is in store for this planet.
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Then,
Swami's love for all people is going to spread all
over the planet and we are going to live in peace.
This is something which He has been telling us for
years and it is going to happen."
Their conviction about
Swami and His message is exemplary and contagious. Each
devotee has the golden book of his priceless experiences
with Bhagavan in their and that gives all the
inspiration and strength that each one needs whenever
and wherever.
"The Care and Attention To
All Was Wonderful" - Dr. Nelly Carache from Venezuela
Dr. Nelly Carache, a
devotee from the South American country of Venezuela ,
said,
"It's my 6th
trip here and I have known Baba for eighteen
years. I am a doctor and I have had a lot of
experiences there with Swami. Here, for this
celebration, for the magnitude of this 80th
Swami's birthday, I just can say
that the attention, and care to all the
devotees was lovely, wonderful.
I feel that there was a holy hand, a
divine hand - if not, it would be impossible
for everything to be so perfect.
Talking about
my experiences, my husband (who does not
believe in miracles) was cooking in our
kitchen, when suddenly he cut his thumb
badly. I told to him to just put Vibhuti
with a bandage. We waited twelve hours to
check it and then found that there was not
even a mark. His hand was perfect again."
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In whichever corner of
the world he/she may be, each devotee feels Swami's
love. And seeing Swami physically during the grand
Birthday celebrations was an experience that was
phenomenal. Some devotees from distant countries, who
were there in Prashanti just a few months ago during the
Guru Poornima celebrations in July, could not allow
themselves to miss the big event. The magic of His love
and the gift of His Darshan pulled them and they were
again back at the Lotus Feet of their beloved!
"We Are So Pleased To See
Swami Again" - Steven Perry from UK
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One such example is Steven Perry from UK who
said,
"We were here
at Guru Poornima, and we felt so full that
we weren't going to come back. But we came
back for the 8th World Conference and to see
Swami again! And we are just so pleased to
see Swami so full of love for everyone. I've
known Swami since 1998, and since then I try
to follow His teachings.
And although I
am imperfect, I feel some movement is
happening within me. It's such a pleasure to
see everybody here from every corner of the
world. It is just such a big birthday
celebration. We all love Swami and
we have all got to learn to give that love
to other people as well."
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"The Best Miracle For Me
Is To See Swami Move All Hearts" - Juan Carlos Ponce de
Leon from Peru
Juan Carlos Ponce de
Leon from Peru who was here in Prashanti Nilayam during
the Birthday told Heart2Heart,
"It's incredible
for me to feel the love and the energy of Swami as
His presence - and in each devotee too. The
best miracle for me is to see Swami move all hearts,
to share love and work together.
This is the real transformation. I have
heard stories about the leelas of Swami,
but the most important thing is the change of mind
and heart of people. And then to spread Swami's
words to the people in more than 140 countries."
This was the
inspiration with which the thousands who had gathered
for the World Conference left – to share Swami's love
and His message. Their hearts were recharged and full
with the experience of His presence and they wanted to
share with anybody they could. And in fact, that is what
life is meant for – to share love, to be caring, to
realise that there is God in every being. When every man
realises and practises this fundamental unity in
creation, each one can see and feel divinity in every
moment. The golden age truly then would have arrived.
THE
WONDERFUL SAI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
A beautiful event
associated with the World Conference was the Sai
Symphony Orchestra on the 21 st evening where 53
musicians from over 20 countries performed before
Bhagavan. There were artists from Asia , Australia ,
Europe , North, Central and South America and they
worked together during five days of rehearsals in a
great joyful spirit of unity and love. Their goal was
simple – to do their best before their Sweet Lord. Now,
we are not going into details of the beautiful
compositions they played. You must have read all this in
the Prashanti Diary of the December issue. (To read it
again, go
here.) What we are going to give you is glimpses of
the spirit behind their performances - what inspired
them to come to Puttaparthi? How did they know about
Swami? And what music means to them?
"Swami Has Blessed Me" -
Klaus Maurer, Conductor
When Heart2Heart asked
the conductor Klaus Maurer his experiences, he told us -
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"When I
came first to Prashanti it was because
one of my friends talked about Swami,
but actually Swami entered into my life
much earlier. Swami is omnipresent.
He has created the whole world,
He has created me, so there are so many
times in my life Swami has blessed me.
He gave me my wife. I asked Him to give
me a wife who would be able to live
around the world and He gave me Johanna,
who is a marvelous pianist from Poland.
Then we
came to Puttaparthi, my wife had a
chance to play a piano recital for
Swami. And after this, Swami gave me the
opportunity to conduct this orchestra.
How can I thank Swami for all that He
does, because it is a present for me. I
conduct the orchestra and I learn so
much from Him. Everyday you try to
improve, to make better music - you try
to seek perfection. You are not perfect,
you never achieve perfection - only God
is perfection - but every day has a goal
with Swami."
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"This is the Best Moment
Of My Career" - Andrea from Croatia
"My
first impression of playing for the
Sathya Sai Symphony Orchestra was a year
and a half ago, when I was here in
Puttaparthi, and Swami called me for
interview," says Andrea, a professional
musician who plays bass trombone, from
Croatia who was also part of the
Orchestra.
He
continues, "In the interview He asked me
what my profession is. I told Him that I
am a musician and that I play trombone
in the symphony orchestra. Then we
talked about my profession and I started
to have a wish to play in front of
Swami. I didn't know that there is an
international Sathya Sai Symphony
Orchestra.
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I was also here, 3
months ago. I met some people from the organization
and they asked me if I would like to play for Swami
- I didn't have to think very long! I think
this is the best moment of my career - to play in
front of my God in this symphony orchestra.
The atmosphere in this orchestra is very good and
very positive. We all come from various corners of
the world; we just met each other and started
playing. So simple and so complicated at the same
time.
Music is equal to
divinity according to me. I don't know what
can be more blissful and more divine, because there
is nothing in this world that is more divine than
music for me. I am a musician and I can
tell you that out of my experience. And when you
come to Prashanti Nilayam, when you hear bhajans,
when you hear chanting of the Vedas, when you hear
classical music, you will always find the same
vibration; you will always find the same divine fire
in all the music. Although they are various kinds of
music, the divine fire will be the same."
How true! Andrea so
beautifully spelt out the soul of music.
"It's Just Great To Be
Here" - Letora from France
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For some of the
musicians it was their first visit to Swami like
Letora from France .
"It's my first time here,
and I'm very surprised that there are so
many people who have come to be with Swami,"
says Letora who plays bassoon, a wind
instrument, and landed in Puttaparthi just a
week before the orchestra.
"I am very impressed," he
continues, "that we have offered this music
to Swami. I love to play music because I
think that rhythm has something to do with
spirituality. For me, this is the most
important thing I have to offer to Swami…. A
lot of people are doing a lot of work here.
It's wonderful. The village and landscape of
Puttaparthi is very beautiful. The weather
is good. It's just great to be here."
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"What Swami Said About
Love Really Moved Me" – Concert Member from Japan
Another
first-timer, from Japan, says,
"I
joined the concert for the first time. I
met Sai Baba this year through my
mother-in-law. So this year everything
for me is new and I'm really excited.
I'm very happy to play the music with
this orchestra because everybody is nice
and they are helping so much when I
can't understand what to do. I'm happy
to do for Baba anything concerned with
music.
Music is
my job. I had a really special time at
His birthday. I'm very excited now. And
what Swami said about love really moved
me. Such kind of words I never heard.
I'm trying to understand more of Him and
the Sai Community."
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"I Like Music With Love" -
Harry from Holland
Harry, another
member of the Sai Symphony Orchestra, says,
"I like music
so much, not only classical western but I
like all types of music which is played with
love. When there is no love, I don't like
it. When there is love, I like it. And this
is how Swami wants us to be - full of love.
When we go
back to our countries, we are there to
represent Swami's love. So we come together
and play to the physical form, but when we
go back we carry the memories."
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Yes, all the 53
musicians carried back with them memories…memories so
sweet that will fill them with bliss whenever recalled,
memories that will inspire them forever to divinize not
only their music and but also every moment of their
life.
After the World
Conference, we know, there was the Institute's
convocation and then the action shifted to the Hill View
Stadium for the big day!
THE
STUNNING STADIUM ON THE BIRTHDAY
Not many people know of
the elaborate planning and arrangements that were being
made in the stadium weeks before the Big Day. More than
150 Sevadal volunteers were engaged in various
activities in stadium for more than a week before the
Birthday.
On the 22nd, there was
even a rehearsal of the Sevadal deployment and the whole
stadium was divided into seven sectors – three on the
ground and the other four in the galleries. A student,
who used to watch the developments in the stadium from
behind the hostel in its preparatory days, says,
"The stadium seemed to
have woken up from its quite and sedentary ways. The
statues in the stadium already wore a fresh coat of
paint as if they were all dressed and ready for the
grand event. A casual observer would have noticed a team
of people busy inspecting the Shanthi Vedika stage and
the surrounding galleries. In the days to come they
transformed the stage and the stadium into something
that resembled a massive royal court! Somebody said,
nay, it's a great comfy open air theatre! With the green
water-proof carpet all over the area of the ground, the
stadium had acquired a totally new manifestation."
A Complete Makeover to
Shanthi Vedika
Yes, the stadium was
actually no more a stadium. In fact, many people who had
never seen the stadium in its preparatory days were
shocked to the ground on the final day - "My God! We
cannot recognise this. Is it the same Hill View Stadium
that had the cricket ground?" they asked with big eyes
and open mouths.
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The path
from the middle - an innovative idea...
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The idea
takes shape....
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"The Shanthi Vedika
stage was getting a complete makeover. Beautiful
cut-outs and decorations started adorning the stage. The
floor had beautiful tiles now and professional florists
from many regions including Japan and Switzerland were
busy creating a masterpiece of beauty. And then the
ornate lamp-posts along the road…at night fall they lit
up like a necklace around the stadium!" says another
student and continues, "another neat idea you could not
help appreciate was the path that was being made through
the center of the ground. Thanks to this red-carpeted
centre path, on the Birthday, hundreds of devotees could
catch a glimpse of Swami from a distance of only a few
metres!"
The Impressive Hoardings…
Huge hoardings came up
around the stadium days prior to the 23rd conveying what
Swami truly is - pure selflessness. "Your Well-being is
my concern", "Your Joy is My Wish", "May There Be Peace
And Love In The World" the 40 ft by 20 ft structures
stated along with beautiful images of Swami smiling and
blessing. And mind you, they were permanent structures
in wood and iron which had taken a week to erect. In
addition to this, smaller banners with the 80th birthday
logo filled the stadium and added so much colour to the
setting.
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The huge
hoardings coming up...
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The
hoardings proclaiming what Swami is - Pure
Selflessness
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In fact, such huge
hoardings were found not only in the stadium but inside
the Ashram as well. Not only that, more than 30 such
large hoardings were put up even in the city of
Bangalore and many more on the way to Puttaparthi from
Bangalore. All conveying the immortal message of love
and peace of Swami.
Apart from the
hoardings, there were also beautiful arches on every
entrance of Hill View Stadium and even beyond the
stadium. All these were the contribution of different
states of India. Each coveyed an unique spiritual theme
with beautiful art-work.
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Beautiful
spiritual theme based arches from different
states of India
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A New Stage Blossoming…
"You
could not miss the galleries below the
Hanuman statue where a bright lotus like
stage was blossoming!" another student
currently doing his Ph. D says.
"Carpenters, decorators and engineers
were busy at work - Painting the flanks,
putting up and testing the lights,
setting up the elaborate sound system,
carrying out tests and fine tuning the
performance of each piece of equipment."
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Just beside this stage,
there was another big structure coming up - the LED
display screen. It was in fact, from one of world's best
companies in the LED business - Barco, a company
renowned for its longstanding leadership in the
visualization industry. There were actually two screens,
the second one placed above the pavilion on the gents'
side. And these two displays were receiving their feed
from eight video cameras set up at different strategic
locations all round the stadium. There were even two
aerial multi-dimensional ‘speed dome' cameras on either
side of the Shanthi Vedika. Thanks to this set up, all
the devotees could totally involve themselves with the
happenings on the stage and also watch close-ups of
Swami sitting on the majestic throne in the Shanthi
Vedika.
Explosions and Lasers!
Everybody who was there
in the stadium on that blissful evening can never forget
the grand fireworks and of course the laser show. The
fireworks specialists were from the famous Sivakasi and
were people who had handled various other mega-events
across the country. Thanks to their expertise and also
divine grace, in spite of the intermittent rain they lit
up the evening sky on the 23rd with one of the most
spectacular fireworks displays that Parthi had ever
witnessed - the rockets went up to 100ft into the sky
and many lit up a diameter of 125 ft with sparkling
colours. Coupled with the laser show, these two events
really mesmerised the devotees with the delightful play
of sound and light and made the evening so very
memorable.
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The
launching pads of the 'fireworks' rockets
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Fireworks
light up the sky...
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THE WORLD
OF MUSIC OFFERS THEIR DEVOTION TO SWAMI
We know that very
eminent musicians offered their music to Swami on that
beautiful evening. Be it Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma, Kavita
Subramaniam and Dr. L Subramaniam, Amjad Ali Khan, Richa
Sharma, Parveen Sultana or Dana Gillespie, for all of
these musicians, the experience was priceless. Here is a
glimpse of what a few of musicians said -
"We Think of Swami
Constantly" - Amaan, Ayaan and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan
Amaan, Ayaan,
Amjad Ali Khan and Subhalakshmi Khan after the
performance said,
"We feel so blessed
to have been able to perform in the divine presence
of Baba on His eightieth year. It was so moving to
see lakhs of people sharing the music in complete
devotion that evening in Puttaparthi, in spite of
the constant drizzle.
Ever since
our entire family had Baba's Darshan and Blessings,
we think of Swami constantly and feel blessed in
every way every day of lives. We just feel
so fortunate to have been here to witness this great
day and get Baba's blessings."
This is what Rahul
Sharma, who along with his father Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma
performed on the 80th Birthday night, said when we asked
him - What does Swami mean to him? after his performance
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"I Feel Grateful...in This
Lifetime To Receive His Love." - Rahul Sharma
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"Well..where
should I begin...I first went to Him about
12 years ago and He had a mesmerizing impact
on me. I was called back to the interview
room and sat before Him while He told me all
from my inhibitions and my life, etc. Then
out of the blue He materialized a
navaratna (nine gems) ring and put it
on my finger. I thanked Him, and left.
For a few
nights, when I used to practise the santoor
and then go to sleep, He would appear in my
dreams and encourage me about my practice.
It was amazing and then later when I would
meet Him, He would tell me about my dreams.
I've had the
fortune of playing at least 3 or 4 times on
stage for His birthdays, in His presence. I
have been truly blessed and received many
tokens of His blessing, a wrist watch and
Amrit Kalash [nectar of the God's].
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The most amazing memory I
have was when I was in Dubai and the tyre of the car
I was traveling in at high speed burst and the only
name that came to my lips was, BABA..BABA..BABA...as
I looked at the ring and prayed for a miracle as the
car crashed into the road divider and turned turtle
and drifted to one corner of the busy highway. I
came out unscratched and was taken to a clinic in
Dubai for a routine check up and the first thing I
see in the clinic in Dubai is a huge picture of
SATHYA SAI BABA. That says it all!
Later when I was in
Puttaparthi, Baba narrated the entire incident to me
about the accident and how it all happened. He knew
it all!
I feel grateful, that
in this lifetime I have been able to receive His
blessings and still continue to receive His warmth
and love."
"With Swami…We Are in
Heaven" – Begum Parveen Sultana
When we spoke to Begum
Parveen Sultana and Ustad Dilshad Khan after their
concert on the 80 th Birthday evening, recalling their
first performance in front of Swami, Parveenji said,
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"Believe it or
not, for two minutes we could not sing with
the emotion choked in my voice. Bhagavan was
sitting before us, I can't believe it - we
had heard about Him and that day… was it
true that we were going to sing for Him? I
was pinching myself… where was I, was I
really sitting in front of Him? It was an
unbelievable experience. And from that day
onwards we became His devotees….
Whenever we
come here and sing before Swami, I have very
good experiences. Whenever I am with Swami
and suppose somebody is playing or singing,
Swami just looks at me or I just
look at Swami and we just communicate like
that - how the concert is going on,
how nice it is, how divine it is - it is
like a mental conversation, like father and
daughter. There are so many things you
learn.
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Baba has taught us
many things and whenever I sing, you know, Baba is
sitting there. I feel some more life to our music,
some sort of energy and vibration and I feel so much
at peace and I become a different person. I go to a
different world with Swami's appreciation and
Swami's power. He charges me with energy. It
is so divine that I don't care for the world.
I look at Swami and Swami looks at me and
it is something like a booster rocket - that kind of
energy I get. Whenever I come here and sing, the
satisfaction that I get, I don't get anywhere else
because this is divine satisfaction. We are all
professional musicians; we work hard and earn money.
We sing for the gallery, we sing for the masses, we
sing for class - but here we sing specially for God;
we imbibe the divine atmosphere. We feel as if we
are singing in a Durbar, Swarg, and Heaven.
God is sitting before us."
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"All Our Life Is
Devoted to Him" - Ustad Dilshad Khan
With a great sense of
humility, Ustad Dilshad Khan adds,
"Sometimes we feel that
what we got from Him, a child won't get from
his parents - the way we got so many things
from Baba. We will definitely serve
and obey the orders of Sai; all our life is
devoted to Him. Not only this life
but for all lives to come we will be devoted
to Him and we will do whatever He says."
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"I Think of Him In Every
Step" - Dana Gillespie
We have read what Begum
Praveen and Amjad Ali Khan had to say. Now let's move
from the heart of Indian classical music to the soul of
western contemporary music. This is how Dana Gillespie,
a well-known international blues singer, described her
experience performing before Swami to H2H -
"I have sung
beside Him when He sat on the side of the
stage with me. That is a strange dichotomy
for as a performer you are meant to be
performing for the audience out there, but
at the same time there is this Presence. So
you sing for the audience but occasionally I
will give a little glance to Him but would
not sing straight to Him.
A lot of
people have said it must be so emotional
when He is sitting there. But in fact it is
not; it is as if on the day of the concert
He switches off my emotions because if I was
emotional at that point I would be overcome
with bliss and choked with emotion. I do the
job, I feel the joy but I focus on the job.
But if I am on my own during a
rehearsal I am often in tears of joy and
sometimes it is as if it is not my voice and
I can cry over the lyrics."
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And how has Swami
influenced her music and her life? Dana continues,
"I try to
bring His teachings into the blues lyrics
and I am proud that I have even just heard
of Him because I spent up 23 years thinking
that all the holy saints lived in the old
days.
He has
shown that His omniscience, omnipresence and
omnipotence is so overpowering that I think
of Him at every step. And sometimes it is
harder here with the physical form as He may
not be talking to you -so forget the
interview, it is the ‘inner view' that
counts!"
SAI – To See
Always Inside
How true and
revealing…yes, numerous are the occasions when
Swami has mentioned that man has reached the
moon and the depths of the ocean but not an inch
within himself! In fact, all His interviews are
to persuade us to see inside. SAI means to See
Always Inside and millions derive inspiration
from Him from within. His 5'3" physical frame is
just an easy and sweet medium for us to derive
bliss with least effort. But to remain in that
bliss at all times, one has to internalize Him. |
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Parting Words...
Well…there is no end to
the experiences of devotees, be it Sevadals, artists or
professionals who had come for the 80 th Birthday. Dear
reader, the whole idea of this cover story was to give
you those glimpses of the historic event that was the 80
th Birthday that many were unaware of and therefore not
touched by it. We hope that the great stories of service
and sacrifice of the Sevadals and the amazing
experiences of various people from all over the globe
and from different walks of life that has dotted this
cover story inspire you, enliven you and give you
another opportunity to revel and bask in the glory of
Sai.
- Heart2Heart Team.
We
are grateful to D J Das, Hari Shankar, Sudhindran, Gopi Krishna,
Alex, Sri Challam and many other Sevadal members for their
active cooperation and inputs.
Source:
Radio Sai
E-Magazine, February 2006
http://media.radiosai.org/Journals/Vol_04/01FEB06/coverstory_behind_80thbday.htm
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