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Love in action - Grama Seva 2004
It all started suddenly and most
unexpectedly. Swami came as usual in his golf cart to the
verandah on the afternoon of 15th October, 2004. He stopped His
cart on the outer verandah and was engrossed in the
Veda chanting. Suddenly He gestured
to Prof. Anil Kumar, who went up respectfully and listened to
what He had to say. One could see that Prof. Anil Kumar's
natural enthusiasm was growing and he seemed to be fairly
bubbling with exuberance as he went up to the mike to make the
important announcement that Swami has blessed that the
Grama Seva start in 2 days time.
Prof. Anil Kumar announcing the
Grama Seva Plans on Oct 15
Things began
moving rapidly. Soon people realized that much had already been
accomplished. God always works silently and most efficiently.
Everything was already in place for the
Grama Seva to begin and no one was even aware of it. A
sufficient quantity of laddus had
already been prepared for the initial distribution. All the
ingredients for the Prasadam
preparation and the clothes for distribution had already been
procured and the infrastructure was well in place even before
the announcement was made!
The faculty and
staff of the Institute quickly organised themselves for the
Seva. Steering and planning
committees were formed. The boys and the staff from the
Puttaparthi and Brindavan College campuses as well as the
Puttaparthi High School students were divided into 6 groups with
an A and a B section in each group. Thus the A section of all
the 6 groups would go for Grama Seva
one day, while the B section would go the following day. This
not only provided a day of rest, but also the boys staying back
ensured that the Mandir activities,
like Veda chanting for the
Dasara festival, leading the Bhajan
singing in Sai Kulwant Hall, and the afternoon programmes went
on simultaneously and were not affected at all!
Each group going
for the Grama Seva had 4 trucks for
transportation along with a tractor for the heavier loads. All
the 24 vehicles and 6 tractors were connected through a mobile
communication facility with each other and a 'home base' that
provided updates as well as kept track of the progress of each
group. This helped them anticipate and respond well to emergency
situations like shortage of clothes or
Prasadam and respond to vehicle breakdowns. Each vehicle
also had a uniformed policeman to provide security to the
convoy, and to have a salutary effect by his presence and
prevent any untoward incidents. In addition there were 2 SUVs
(Sports Utility Vehicles) used by two of the project
coordinators, assisted by a couple of students, who visited
multiple sites between them to co-ordinate the distribution
better. This system of 32 vehicles was the lifeline that helped
the Grama Seva move forward
smoothly and efficiently.
The convoy of vehicles loaded and
ready to roll
A daily schedule
was drawn up outlining the villages to be visited for the day
and allocating each of the 6 groups with the villages to be
visited by them based on the population and the number of houses
in each village. An estimate of the food to be loaded in each
vehicle was thus arrived at from these figures as well as the
food for the students doing the distribution. This was rolled up
for all the vehicles to arrive at a "master production plan" for
the number of packets of Prasadam
to be distributed each day. Excess food was also loaded for
contingencies and also to distribute to the poor people along
the way. A sari and a
dhoti for each household in each
village to be visited for the day, also had to be planned for
and loaded properly in each truck.
The
Prasadam that was distributed to
each person was a food packet of pulihora
or tamarind rice and a laddu, a
sweet in the shape of a small ball. The girls of the Anantapur
campus had perhaps the more difficult task. They did most of the
'behind the scenes' work like the rice packing and the
laddu preparation. The girls came
up with a schedule so that they could start by early evening
working through the night in shifts, so that the food packets
were ready for loading into the trucks in the wee morning hours
making the vehicle ready for an 8:30 a.m. departure. They not
only toiled through the night but also attended both the morning
and afternoon Darshan and
Bhajans in Sai Kulwant Hall. Theirs
was truly a spectacular effort and we salute all of them.
In a day about 12
to 15 villages were covered by the 6 groups and the students
knocked at the doors of 5,000 homes to share Swami's
Prasadam and love with the
residents. Thus over 20,000 packets of
Prasadam were distributed each day. This snippet of
statistic is provided just to give an insight to the magnitude
of the project, but statistics don't tell the full story. The
Grama Seva is essentially a love
story; a story of the compassion of our dear Lord for the
inhabitants of the villages, who depend only on Him.
Trying on the Tee-shirt under His
loving gaze
On
the morning of the 16th October there was another announcement.
Swami said that tee shirts and caps would be distributed to all
the students and staff members so that they could wear it and go
for distribution the next day, chanting the
Sai Gayathri. The packets of tee
shirts were brought out and stacked in a pile in front of the
verandah and a shirt was first shown to Swami. The white
coloured tee shirt had the Institute emblem embossed on the
front left side and the words LOVE ALL SERVE ALL on the back of
the shirt, in red. After looking at the shirt Swami called a
student and asked him to try the shirt on. The student
immediately put the tee shirt on, over his regular white shirt.
It was a tight fit. Swami asked that a larger size shirt be
brought, personally inspected it to make sure it was now the
right size and then gave it to the student and asked him to put
it on. When the shirt fit correctly, Swami broke into a broad
smile of motherly affection and love. He sat on the verandah for
a long time that day listening to the Veda
chanting and looking lovingly at all the boys who were eager to
begin His work the next day.
This is where we are going today
Generally
the daily schedule used to follow a more or less set pattern.
After giving Darshan in the morning
Swami would come to the verandah and would generally ask a staff
member where they were going for the day. The staff members
would be well prepared to brief Swami with maps and a list of
villages that they intended to visit that day. It was a real
sight to see Swami pouring over the maps along with the staff
members and asking relevant questions to make sure that nothing
had been missed out. Swami would then give His Divine Blessing
for the day's distribution. At that point, two students would
bring the food out in buckets to be blessed by Bhagavan and the
sanctified food (Prasadam) was now
ready for distribution!
Soon the boys
scheduled to go that day, either section A or B, would leave Sai
Kulwant Hall and rush to put on their shoes and collect their
hats etc. and hurry to their
designated trucks. The boys remaining in the
Mandir would continue with the
Veda chanting so that the
Mandir activities were not
interrupted.
Blessing the food for the days
distribution
The trucks
numbered 1 to 24, the 6 tractors (numbered T1 through T6) and
the two special vans, were lined up in a numerical sequence
along the main road of the Ashram starting from the Gopuram gate
and extending up to and beyond Shanti Bhavan. These trucks had
already been loaded by the recently graduated alumni in the wee
hours of the morning and were all ready to go. A quick inventory
was taken to ensure that the truck had been stocked correctly, a
quick headcount and everything was ready to roll.
When everything
was accounted for, the coordinator gave the signal and the
convoy started to go out slowly. As each truck reached Sai
Kulwant Hall a resounding chant of 'Bhagavan
Sri Sathya Sai Babaji Ki Jai' rang out, and the long
convoy slowly wound out of the Ashram like a long snake. They
did not go far though. Only up to the Institute Hostel, where
they made a 'pit' stop. This is where they collect goodies for
the students (usually biscuits, chips or potato patties and a
fruit) so thoughtfully provided by Mother Sai, and cans of
drinking water. A can of majiga, or
spicy buttermilk, one for each truck, is also loaded, and thus
equipped, the convoy moves out bringing Swami's love to the
countryside!
Nagarsankirtan in Puttaparthi on
Day
The
first two days of the Grama Seva
was concentrated around Puttaparthi and the adjoining villages.
October 17th, the day one of the distribution is centered on
Puttaparthi, up to and including the Chitravathi Road. The boys
walk up in Nagarsankeertan up to
the village, starting around 10:00 a.m., followed by the trucks
with the food, after the end of the morning's programme of the
first day of the Saptaha Yagna in
Sai Kulwant Hall. Puttaparthi is home for most of the boys so
they experience no real problems and the distribution moves
fast.
The next day the
action moved to the adjoining villages like Brahmanapalli,
Kovillaguttapalli, Gokulam and so on. In the morning, around 8
a.m., the coordinators asked permission to leave so that they
could start and finish the distribution early. Swami remarks
that all the villages are close by so where is the need to
hurry? Only then we realise that it being a Monday,
Rahukalam was from 7:30 a.m. to
9:00 a.m. We had forgotten, but He had not! At 9:20 a.m. Swami's
blessing is obtained and the boys hurry out eager to get started
and come back in time for Swami's Dasara
Discourse in the afternoon.
At each of these
villages the roads have been washed clean and welcome banners
strung up. The washed roads are decorated with floral patterns
and all the boys are welcomed as if they were welcoming Swami
Himself! The boys are touched. The planning and coordination has
been fine-tuned after 4 years of Grama
Seva so everything proceeds like clockwork without any
hiccups. Some of the villages have a sizeable Muslim population.
So more often than not the response to our "Sai Ram" is a "Salaam
Alaikum". The Muslims also eagerly accept Swami's
Prasadam coming as it does during
the month of Ramazan, the most holy
month for the Muslims. Truly, Swami's love knows no boundaries.
After 2-3 hours almost everyone is finished, tired from the
unaccustomed labour in the Sun, but elated also at having done
His work satisfactorily.
From now onwards
the distribution has to move further afield. The trucks have now
to take the road less travelled, most of the time over dirt
tracks, to reach remote villages and distribute under trying
conditions. I decide to hitch-hike a ride on one of the trucks
and accompany the boys so I could take some photographs and
experience the Seva first hand.
Please join me on my journey??
October 19th, I
join Group 3 which is distributing to Venkatagaripalli village.
It is a big village with a sizeable population, so half the
group (i.e. 2 out of the 4 trucks) is assigned to this one
single village. My truck is mostly full of Brindavan boys with
some Brindavan teachers. We leave a little after 9 a.m., as the
village is quite near. We soon take a turn off the main road, on
the diversion to the village. The villagers walking along the
dirt track all say "Sai Ram" to us as we lurch along. The boys
all call back "Sai Ram" in unison. Soon the truck in front of us
comes to a stop rather suddenly and we wonder if we have reached
the village. We peer out but no huts are seen. A teacher gets
down hurriedly from the lead truck and is seen negotiating with
a village woman. He buys a basketful of freshly plucked guavas.
He must have been a good negotiator for he gets it relatively
cheap at Rs 100.00. All the boys are happy at the prospect of
eating some garden-fresh guavas.
Being welcomed with bhajans at
Venkatagaripalli village
In a few moments
we reach the village to a heartwarming sight. The village is
well decorated with buntings and pictures of Bhagavan. The
streets have been nicely cleaned. And all the villagers are
waiting to welcome us at the village entrance and start singing
Sai Bhajans as soon as our buses
are sighted. The boys all hop off the bus and join the singing.
A couple of teachers in the meantime go ahead to scout the
village and plan the distribution strategy. After we sing
Bhajans for a few minutes, the
villagers do Arathi to Bhagavan's
picture in the front of the bus. And now we are ready to start
the distribution.
The village "main
road" is rather long and houses and huts are laid out on both
sides. The road is quite narrow and the trucks would not be able
to negotiate it easily. So the thoughtful villagers provide us
with a bullock cart to help us transport the
Prasadam packets from the trucks at
the village entrance up to the current distribution point. One
of the more enterprising boys hops onto the cart and takes
charge of the bullock cart loading operation.
The boys break up
into sub-groups. About 8-10 boys are assigned to a teacher and
the distribution area is well coordinated between the sub-groups
so that there is no duplication or overlap. The 8-10 boys in
each group all have different tasks. 2 boys carry the crate
containing rice Prasadam packets.
One or two boys carry the plastic bags of
laddus. One boy carries the bundle of
dhotis and another boy carries the
bundle of saris. The remaining boys
and the teachers act as Swami's messengers to hand over His
Prasadam to the villagers.
The modus operandi
of the distribution is quite simple. We knock at a house and
politely say, "Sai Ram" with folded hands. Then we tell the
villagers that Swami from Puttaparthi has sent some
Prasadam for them. We ask them for
the number of inmates in each house and hand over the requisite
food packets and laddus to them.
Some of them accept it in their hands. Some nip back in to get a
plate and some ladies accept the food in the folds of their sari
in the rural fashion. Quite a few of them touch the food to
their eyes in a gesture of respect to show their thanks at
Swami's immense grace. The teacher or designated elder then
hands over the sari and
dhoti to the elder in
the house. A small picture of Swami is also given to each
household.
A bullock cart pressed into
service in Venkatagaripalli village
When the crates of
food or stack of clothes is getting low, the boys act as runners
and rush up to the bullock cart which is somewhere along the
main road (so as to be equally accessible to all groups) to get
replenishments. It is demanding work and the boys are soon
sweating from the morning sun, but the distribution is
proceeding fairly fast. They get a break when the bullock cart
has to go back to the truck to get additional supplies.
Whenever we come
to a fork in the road, the lead group decides to take a path and
posts a lookout to inform the groups following them as to which
areas they are going to cover. A teacher brings up the rear
(behind all the groups) to ensure that no house has been left
out.
I am busy taking
pictures of the village scene and the distribution but soon have
a sizeable crowd of small kids following me. I now feel like the
Pied Piper of Hamelin, with the kids going wherever I lead. I
find out from them that their village school has closed for the
day as we were coming down to distribute
Prasadam, so the whole village wears a festive look. The
kids all clamor for a photograph, so I oblige them. I then ask
them to go and wait in their respective houses to receive the
Prasadam when we come to their
doorstep.
For most of the
students this is their first visit to a village. Some of them
are surprised at the number of people living in such small
houses and under such spartan conditions. But all of them
appreciate the villagers' warmth, their spontaneous simplicity
and devotion to Bhagavan.
The village itself
is very clean and as is true of all villages in India, is full
of domesticated animals that roam freely everywhere. Goats,
sheep, pigs, cows, hens, stray dogs that growl menacingly and
even monkeys, all are well represented. A goat that has just had
a couple day old kids catch the students' fancy and they cuddle
the small little goat kids that can barely stand on their four
legs.
In about a couple
of hours all the groups that have spread out to distribute the
food are almost done and we wend our way back to the main
entrance of the village and wait for everyone to join us. After
everyone is gathered, the villagers want to do
Arathi and thus show their thanks
to Swami. We again gather around the truck which has a picture
of Swami attached to the windshield and the village elders do
Arathi. Slowly we say our good-byes
to the villagers and the two trucks move out. About a kilometre
from the village we stop in the shade of a large tree as we are
famished and we tuck into the refreshments and the buttermilk
that has been provided. And of course, the fresh guavas.
On October 20th, I
join Group 1, and am assigned to Vehicle number 3 that is headed
to Satarlapalli village, a village at a distance of just over 45
kms as the crow flies. But the road winds over really difficult
terrain so it is estimated that it could take 2-3 hours to
reach.
In the morning the
coordinators again ask permission to leave early. Swami says
"Yes" and so we leave around 8:45 a.m. Group 1 consists of
Vehicles 1 through 4 and the assigned tractor (T1). Right
outside the Ashram, near the Kalyana Mantapam, Vehicle 1
develops a puncture. It takes a while to get the puncture fixed,
as there was a power failure so we could not get the tire
inflated. Finally around 10:00 a.m. we are ready to roll. We
finally realised that we need to act according to His will and
not hurry up so we could be back in time to listen to the
afternoon Discourse.
After about 20
kms, while we are in the rural countryside, we had to wait again
as Vehicle 2 had an accelerator cable ruptured right in the
middle of nowhere. It takes about a half hour but some of the
boys manage to repair it with some makeshift wires that are
available. The driver of the truck is amazed at their
versatility.
I am in a truck
with High school boys and a couple of their teachers. The young
boys are beginning to feel tired as it is not exactly pleasant
travelling in a pickup truck along bumpy roads. At this one of
the teachers suggest we play a game. My ears immediately perk
up. Memories of many journeys done in my youth come to mind
where we played idle games just to "pass the time". I wonder
what kind of games will be played by the boys from the High
School, where God-centered education and character building is
given so much premium. I was not to be disappointed. The teacher
announces that it is going to be a memory game. He said that I
will say, "I love Swami". The next boy will add to this, "I love
Swami and Jesus". And so on it goes, with each
boy adding His favourite name of God or a Holy teacher. The
trick is to remember the right sequence of names - if you get
the sequence wrong then you are out of the game. What a
revelation!! A game consisting of names of the Gods just to pass
the time. Soon
everyone is engrossed, and it becomes quite complex after 8-10
names are added. And of course, lots of fun. Attention is thus
easily diverted from the aching body and before we know it we
are at the crossroads that would takes us the last kilometre in
to Satarlapalli village.
Stopping for refreshments near
Satarlapalli village
We wait at the
crossroad till all the trucks catch up. It is already 11:30 in
the morning so we decide to partake of some of the goodies that
Swami has sent. That and the glass of buttermilk refresh
everyone and all are now keen to start. While truck 3 goes to
Satarlapalli village, the other trucks move on to their assigned
villages 3-4 kms further down the road.
We take a
diversion and one kilometre of bone-jarring ride on a goat track
brings us to this remote, isolated village. We pull up and soon
the entire village gathers around the truck. The boys quickly
form a line while the group co-ordinator talks to the village
head. We go in a Nagarsankeertan
from the truck up to the Rama temple in the centre of the
village. It has been our experience that no matter how poor and
destitute the village is, it still has a neatly maintained
temple in the village square. That is why Swami always says that
the true Bharatiya culture is to be
found only in India's villages.
All the village
kids join us in the Nagarsankeertan
and clap wildly to the Bhajans in
unrestrained excitement that is the province of the young and
truly innocent. The Nagarsankeertan
winds its way up to the temple along a very narrow cobbled
pathway, avoiding cow and goat droppings and other such items
strewn all over the road. At the Rama temple we stop and
continue singing Bhajans till it
seems all the inhabitants of the village join us. The leader of
our group then announces that we have come from Puttaparthi to
distribute Swami's Prasadam and
request everyone to wait in their respective homes and that we
will come and deliver at their doorstep.
Soon we get
organized into 4 small groups and the area of distribution for
each group is quickly earmarked after studying the layout of the
village. Very soon the distribution is in full swing and the 4
small groups spread quickly in all the 4 directions. I have a
difficult time tracking down the next group after finishing
taking pictures of one group as they have moved so quickly.
As in the other
village I am again surrounded by the kids. These kids are very
friendly and take me to the back of the village and proudly show
me their village well which is full of water. This is welcome as
all the wells in the village which we visited the day before
were dry. I take some pictures and the kids are very happy and
delighted, just like a tour guide showing off the Taj Mahal to
some gawking tourists.
Distributing sarees in
Satarlapalli village to people from nearby hamlets
Again another two
hours of non-stop distribution and we are done. But we find a
number of ladies and gents waiting and clamouring for the
Prasadam and clothes right beside
our truck. Enquiries reveal that they are residents of hamlets
that are close to the villag e. As these people are really poor,
we seat them all next to the truck, the 30 odd ladies in front
and the 10 or so gents behind. We take a quick inventory and
feel that the Prasadam and the
clothes would suffice but just barely. We give one
sari to each lady and a
dhoti to a gentleman, apart from a
packet of food and a laddu each. By
Swami's grace, the number of saris
is just exactly enough to give to all the women and not one
extra sari is left over! Everyone
is wreathed in smiles and very happy to have received these
tangible gifts of Bhagavan's love.
In Kodapaganipalli village
We all board the
truck and it is time to leave. A pained and embarrassed silence
follows, similar to what we experience before the imminent
departure of our loved ones at the railway station or an
airport. The innocent villagers do not know how to express their
thanks to Swami and stand quietly shuffling their legs. The
young kids stare at us with their large eyes that say it all.
Suddenly on an impulse, I lean out of the truck and extend my
hand to the nearest kid and say "Sai Ram". He immediately takes
it and pumps it up and down vigorously yelling "Sai Ram, Sai
Ram" at the top of his voice. All the kids now join in and want
to shake hands. A little physical touch that enables them to
give us a proper send-off. Even the adults hanging shyly in the
back, now come forward and jostle each other in their eagerness
to shake hands. By now all the students
are also hanging out of the truck shaking hands with the
villagers. Slowly the truck starts and we leave the village with
about 40 kids running behind us shouting "Sai Ram" and waving
their hands wildly.
Accepting prasdam with reverence
in Yerrapalli village
We take the dirt
road back and go ahead to join the other trucks in the group
that are 3-4 kms down the road. They are still not done with
their distribution and we wait for about a half-hour for them to
finish. We compare notes and find that they had got all the
little children into the village school
and had taught them the Sai Gayathri.
Distributing in a remote house in
Cherlopalli village
Soon it is time to
go home. We decide to continue ahead and loop back to
Puttaparthi from a small town called Pedapalli, rather than
retrace our steps back the same way we had come. The road is
bumpy but motorable the drivers assure us. We pass through some
3 kms of forest land that is very
tranquil and soon reach the town and are back home at around
3:45 p.m. A quick shower and it is immediately to the
Mandir and I am gratified to find
that Swami's Divine Discourse had not started yet.
Distributing in Kotalapalli
village
And
the list goes on. Everyday we visit different villages to
different experiences and memories that would last a lifetime.
Villages like Cherlopalli, Chendrayanipalli, Kottalapalli,
Buchaiahgaripalli and Venugopalapuram.
Arathi at Cherlopalli village
So many memories
flood the mind and will remain in the heart for a lifetime. For
example, when we were the last bus finishing the distribution in
Cherlopalli village and running about 15 minutes behind the
others, the villagers ask us to visit their village temple for
Arathi. We decide to oblige and
trudge back up wearily about half a kilometer to the top of the
hill and what did we find - a bigger-than-life size picture of
Bhagavan in a temple devoted solely to Swami. Or on the way to
Yerrapalli village, when we stop for snacks under a railway
bridge and all the students climb
up the embankment up to the railway line so I could take their
picture. Or the total innocence of the very isolated village of
Venugopalapuram where we taught the little school children the
Sai Gayathri; or the exquisite scenic beauty of Reddivaripalli,
that was situated miles in the interior and surrounded by hills
with a deep red soil and thick green vegetation that gave it a
surreal look. Above all, the most lasting memory would be of the
love and reverence that all the villagers showed us, with no
exceptions, as Swami's emissaries.
Climbing up the embankment on the
way to Yerrapalli village
On the way back to
Parthi, the excess food packets left over were usually
distributed to the people working the fields on both sides of
the road. The sight of the villagers running up to the road,
sometimes as much as half a kilometer, as soon as our truck with
its yellow Grama Seva banner is
spotted is a sight that has to be experienced. We always stopped
for them and gave them a Prasadam
packet and laddus and receive their
blessings and good wishes in turn.
Distributing the excess prasadam
in Kotacheruvu
And soon we are
done, many days ahead of schedule. Immaculate planning and the
availability of 32 vehicles enable us to finish the distribution
in the targeted mandals
(sub-districts) of Puttaparthi, Bukkapatnam and Kottacheruvu -
about 142 villages in all.
The boys are tired
but very, very satisfied. It has been a soul elevating
experience for them. Swami always says that service begets
humbleness in a man. And humbleness is perhaps the most
important prerequisite on our spiritual path back to God.
And the villagers!
Would just a meal and clothing make a real difference in their
lives? No, but the very thought that the God in Puttaparthi is
looking after them and thinking about them gives them so much
hope, nourishment, and love and meaning that the entire exercise
has become one of the most rewarding lifetime experiences for
all. And it is all just because of His love!!
Jai Sai Ram.
Source:
Radio Sai
E-Magazine, December 2004
http://www.radiosai.org/Journals/Vol_02/20Dec01/Pages/06_SaiSeva/SaiSeva.htm
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