Source: sssbpt.org - web-layout & design saibabaofindia.com CHRISTMAS REFLECTIONS... With the arrival of Wintry December comes the memoirs of Little Jesus and His Advent, the celebration of Christmas. With the Christmas Day a fortnight away, Prasanthi is slowly gearing up for the D-Day when once again the Advent of the Son of God will be celebrated in the immediate Divine Presence of Lord walking on two Feet!
..and such an Advent cannot miss the 'pomp and show', the "gaiety and piety" divinity richly deserves. Prasanthi Nilayam traditionally witnesses Christmas with western flavour as teams from overseas make it a point to light up the Divine Abode to match the spiritual significance and grandeur of the occasion.
Last year, during Christmas 2008, it was the turn of the 'Americans', a dedicated team from Region 8, California, to deck up the Divine Abode; and the team did it to perfection. Read on the story of their dedicated team effort that made the task a grand success... compiled by Ms. Sue Kelly Christie
Posted at 18:20:08 Hrs. IST on 10 Dec 2009
Well, their President – Barack Obama – told the world during his election campaign last year, "Yes we can" and after their job of decorating the Sai Kulwant Hall, Swami's residence and guest house, the USA Region 8 of the Sri Sathya Sai Organisation can honestly declare – "Yes we did!"
Yes, they most certainly did! What an achievement and a singular accomplishment. Especially considering this is the first time the Americans have been accorded the honour of lighting up, for THE Light of the Universe, our Beloved Bhagawan Baba. They most certainly did do it! I am sure that those fortunate enough to be present in Puttaparthi for the Holy Christmas Festival could not have failed to be impressed by the tremendous work of decorating the ashram for the Christmas season by the USA Region 8 (which includes Hawaii, Southern California and Las Vegas) dedicated to our Beauteous Baba.
Being here in Parthi always inspires in one a sense of awe and wonder, that being so, one may not always be so aware of the hard work and tremendous attention to detail that go into many of the wondrous sights that we could so easily regard as yet another of Baba's marvellous "manifestations." Here's a wee glimpse "backstage," so we can show our appreciation to all those who put in so much loving effort and hard work, to make Christmas in Parthi even more beautiful.
The planning began almost one year before Christmas 2008. It was February of 2008, when the first planning meeting took place. There, an organizational chart, time table and initial design ideas were tabled. The theme was also decided – Christmas Gift of Love. This was all executed under the very capable leadership of Dr. Mike Congleton, President of the USA Region 8, and April Skrobiza, the Region 8 Christmas Decorations Coordinator. An exciting innovation was unveiled this year – LED – (Light Emitting Diodes). Although this marvellous technology is not brand new, this is the first time it has ever been used here in Parthi. Due to the limited supply of electricity to the Ashram, lighting has never before been made a feature in the decorations. However, by using LED, USA Region 8 devotees were able to put on electrifying displays at a fraction of the wattage for electricity. This colourful lighting technology enabled our Swami's residence and guest house to be aglow with wash lights which would illuminate the outside walls with a changing array of beautiful colours, each colour fading slowly into another. The colours were of gentle hues, giving the effect of a rainbow passing over the Holy Abode.
The light genies were the family Bakshi! The Bakshis are experts at making commercial light displays. They also graciously lent their skills to the Sai Kulwant Hall which the team decided was to have a heavenly theme, depicting God's glorious kingdom with angels and stars. The mandir was to be adorned with beautiful pictures of Jesus and Mother Mary. Also, Bible scenes about the birth of Jesus. In portraying the heavenly realms, the designers created exquisite spiral "ribbon" lights, plus a "Moravian" style star which was placed in the centre of the mandir balcony.
The Bakshi family's lighting design drew a blessed sound from the lips of the Lord. "Beautiful!" He declared as He observed the display.
What validation for the Bakshi family, who are experts in installing massive lighting effects for Las Vegas hotel signs. So, it was with love from Vegas to Vishnu! The core team consisted of a couple of dozen devotees who met frequently to discuss designs and ideas, also to report on progress made in locating the required materials and resources. Phyllis Wohlberg led the design team which consisted of artists blessed with numerous talents ranging from painting to sculpting. Then the gifted group set about the challenging task. Some worked with their hands, while others carried out their tasks on computers. Then all of their numerous concepts were unified so that the decorations would be consistent. Jai! Celebrate Unity in Diversity! The simple, yet striking palette of the traditional Christmas colours of red and green with gold and silver accents was decided upon, as was the theme of using angels in the Sai Kulwant Hall.
Also in the design plans, were many small details that one might have missed unless you were part of the design team. For instance, as part of the decorations on the mandir windows, the designers wanted lighted candles on the window sills, nestling among the pine garlands. The team was told that there could not be real candles burning – associate lighted candles very much with the Christmas holiday, persisted, and found a new candle technology introduced a few years previously, making available many different types of decorative wax candles with LED "flicker" lights. These candles looked exactly like real candles, emitting a glowing, flickering light from within. Because of the LED bulbs, these candles could stay lit for over 350 hours, using batteries. This was more than enough time to last through the entire Christmas celebration.
The three candles that Bhagawan lit to open the celebrations, were hand-made by a candle factory in Carlsbad, California. They were made especially for Swami and were placed on three tall, antique gold candle-holders.
So determined were our USA Region 8 Christmas Decorations group to make the occasion as real as possible, they even brought over real beach sand from Cardiff by the Sea in Southern California. Several bags of the sand were taken over by Region 8 volunteers. The sand was spread around the "Surfing Santa" display to simulate a real beach.
Continuing in their pursuit of reality – they wanted Snow! Some of their designers decided to install two snow machines in the middle of the Sai Kulwant Hall. These snow machines added a surprise element to the design and provided a realistic snowing effect during several segments of the Christmas program.
I believe someone in the choir which performed for Swami on Christmas Eve, when the "snow" began falling from the middle section of the mandir, looked up and said: "Look, it's snowing, it's Swami, it's a miracle!" Ha! Ha! Some of the eager young adults in Region 8 wanted to create something special for Swami. They were responsible for 30 beautiful red and green velvet banners, with lovely gold and silver trim. These added an elegant note to the mandir and gate columns.
The planning was going well, and the first all volunteers meeting was held on June 21. Here the majority of the designs were presented on MS Powerpoint slides. This was to help the volunteers with the assembling and installing of the various designs. Within a day of that presentation, these slides were presented to Dr. Narendranath Reddy, (of Prasanthi Council) who was very pleased with them. He suggested that the presentation be given to the Secretary of the Ashram, Mr. Chakravarthi, after Gurupoornima.
The Region 8 Service Coordinator. Rohan Balasuriya, was asked to take the presentation to Prasanthi. He also needed to measure the exact dimensions of the Sai Kulwant Hall and other buildings to be decorated, to enable the team to properly finalise the designs and purchase the exact amount of decorations for each area.
With Swami's grace, the presentation was made to Mr. Chakravarthi, who reviewed each slide and asked detailed questions. Mr. Chakravarthi made many positive comments and agreed to all the designs. As you can imagine, dear reader, this was to the absolute delight of the presentation team. In early August, with measurements now securely in hand, their purchasing team began the work of locating and ordering all the different items needed to create the designs that had been approved by the ashram. No small task!
An 18-page spreadsheet with details of all the design areas was compiled, listing the exact items needed, including quantities, sizes and suggested sources. This information enabled the purchasing team, which was headed by Task Force Leader Vimala Srinivas and team leader Roopa Sharma, to gather all the needed items – which included 24,000 ornaments, thousands of metres of garlands and hundreds of wreaths. Also specialty items such as LED twinkle and rope lights, statues, banners and snow machines! They were found in such diverse places as China, India and the USA. As an added task, many items had to be organized into 25-30 pound packages so they could be taken to India as extra baggage by each volunteer. This was to avoid the decorations being stuck in customs, which had been a problem in the past. With the help of devotees in Bangalore, some of the green pine-style garlands were made into various sized wreaths and 10,000 prasad packets were filled with nuts, raisins and mango candy. The Bangalore devotees also helped with the items from China, which they received, checked, organized and then stored until it was time to transport them via truck to the ashram in early December.
In October of 2008, the team received wonderful news from Prasanthi. Swami had personally reviewed the proposed Christmas decoration designs, and He had given His approval. Dr. Narendranath Reddy said that Swami carefully looked at all of the pictures, making comments as He looked through them. Understandably this was the best and most precious news the team could have received, as they had all been working long hours to make this project worthy of their beloved Bhagawan.
Now that the purchasing team had completed their buying bonanza, it was time for the Construction Team to enter the scene. These talented people were in charge of the assembly and installation of the decorations. Meetings were held in October and November to plan what would be needed to assemble and install the decorations. Obviously there was much to discuss and many solutions to be found.
At the final meeting on November 16th the decorations group of over 150 devotees divided into teams, under the direction of Construction Task Force Leader Dushyant Mehta. Each team was assigned to handle the assembly and installation of decorations for a certain area of Sai Kulwant Hall, Swami's residence, and Poornachandra balconies. The team finalized their plans and answered questions about assembling and installing their Particular decorations.
The excitement was mounting. Soon it would be time for India. Some of the volunteers had left in mid-November in order to participate in Swami's 83rd birthday celebration, while others would leave at the end of November or early December. The first meeting of the USA Region 8 Decorations Team at the ashram was held on December 11 at 7pm.
The team had been allocated a shed – Shed 32. This shed was to become home to all the ideas, imaginings, mouldings, cuttings, stitchings, hammerings, gluings, oohings and aahings which undoubtedly emerged from the concerted efforts of USA Region 8 devotees in the upcoming 12 days. Which reminds me of the song, Twelve Days of Christmas..
On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me.. The chance to decorate for Swami….
Even though USA Region 8 devotees decorated the central portion of the ashram, there were decorations needed for other parts of the ashram as well. These were the Western canteen, the shopping centre, bakery, bookstore and hospitals. These areas were designed, assembled and installed by a team of experienced international volunteers consisting of people from Iran, Russia, Holland, Australia and Germany. The international volunteers integrated with the USA Region 8 Christmas Decorations Team and were guided by Tom Lahey (International Christmas Decorations Director).
Mr. Lahey proved to be an absolute gem for the team as he provided them with invaluable advice, as well as creative solutions to many of the team's most perplexing installation issues. Lahey and his international team assisted the Region 8 team in completing their installation task quickly and thoroughly with their expertise, according to a very grateful April Skrobiza, the Region 8 Christmas Decorations Coordinator.
She also told us: "From December 12 to 21, Shed 32 was the centre of our lives! It was amazing and inspiring to see so many devotees working with such dedication and perseverance. Many of the group went without meals and had very little sleep, but still they kept on with their work, thinking only of pleasing Swami".
Shed 32 was to be the working home for the majority of the USA Region 8 decorations team and their volunteers for the intensive ten-day run up to Christmas. But, also working hard in a different building was a team of Region 8 ladies headed by Semali Balasuriya at the Easwaramma Women's Welfare Trust building (located between North 3 & 4 buildings). The Region 8 ladies worked with the 18 young girls of the Easwaramma Trust whose ages ranged from 16-24. Together, they sewed all the pillar and pigeon guard covers. The Easwaramma Trust girls worked hard and diligently with the Region 8 ladies for almost three weeks to finish the pillar and pigeon guard covers.
Another group placed gift items into the 10,000 red, green and gold organza bags which were distributed as Prasad. A photo of Swami, a small bag of vibuthi and two traditional Christmas candies were added to the Prasad bag, which was already filled with raisins and mango candies. These devotees did all this, with the name of the Lord lingering lovingly on their lips.
Then came the time for the LED lights to be incorporated into the decorations. There arose a question of a different kind – to twinkle or not to twinkle? It transpired that these twinkle lights, which were purchased in China had a built in program that enabled them to run through a series of transitions, which included twinkling, blinking, dimming and staying on. Well, as much as we all love a bit of twinkle and blinkle, what was needed for the decoration team's purposes was simply, staying on!
Lights in the Sai Kulwant Hall just had to stay on, static, no twinkle, not even the slightest blinkle, simply on! This created a dilemma for the lighting team, how could the lights be changed so as not to twinkle?
Refusing to accept this blinking obstacle, they spoke with Mr. Ramalingam, the head of the Maintenance Department at Prasanthi Nilayam, and he found a way, using a candle flame to strip the plastic from the wires and then he rewired the lights so they only stayed in the On position. Mr Ramalingam stayed up late into the night, stripping and rewiring many strands of twinkle lights until the lighting team, led by Daniel Gomez, who was the Christmas team electrician, were able to assist him.
Although the decoration team had many obstacles to overcome, there was much grace as well. All the volunteers had special Christmas decoration badges which they wore for identification. During the time in Shed 32 many of the volunteers found Vibhuti manifesting on their badges. Another sweet blessing came in the form of our Lord Himself when he drove past Shed 32 and gave all the team members car darshan. It seems that Shed 32 itself received some of the biggest blessings! Every morning Ganesh prayers would be held in Shed 32.
Rohini Haq, who was also part of the decorations team, recalls: "In the shed, it was amazing how all problems got resolved as quickly as they arose, showing us how Swami is always with us. The love we shared, even with the time constraints and work load, the understanding that everyone had for each other's idiosyncrasies, the care everyone imparted with bringing food for each other or a coffee when needed, showed our Divine bond of Sai Love.
"I'd like to share some of my other personal experiences. One day I went shopping for bhajan CDs. The shopkeeper kept trying to push Swami CDs on to me. Frustrated I said to him: 'Look, I don't want the same old songs sung by Swami, I already have them, moreover, Swami doesn't sing any more.'
"That afternoon in darshan, we had great seating, right in front of the mandir, we were all excited. Swami came out dressed in white. Swami then gave a discourse. Suddenly, He started singing. The words I had spoken to the shopkeeper earlier in the day resounded in my head like a bolt of lightning! Swami had finished one bhajan and just before starting the second one He turned His head a sharp left and looked right at me. Normally I sing the loudest while joining in the mandir bhajans but upon this day my throat felt as if it were choked. I was in tears, dreading the words I had uttered in the morning. With that look, it was as if my Lord was showing me, it is not He, who doesn't sing bhajans, but, at His will, it is me who can't sing them! As Swami's second bhajan was coming to a close, my tears were now tears of joy, as I had realized our Lord is always with us all, listening to each word we utter, each action we do and every breath we take - in any part of the world. He gives us these lessons to realize His Omnipresent love, the only thing asked in return is Faith and Love for Him."
Shelley Harrison, one of the team leaders, had these personal teachings from Bhagawan Baba: "Sometime in the week before Christmas, I prayed to Swami, 'If this is not real, show me what is real.' On Christmas night after his discourse, I left the Sai Kulwant Hall, walking down the road between the West Prasanthi buildings. As I came down the main road to retrieve my shoes, I saw a frail old Indian man sitting on a step on the corner. As I approached him, I heard a voice in my head say 'Give him the Prasad.' I wondered to myself, what will I say to him, what will he think? I walked passed him, found my shoes, then heard the voice again, 'Give him the packet.' I immediately started back to find the man. He had left. Disappointed, I looked up to try and find him and saw him almost directly in front of me, bent over almost double, walking slowly. I went over to him, bent over saying, 'Sai Ram' holding the packet in my hands. He looked up at the green packet with the picture of Swami showing through, dropped his walking stick and opened his hands to receive the packet. After I placed it in his hands he raised the packet to his forehead, with great reverence and joy on his face! I received a rush of joy from his joy, and we shared a moment of Divine love.
"The love of that moment stayed with me as I walked up the road. Swami had showed me what is real, what real service is, divine love shared by two hearts."
Another beautiful teaching experience from our Divine Teacher happened to John Harrison who, alongside Yogesh Alekal, was the co-manager of decorating Swami's residence and guest house.
"One experience stands out. Christmas evening, as I was walking to darshan, something in me cracked. I suddenly felt as though I had had enough. Not just because of the experience of this trip, but old feelings welled up from the past, feelings I thought I had overcome years ago. Maybe because Swami had not looked at me when I was quite close in Darshan, or because I was not feeling his presence inside: I don't know. But I was ready to leave. I was feeling angry, hurt and done – no, undone. I was telling Baba inside my head that he had better do something, and not something subtle, not something I could mistake as my imagination, or I might not be a devotee any more. Just as I was having these thoughts, Dr. Congleton came up to me and said that Bruce Kintz (building contractor) and I would be sitting on the verandah. I think I blinked at him and called to him as he was walking away and asked if he was sure I was supposed to sit there. He said yes. I think I said 'thank you,' and he said something like, no, it's Swami's wish. I turned to Bruce and he said he felt like crying.
"Another important thing I learnt on this trip is how one can so easily misperceive things. I had two glaring examples that happened to me on that trip. I was really enjoying working with a Particular person. We did a lot of work together and I felt that this workmate and I were becoming good friends. One day, another fellow showed up and my friend started spending more and more time with this new guy and not so much time with me. I am ashamed to admit it, but I became jealous. I recognized what was happening but could not totally overcome it. One day I asked my friend's wife who this new guy was, she said, Oh, he is my husband's son from his first marriage, and his son is here for the first time here. I was stunned, and ashamed. But grateful to have a fault of mine exposed so I could start the process of accepting it and forgiving myself for having it.
"The other misperception happened while being seated inside the mandir. A seva dal was walking among us, waving his hand in a forward moving motion saying 'closer, closer.' We moved at once. Then came the inevitable, 'closer, closer,' we scooted up again. I was now right up against the man in front of me and was already wondering how my legs were going to survive the next hour or so. Then the same Seva dal stood right above me pointing down at me saying 'close, close.' I looked at my legs already pressed against the person in front of me and couldn't imagine getting any closer. Again he pointed down at me and said in a firm tone "CLOSE" At this point I turned up my face, with a pitiful look upon it, took his hands in both of my hands and pleaded: I can't get any closer. What do you want me to do? He looked me straight in the eye and said 'Close zipper!'
Despite the facial colour I had gained after many hours working in the Indian sun, I felt my face redden. Oh was all I could say as I quickly corrected the situation. The point is that I, and I'm sure we all, misperceive things, it would behoove us all to get all the facts before we react to things, especially if the reaction is negative. It would save us all a lot of grief. Another thing I learned is that when you hear that small, nearly imperceptible voice in your mind telling you to do something, listen to it."
So, it transpires, during Christmas 2008, while USA Region 8 devotees were busy decorating, designing, constructing and lighting up the Sai Kulwant Hall, Swami's residence and guest house, the Lord was ever busy, teaching, coaxing, encouraging, protecting and loving his beloved devotees as they diligently went about their many and varied tasks.
The team were really blessed from head to toe. In turn, they had the opportunity to adorn our Lord, literally from head to toe. The toes were given a beautiful handcrafted footstool. April Skrobiza recalls: "Another sweet blessing came in the form of a footstool. Back in September, our Region 8 service coordinator Rohan Balasuriya was inspired to suggest that Region 8 offer a beautiful footstool to Swami as a Christmas gift on which He could rest His Lotus feet. After some research it was determined that available commercial footstools did not meet our specifications and quality requirements.
"We decided to custom-make a special footstool using the highest quality materials available in Southern California. A member of our Christmas decorations team, Adrian Kupersmid, who is a furniture maker, volunteered to construct the footstool for Swami using memory foam, a revolutionary new product that senses the body weight/temperature and automatically adjusts to provide the correct support. He also worked with Rohan to select a beautiful soft red velvet fabric to cover the footstool. The footstool dimensions specified by the ashram were 15 inches wide, 22 inches long and 6 inches high.
"After the careful handcrafting of the footstool was complete, Adrian packed and carried it with him to Prasanthi Nilayam. The President of USA Region 8, Dr. Congleton, presented the footstool to Swami on Christmas day, just after Swami had cut the Christmas cakes on the verandah. Dr. Congleton knelt before Swami and said 'Swami, the devotees from Region 8 Southern California, offer this footstool to you as a Christmas gift of Love for You to rest your Lotus feet on.' Swami nodded, and felt the gold fringe that was around the top edge."
And the adornment of the Divine Head? Two of the members of the decorations team recall their experiences.
Diana Wenman from the Encinitas Sai Centre recalls: "My most revelatory and meaningful moment was when I saw Swami sitting under the Moravian star. Being a Christian, I grew up with the Star of Bethlehem leading the Three Wise Men to the manger and Jesus, and to see that star over Swami –Jesus – God of all the Universe, was an amazing and deeply felt experience."
Corinne Codye of Wrightwood, California, remembers: "At the last minute we needed a different design for the central forward chandelier. The new design, invented as the artists and installers worked together, became a circlet of gauzy organza swags, adorned with hanging stars. Only the next day, Christmas Eve, as Swami came out and sat in this area, did we notice how this design had become a virtual celestial crown of gold, dancing in the symbolic heavens above his head as he sat on the verandah in His golden chair.
It is said when God does something, it is not only efficient but charming to all. Surely the divine plan was flowing through us to create such delightful effects as these, producing a true feeling of being an instrument in His hands."
So there you have it, our dear reader – a little glimpse behind the scenes into what it was like Decorating Divinity for Christmas 2008. The Americans' Region 8 really "Did It" from Vegas to Vishnu, from Broadway to Baba. From Christmas to Krishna. With Love, love, and more Love! From the tip of His toes to the Top of His head Beloved Bhagawan Baba was swathed in the USA's Region 8's Gift of Love. Well, well do
Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar, Visakhapatnam, an institution that is run in line with the academic features of the holistic institutions in Prasanthi Nilayam is celebrating its silver jubilee this year. As part of this celebration over 550 students accompanied by teachers and some of the passed out students have come down to Prasanthi Nilayam to be in His Divine Presence from 7 Dec to 10 Dec, 2009. The school that is located in Sector 8, MVP Colony,Visakhapatnam that was set up in the year 1985 has an imposing circular structure as its main building. The Campus has a prayer hall that is used for regular conducting of religious and service activities. Though the school is not directly affiliated with the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, Prasanthi Nilayam, it does work under the guidance of the main body from Prasanthi Nilayam. Following the pattern set by the Institutions under Sathya Sai University and the Higher Secondary and Primary Schools in Prasanthi Nilayam, this Institution set up bearing the name of Bhagawan has earned a name of its own to become one of the most sought after schools. The school runs under the CBSE system of education teaching from L.K.G through standard 10. The school has been maintaining high standard of performance right from its inception. The school is also blessed with the presence of some teachers appointed by Bhagawan Himself, old students from the Anantapur Campus of Sri Sathya Sai University, some of whom have been serving for the past twenty two years.
Our tenure at school had taught us not only academics but also the importance of human values in life. Cherishing school days is a pleasant experience for all. But, for us, the desire to realize the goals of our lives by following the Sai principles that we learnt at school is a pleasure that stays with us forever, says the alumni website echoing the spirit of students passed out from the hallowed portals of this blessed institution.
On the 9th evening the spirited children from the school presented a dance ballet entitled "Sai Kiranalu", a depiction of students of Sri Sathya Sai Institutions as shining examples of love.
The story was essentially weaved through the exemplary lives of three Sai Students whose contentment in life coupled with high ideals, as taught by the value based Sai Educational system in the Sathya Sai University, was seen bringing in individual and societal transformation.
The storyline had three youth, Prasanth, Swaroop and Deepak as pass outs of Sathya Sai University wielding their schools of thought based on Sai Education they received from their alma mater, bringing in effective transformation in different areas of their lives including their professions. While Prasanth willingly gave up his high profile job to help a depressed youth, and subsequently to join a school as a teacher, Swaroop who joined as a Joint Collector was able to run his official show to perfection strictly following the law of the land with utmost integrity. Deepak was exemplary enough in his business that had moral and ethical support that earned him respect in the society.
After delivering their might in the society, leading lives based on His message, the trio came down to Prasanthi Nilayam for the Annual Sports and Cultural Meet. And what their old Professor at the University could notice was something noble, contentment and happiness on their faces. A beaming professor remarked that it was a clear evidence of their practice of human values in their day-to-day lives and Bhagawan would be extremely happy at the transformation of His students. The colourful drama presentation intertwined with pack of devotional numbers was an audio-visual treat for the packed audience assembled at the blessed wednesday twilight, in the Divine Presence of Bhagawan.
Earlier, Bhagawan came at around 5 for a complete round and the presentation started with an invocation to Bhagawan, hailing Him to be the source and force behind the school and its onward journey.
…And it was obvious for one and all to see Bhagawan's involvement. He was seen attending the programme quite intensively often repeating the telugu poems (songs) came intertwined in between.
Souvenir and brochure for the institution was blessed by Bhagawan, while the captains of various houses from the school were with Vibhuti Prasadam, at the end of the programme.
All the participants were blessed with Safari pieces and sarees, for boys and girls, respectively. Bhagawan specially blessed a tinytot with a materialised chain.
The presentation essentially serves as a clarion call to the student fraternity to imbibe His teaching in their lives to make beloved Bhagawan "proud" of His students.
Posted at 15:38:37 Hrs. IST on 07 Dec 2009 On the evening of 6th December 2009, the rural Bal Vikas children from Punjab presented a musical dance drama "Vande Sai Mataram" in the Divine Presence. Over 400 Youth and 50 Bal Vikas children from Punjab who had assembled at Prasanthi Nilayam had the opportunity to have the Darshan of Bhagawan and listen to talks by eminent speakers in the lecture hall of Ashram. On this evening, Bhagawan came for Darshan at 5.05 p.m. to the chant of Vedas. At the outset, the coordinator of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation, Punjab announced the commencement of the dance drama "Vande Sai Mataram." The central part of the hall had a backdrop bearing the Indian tricolour on the map of India with a beautiful photograph of smiling visage of Bhagawan. At its bottom was a collage showcasing the culture of the land of Punjab.
The musical dance drama started with a dance by Bal Vikas children draped in the costume of Indian tricolour. Sai Youth from Gujarat were visiting Punjab to see the famous places in Punjab. The Sai Youth of Punjab were conducting them around the State. After visiting different spiritual and historical places like Golden Temple and Jalianwala Bagh, they started discussion on Punjab and national integration. Some interesting facts about the Golden Temple were revealed to the audience like the full-fledged temple was built during the leadership of 5th Guru, Guru Arjan Dev Ji in 1580, but was completed in 1604. About 5,000 people are fed free at a time in the temple.
Great patriots like Bhagat Singh, Lala Lajpat Rai, Udham Singh had great love for Bharat. Their dreams were to see a prosperous and free country and they sacrificed their lives for their country. In ancient times, when people followed the teachings of their gurus, there was love and harmony in society. They never hated anybody and followed the principle of love all and serve all.
Punjab had passed through bad times too. Evil forces of desire, anger, pride, greed, delusion and jealousy had subdued peace and harmony. Even the political system took mileage of the situation and divided communities. It is at such a time that people realised that they had lost their moorings and took to spirituality and worship of God. God descends on earth whenever there are discrepancies in the conduct of mankind. That is why Bhagawan has incarnated on earth.
There were interludes in the drama when the rich culture of Punjab was showcased through dances, the harvest scene of separating the husk from the grain.
The activities of the Sai Organisation of Punjab were then presented to the audience like the Village Integrated Programme (VIP) and Bal Vikas programmes. The Village Integrated Programmes were carried out not only in villages but also in towns. The dance drama came to a close with the vibrant Bhangra dance of Punjab.
After the performance, Bhagawan asked the organisers to distribute clothes to the participants. Very pleased with their performance, Bhagawan went amidst them, and a photo session followed. Prasadam was distributed to all the participants.
Then a group of singers from Punjab State Organisation sang a few songs, of which "Oh Sai Baba, we love You Baba" stood out. Arati was offered to Bhagawan at 6.20 p.m. Before retiring to His abode, Bhagawan again went amidst them, but now, Bhagawan took a full round blessing all who had been involved with the drama. Another photograph session followed.
Yes, it was indeed special blessings from Bhagawan for the participants from the State of Punjab. Source: sssbpt.org - web-layout & design saibabaofindia.com
Video: O Lord Sri Sathya Sai Baba, I take refuge at thy lotus feet...
************************
Saturday, Dec 05, 2009 - West Bengal Youth Parthi Yatra - Dance Drama Posted at 12: 35: 05 Hrs. IST on 06 Dec 2009 Over 550 Sai Youth from the State of West Bengal came to Prasanthi Nilayam to have the Darshan of Bhagawan and participate in the youth camp where many eminent speakers addressed them on the moral way of life with special emphasis on Bhagawan and His teachings. Some of them even shared their experiences they had with Bhagawan with the youth. On the evening of 5th December 2009, the youth were blessed with an opportunity to present a drama, entitled "Transformation – Individual to Global" in the Divine presence. The drama started with the narration of Bhagawan's Chinna Katha where a rich man was afflicted with a serious illness. Many doctors examined him, but he found no relief from their treatment. At last, a noble man suggested that his illness was due to the fact that his eyes were not remaining steady on a particular object. His vision would become steady, if he looked at one colour, opined the wiseman.
Immediately, the rich man ordered that the entire village should be painted green, even people were commanded to wear only green clothes. When the noble man visited him again, he was surprised to see the entire village swathed in green colour. Regretting the ignorance of the rich man, the noble man suggested that instead he could have worn green colour glasses. The moral of the story was, "One cannot change the world, but one has to transform himself at the first instance to change the world." Vivek, an ideal Sai Youth, lived his life in a moralistic way. He never swerved from his ideal path. The drama was set on a natural environment of a tea shop where Vivek usually met his friends and discoursed on moral principles, a small store and a telephone booth. His company was about to clinch a huge contract for which Vivek was playing the pivotal role. The managing director entrusted the entire responsibility on Vivek and asked him to come up with a proposal.
His colleague in the company, Suresh was jealous of his achievements and the confidence he had won over his boss. He thought of a ploy to tarnish the name of Vivek. When Vivek was not in office, Suresh asked for the password of Vivek's computer and revealed the contents of the proposal to a competitor company. As a result, Vivek's company lost the contract.
Meanwhile, Vivek was identified with a tumour in his brain and had to undergo an urgent operation. The cost of the surgery was 2.5 lakhs. Vivek did not have such a huge sum of money. But the doctor was adamant on his business principles. The managing director of the company thought that it was Vivek who sold the contents of the proposal and fired him out of the company. One day Vivek lost consciousness and was urgently rushed to the doctor by his friends. The doctor recognised Vivek, but stuck to his business principles. His friend, the tea shop owner and a sikh person were willing to sell their possessions. The doctor at the beginning laughed at their proposal, but was moved on seeing the love his friends had for Vivek. He then asked the reason for their strong bond of love for Vivek. They then told the doctors how Vivek led an idealistic life and how they were transformed by his simple thoughts which were hard enough to penetrate the hardest of hearts. The doctor voluntarily agreed to perform the surgery free of cost. The surgery became a success and Vivek recovered from his illness. Now the managing director came to know of Suresh's evil designs and felt sorry for his act and fired Suresh out of the company. Out of his magnanimity, Vivek asked his boss to forgive Suresh and take him back in the company. The drama ended on this happy note and a song with Vivek conveying the teachings of Bhagawan. The song ended with the punch line that this age is not the age of information technology, but the age of Sai transformation technology. Bhagawan materialised a gold chain for the cast of Vivek in appreciation of his brilliant enacting. The crew was blessed with a photograph session and Bhagawan specially called for Prasadam to distribute in person. Bhagawan spent more than 10 minutes with the cast. After a few Bhajans, the programme for the day came to a close with Arati to Bhagawan at 5.55 p.m.
Mr. Ratan Tata, Chairman of India's largest business group, visited Prasanthi Nilayam today, along with his colleague Mr. Krishna Kumar, Vice-Chairman of Indian Hotels Company. Before evening darshan, all the college students and the visitors from the Tata group were seated in the College
auditorium. Bhagavan came for darshan at half-past four to Sai Kulwant Hall in the car and directly moved to the College auditorium for a drama presentation by the students there. After the drama, Swami interacted with the participants onstage for more than half an hour before returning to the Mandir where the bhajans were going on. He accepted Arati from inside the Bhajan Hall after getting down from the car at a quarter to seven and then interacted with Mr. Tata and Mr. Krishna Kumar for fifteen minutes there before returning to His residence in the car. ...continue reading with photos and more details
Ratan Tata visits Prasanthi Nilayam - 3-4 Dec 2009
Posted at 14:35:30 Hrs. IST on 05 Dec 2009 -
The man whose business forays with a firm footing on ethics and righteous values made him a legendary figure of international fame, Ratan Tata, made a special entry in Prasanthi Nilayam, the Abode of Peace, on 3rd Dec seeking Bhagawan's blessings. This is the second visit of Mr. Ratan Tata to Bhagawan, in less than two months. Earlier, during Bhagawan's recent visit to Mumbai, he was blessed with an audience for forty-five minutes, in Dharmakshetra complex. . Tata's Credentials Mr. Ratan N Tata, who inherited the Tata legacy from legendary JRD Tata, has been chairman of Tata Sons, the Tata promoter company, since 1991, when JRD stepped down after fifty years at the helm. He is also chairman of other Tata companies, including Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Power, Tata Tea, Tata Chemicals, Indian Hotels and Tata Teleservices.
The Government of India honoured Mr Ratan Tata with its second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, in 2008. Earlier, in 2000, he had been awarded the Padma Bhushan. He has also been conferred an honorary doctorate in business administration by the Ohio State University, an honorary doctorate in technology by the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, an honorary doctorate in science by the University of Warwick, and an honorary fellowship by the London School of Economics.
Mr. Ratan Tata serves in senior capacities in various organisations in India and he is a member of the Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry.
In 2009 he was appointed an honorary Knight Commander of the British Empire. …and the list goes… Extending a warm welcome to this special guest of honour, arrangements had been made to give the guest a quick tour to various institutions in the Ashram, namely, the Super Speciality Hosptal, The University Administrative Block, Prasanthi Nilayam Campus, Indoor Stadium and Chaitanya Jyothi Museum, explaining him in detail of the Mission set in motion by Bhagawan.
Arrived in his private aircraft along with his colleague and close confidant Mr. R.K. Krishna Kumar, Vice Chairman, India Group of Hotels and a member in the Board of Directors for Tata Sons, accompanied by his Private Secretary, Mr. Ratan Tata straight away drove down to the Super Speciality Hospital at Prasanthigram to a warm welcome by Director Dr. Safaya, Secretary of Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, Mr. K. Chakravarthi, IAS (Retd), former Vice Chancellors of Sri Sathya Sai University, Prof. G. Venkataraman and Sri S.V. Giri, IAS (Retd) and other members of staff. Spending almost forty-five minutes, the dignitary was taken for a walk-thru' to various departments, detailing multifarious features of the state-of-the-art hospital run completely free of cost. Mr. Ratan Tata showed curious interest in knowing intricate details of various functional wings of the holistic institution. In the afternoon Mr. Tata visited the University Administrative Block where he was received by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Vishwanath Pandit, Former Vice Chancellors, Prof. G.Venkataraman and Sri SV Giri, Secy, Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, Mr. K.Chakravarthi, Registrar, Dr. Naren Ramji, Controller of Examinations, Sri Srirangarajan along with faculty members from various departments. The dignified guest had a group discussion with the University team about the functioning and features of the University.
His next visit was to the Prasanthi Nilayam Campus of the University wherein Prof. U.S.Rao, Principal briefed the distinguished guest of various academic features, namely, of the various courses, extra-curricular activities, NAAC accreditation, UGC team visit etc. A brief video presentation was also organized featuring the credentials of the holy institution. This was followed by an interactive session with the guest attended by faculty members of the University.
Premaarpitham, a drama in hounor of the Chief Guest In the evening the stage was set in the University Auditorium for a special drama presentation in honour of the dignitary. Bhagawan, upon coming out at 4:30 straight away drove down to the packed auditorium that had been awaiting His arrival.
The Drama entitled, Premaarpitham, as titled by Bhagawan is the story of a young man caught in a dilemma of choosing his future between going abroad and serving the motherland.
The play starts with a young man expressing his joy to his grandfather on being placed in a top university abroad with a complete scholarship. Even as his grandfather congratulates him, he adds that he has also got an offer to join a good company afterwards. His grandfather expresses his disappointment with the decision and expresses his wish that he serve Bharath. The protagonist is now in a dilemma and wishes to see the heaven of freedom which Rabindranth Tagore sings about in his epic poem.
Guiding him from the dilemma, the spirit of Bharath personifies into a radiant being and tells him about the various young children of the glorious nation who have earned good name unto her. He then narrates instances from the lives of Swami Vivekananda, Yudhishtira, Adi Sankaracharya and the Gopikas of Vrindavan who epitomised the great values of Satya, Dharma, Shanti and Prema. The spirit of Bharat finally ascertains that Educare is in essence the Love of God and the Love for God.
Love in Thought is Truth Love in Action is Right-Conduct Love in Understanding is Peace
After the forty-five minute drama, Bhagawan had a fabulous on-stage interactive session with the drama crew, along with the Chief Guest that lasted for forty minutes. Pepping the spirits up with words of appreciation, often getting into minute details, talking individually, the session was a heavenly gift for the entire crew who had been asked to put up a drama at the shortest possible notice, within two days. Bhagawan interacted with each and every member of the crew, introducing everyone to the Chief Guest with details of the course each one has undertaken. Bhagawan gave away presentations to all the participating members. He even introduced the singers for the drama presentation and asked the lead singer to sing a special song, who sang, the famous Qawali, Mohabbat ki kami dil mein agar ehsaas hoto hai..." Apart from the dignified guests, the session was also attended by Dr. Vijay Kelkar, Chairman of the Finance Commission of India, who was earlier Advisor to the Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India.
In the run upto the drama, Bhagawan had been encouraging and infusing confidence in the crew to come up with the best of their performance in short notice. Giving a shot in their arm, Bhagawan visited the institute auditorium on the 1st evening spending an hour watching a final dress rehearsal, guiding with precision. The title, Premaarpitham was done by Bhagawan Himself.
Back in the Mandir, the dignitaries had a fifteen minutes private session with Bhagawan in the bhajan hall before Arathi was offered.
Mr. Tata who showed curious interest in the Sri Sathya Sai Water Project Scheme was briefed on the same by Radio Sai Team led by Prof. G. Venkataraman, in the Shanti Bhavan Guest house later in the evening.
Final two destinations for the honourable guest were the state-of-the-art Indoor Stadium followed by Chaitanya Jyothi Museum before the guest was brought back to Mandir for morning darshan, on 4th December. Bhagawan blessed Mr. Tata and his secretary with an audience lasted for forty minutes, followed by a brief interview to Mr. Krishna Kumar. He even materialized a chain for Mr. Venkat, a former student of Sri Sathya Sai University, who is serving as Executive Secretary to Mr. Ratan Tata.
The morning session on the 4th Dec was also attended by the tiny tots from the Primary School, a special gesture, in honour of the dignified guest.
The man who is well known for his exploits, in saving the Tata empire from a decline and fall, through his business acumen coupled with vision for future, and is credited with converting the Tata group into a high-tech empire fit for the 21st century, spent a whole day in the "Valley of Peace" taking back greater lessons with refreshing experiences of service to mankind of highest order, as exemplified by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba!
