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...
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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!
