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| Santosh Pai with Sri Sathya Sai - In the Interview Room |
It is Bhagawan’s immense Mercy and Grace that all His students, without exception, secure a respectable and responsible position in society. His Mercy has been flowing bountifully to all of us all the time and it is this that has helped us tackle our problems. I strongly and firmly believe that the Divine Messages we heard, have sunk deep into our sub-conscious and its essence has become an integral part of us during the time that we have spent in His Presence. It works like a pole star guiding us through the darkest of nights and the toughest of situations.
Recollecting those glorious moments with our Lord, I now realise that it was with great simplicity and alacrity that Bhagawan put through His Message to all of us – be it Management concepts or the principle of Atma. Life in the external world has been a fight with ingredients: success, struggle, victory, joy, sorrow, pleasure and pain. But there has always been a supporting base for us – His Grace. This has worked like a safety net protecting and guarding us all the way.
Recollecting the numerous experiences and Divine Moments with our Lord, one instance comes to my mind. This incident occurred during my Management Programme days at Prasanthi Nilayam. This is an event, which under normal parlance, may not be called as a spectacular one by others, but it is a significant incident which displayed His Grace for me. I belong to the Master in Financial Management (MFM) batch of 1994-96. MFM students at that time had to submit a detailed Dissertation on a specific topic apart from the annual project. The process was more like a thorough research on the subject matter and submission of the findings and results at the end of the year. My topic was that of application of complex statistical cum financial models on corporate organisations across industries, analysing its impact and reasoning its findings. The rigours of the assignment were enormous and tough. Data was scarce, facilities limited and time was running out. It was a time when there was no concept of the internet and the data sources were basically printed or published materials available in libraries.
As the submission date neared, my pulse began racing. The dissertation was getting held up due to lack of specific required data and the support for analysis and interpretation. Frustration was mounting and I began to feel the heat. At this point, there was only one solution for me – Bhagawan. I was in the habit of sending telegrams rather than letters and I did just that. To my astonishment, from the very next day, the required data started flowing in from unexpected corners and sources. Some lesser known friends of mine from Mumbai started sending me the right kind of data and information. In no time, all data and information was on the table. One of the lecturers, with whom I had very little interaction, came to me on his own one day, asked me about the progress of my dissertation, and offered to tutor me everyday. He assisted me throughout, till the completion of the dissertation. All this seemed like a dream to me. What looked impossible for 11 months was completed to perfection, within one month, perfectly in time for submission. It was as if a strong gust of wind had blown off the dark threatening clouds. His Grace had worked wonders!
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| Sri Sathya Sai at Kodaikanal |
Yet another incident during my visit to Kodaikanal with Bhagawan in the year 1993 is fresh in my memory. It was His Mercy and Grace that I had got this golden opportunity. As a student I had seen Bhagawan, out of His immense love, materialising various objects for His devotees. I had a desire to see Bhagawan materialising different objects at the same time. This was just an inquisitive and innocent desire. It so happened that our music group gave a good performance at Kodaikanal and Bhagawan was very pleased. After the programme, back at the residence, He spoke to us at length about the programme very lovingly and expressed His satisfaction. Looking specifically at me, in a mischievous manner, He began waving His hand and brought out three different objects – a golden bracelet and two different types of rings. He gave us the gifts and looking at me with a smile, asked me, “Happy?” The look was pregnant with the message – I am the All Knower! I know all that is in your mind and heart!
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| Santosh Pai with Sri Sathya Sai at Kodai (April, 1993) |
- Santosh Pai
Student (1994-1996), Department of Management Studies
Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning
Prasanthi Nilayam Campus
Currently, Assistant General Manager – Corporate Banking Group,
ICICI Bank Ltd., Mumbai
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