Writing this made me look back to the times that I was blessed to see Swami’s hand in my life. Swami is the greatest benefactor of my life. I have no doubt about this. Since my childhood, His was the hand that moulded the course of my life. Even from the time I joined the Primary School in my first standard He had been making me go through a process that would ultimately shape me into a person whom, I hope, Swami will be proud of. I will narrate a few of those moments which I can never forget.
The first that does come to my mind happened when I was in my sixth standard. It showed how kind Swami was and how He responded to even small prayers.
This happened during the time when all of Swami’s students were practicing for the Sports Meet. Swami would usually visit the grounds of the Primary School to see our practice for the Sports Meet. That year; however, He had not come for quite some time. This made boys fretting. Then, one day Swami gave out torches to all of His students when we began planning. It was agreed impromptu that somebody would ask Swami to visit the Primary School. The question was who would ask Swami to come and see our sports practice. Nobody asked Swami as nobody was instructed to do so from the authorities. Everyone received the torches and took their places; everyone, except me. When I went up to Swami, I asked Him whether He would come to ‘our’ school to which Swami replied that He would surely come to ‘His’ school. And He did come, the next day itself! This may not be earth-shaking, but it showed that Swami responds to every prayer.
Another incident that comes to mind is a rather funny one. It occurred when I was in my first standard. One day, Swami came to me and asked what I wanted. Innocent and hungry, I asked Swami (why for the life of me I cannot understand) for Pakoda (a fried Indian savoury). Swami smilingly asked how much of it I wanted and extended His arms to indicate the quantity. I nodded my head in assent only when His arms were extended out fully. And then of course everyone had a good laugh.
This remained a happy memory for me to this day. A third memory that I will narrate happened when I was in the third standard. It was around my birthday and some boys along with me who had birthdays on or around that day were seated on the veranda waiting to get blessed by Swami. We waited for a lot of time and Swami apparently did not notice us. Thus time passed, with us waiting for Swami’s blessings. Finally, Swami did come, and quite suddenly. He blessed everybody seated there, and interacted with us. I learnt one thing from this: God responds to prayers made earnestly. With this I bring to an end the recollection of memories: when, where and how I interacted with Him. The beauty of this is that one’s mind never gets tired of recollecting those wonderful moments. Each incident I spent with Him is also instructive; the lessons that I have learnt are those that I must put into action. Practicing His invaluable message will be my offering to Swami.
- Sairaam Venkataraman
Currently, Doctoral Research Scholar
Department of Mathematics and Computer Sciences
Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning
Prasanthi Nilayam Campus
Source: Sai Nandana 2015 (90th Birthday Offering)
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