Thursday, June 15, 2000
Morning
Swami came for morning Darshan at around 6.55 am. He then told Prof. Anil Kumar that 50 Kalyana Mandapams (marriage halls) have been constructed in and around Puttaparthi. In Kothacheruvu, ground floor and first floor of a college building has already been constructed. After interview, Swami came near the Primary School students and asked them what they had partaken for breakfast.
Students : Idli and vada. (Swami called the old students and spoke to them.)
Swami : What did you have for your breakfast?
Alumnus : Swami, in canteen…
Swami : How many of you are there?
Alumnus : Swami, 25-30.
Evening
The evening Darshan was at 3.22 pm. Swami blessed the birthday boys. (As per the Hostel custom, a set of students who have their birthday on a particular day have the opportunity to sit in front as a group and pray to Swami for birthday blessings.) Swami asked a few of the former students to get baskets containing mangoes from the Poornachandra Auditorium. Swami asked the students to distribute the mangoes. The numbers were insufficient and a Mandir staff member told Swami that the mangoes were not enough for the students. He prayed to Swami to personally check the quantity. Swami came and had a look at the baskets and yet asked the boys to distribute them. The mangoes were distributed not only to all the students, but also to the Madhya Pradesh Bal Vikas children and some Seva Dal Volunteers. Yet, in the end, a lot of mangoes were left! That’s the power of the Divine glance!
Swami : (To a student) Whose mango is next to yours?
Student : Swami, another student’s mango.
Swami : Are you its guardian? (Then Swami enquired about the morning Moral Class programme. Every Thursday at Swami’s University, the first hour of the time table is a Moral Class where the students and staff gather in the College Auditorium and listen to talks by eminent speakers. On certain occasions there are cultural programmes by students themselves. This was one such occasion.)
This morning there were dramas. (Then Swami asked for the first year Postgraduate (PG) students). Only first PG drama was positive. They thought beforehand what Swami will like and presented in the right way. Soch Vichar Kiya (They thought about it). Other boys, so much negative. Hamare Khayal Mein (In My opinion), the whole world is a drama. So, there is no need for putting up drama. Four dramas, twelve minutes each; forty-five minutes waste! Someone can speak on some good subject. In drama, you depict jokes. All laugh and forget the inner meanings. The ideas are good. (Swami mentioned the titles of the dramas.) ‘Janani Janmabhoomishcha Swargadapi Gariyasi’ (Mother and motherland are greater than heaven), ‘Enna Bharathe Tanna Bharatha’ (What is not there in Bharat, is not there anywhere else). (Mentioning about the characters in the drama, Swami said) Other friends wanted to go abroad and so too did that boy. His father did not agree, but still he wanted to go. Boys should obey their parents. This is the ancient Indian culture. Army man lost his hand, he felt bad that he lost only his hand and not his head. What a high ideal it is! But all boys laughed. The number system was discovered by Indians. But the Arabs took it to their country and brought it back saying that those were Arabian numerals. But it was formed in India only. Ganitha Shastram, Bhoogola Shastram, Vignana Shastram (Mathematics, Geography, Science) all originated here only. First, we exported these from India and now we are importing from abroad! (To a student) Do you know Sanskrit?
Student : Yes, Swami.
Swami : What is the meaning of ‘Enna Bharathe Tanna Bharatha’?
Student : What is not there in Bharat, is not there anywhere else.
Swami : Is it ‘Enna’? (Asked whether the stress should be there on ‘nna’ or not.)
Student : Swami, ‘Enna’ with stress on ‘na’. (Swami saw a student holding Vibhuti packet. He asked him what it was.)
Student : Vibhuti, Swami.
Swami : Why did you press that, you spilled half of the Vibhuti. (The student had pressed the packet and made it look very thin. Swami showed him the way he pressed the packet.) You pressed like this.
Student : Yes, Swami.
Swami : I know, I know.
Student : Swami, Padanamaskar.
Swami : Yenduku? (Why?) Which language?
Student : Tamil.
Swami : Ippo Sollu, Enthuku Padanamaskar Venum? (Now tell, why do you want Padanamaskar?)
(To another student) Where do you come from?
Student : Swami, from Hyderabad.
Swami : What are you doing now?
Student : I am in I M.F.M., Swami.
Swami : Manchidi (Good). What did you study before this? Engineering?
Student : No, Swami. B.Com. I wrote my final exams this March.
Swami : Are you confident that you will pass?
Student : Yes, Swami.
Swami : If you don’t pass, then your seat here will… (As the per the University rules, if the students do not clear the previous examination, they lose the seat to the new course that they have joined.) How many marks did you get in the third year?
Student : I have not yet got my results, Swami.
Swami : You will get less marks in one subject. You are poor in that. Do you know which subject it is? It is Accountancy and Auditing. However, you will pass your exam. How many marks did you get in Accountancy before?
Student : Swami, in first year it was 90%, and in the second year it was 82%.
Swami : And third year? Are those marks gift marks or grace marks? What grade did you get?
Student : Swami, we do not have grading system. It is percentage wise.
Swami : Do you know what is ‘O’ grade?
Student : 75% and above.
Swami : Above 75%? Do you know Tata?
Student : Yes, Swami.
Swami : Who is he?
Student : An industrialist, Swami.
Swami : (Shaking His head in disagreement.) (Jamsetji) Tata did business in iron and steel. He set up many factories. What did he do in the field of education?
Student : Yes, Swami. Research.
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| Jamsetji Tata (1839-1904), Founder, Tata Group |
Swami : Who founded the Indian Institute of Science? Tata! He went to China and introduced rickshaws from China for the city of Bombay. He developed Bombay a lot. What is the place of birth?
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| Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore is built from the corpus donated by Jamsetji Tata |
Student : Machilipatnam.
Swami : Not your place. Tata’s… Surat (Jamsetji Tata was born in the town of Navsari neighbouring Surat in the year 1839). Surat at that time was just a village. Tata was not able to study there. Therefore, he went to Bombay. The British opposed him; still he worked for the country. One should speak about the leaders of yesteryears. There are no leaders today.
(To another student) What is your name?
Student : Narendran.
Swami : Oh! Vivekananda’s name. Who named him?
Student : His father.
Swami : Eh! Not father, Ramakrishna. What is the full name?
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| Swami Vivekananda and Sri Ramakrishna |
Swami : Not yours. Vivekananda’s. (To both the students) Go and sit down in your places.
Swami : (To Sri Bhagia, Faculty Member, School of Business Management in Swami’s University) How was morning programme?
Sri Bhagia : Swami Thik Tha, Practice Karna Chahiya (Swami, it was fine. They should have done some more practice).
Swami : What practice, drama? It was not correct. The boys depicted negative things. That is wrong because negative things get imprinted on the heart easily and remain there for a long time.
Sri Bhagia : Yes, Swami.
Swami : What do these boys know about India and its culture? How can they have a correct understanding? Today, I expressed My displeasure to the Vice-Chancellor and the Warden for not doing anything.
Sri Bhagia : Swami, if You come to the Institute and talk to us, it will improve the situation.
Swami : Institute! Dirty! That has been spoilt. When I talk, I tell all fundamentals, like how Chemistry, Physics, Botany, Zoology came (into existence). And then came the other branches like Mathematics and Management. But now it has been put upside down. Roots are uprooted and branches are hanging down.
Swami spoke to the teachers and expressed His displeasure about the drama contest held in the Institute Auditorium during the Moral Class, especially on the fact that some of the dramas had negative themes and episodes. He said that so much freedom should not be given to students. They misuse it by expressing negative ideas before the entire College. Swami went to the Bhajan Hall and asked one of the students whether he got the mango Prasadam or not. Bhajans began at 5.30 pm and got over around 5.56 pm. Thereafter, Swami retired to the Poornachandra residence.
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