First trip to Puttaparthi
Vijay informed his parents
about the chance he had got to go to Puttaparthi and be
part of a drama to be staged there. They were happy. The
past few years had seemed to really improve their son
and his positive outlook towards Swami delighted them.
Vijay performed his role
behind the scenes to the best of his ability and
sincerity. As instructed, he made sure that he did not
peep to get a
darshan
of Swami during the drama and, when the time came, he
showered ‘Adi Sankaracharya’ with gold. When the drama
concluded, Swami moved down the dais, amidst the
children. He blessed all the actors with clothes. He
also materialized
vibhuti
for some of the actors. Having done this, as He sat on
the stage, the supreme Lord of the Universe seemed
unsatisfied! He is never satisfied when it comes to
giving.
He said something to the
attendant boy by his side. A tray was brought from
within and Swami beckoned to the actors. He handed over
a wristwatch to each and every one of them. The line of
actors ended but not Swami’s enthusiasm to give. He
looked beyond, at the sets’ boys seated behind. Sathya
Sai is a silent worker - always acting behind the scenes
and giving credit to others. He definitely knows what it
is to be a background worker! He beckoned to the sets’
boys too and Vijay was one among the first few to go to
Him.
 |
| Swami blessing Vijay with gold chain that He materialised with a wave of His hand. This was in 2008. |
(This is the second part
of an interesting story. You will get maximum joy by
reading it in the proper chronology. In case you have
missed it, read the first part at the link below before
returning to this part.
Destroyed in seconds but
rebuilt over years - the love story of Vijaya Sunder
with his Swami_Part 1)
Vijay knelt before Swami.
It was for the first time in his life that he was seeing
Swami from such close quarters. Swami held out a
wristwatch for him. But Vijay’s attention was not on the
watch. He was drinking deep into the fountain of beauty
that Swami is. That momentary experience was enough to
make Vijay desire madly for a seat in Swami’s college.
He remembered Shyam’s words that one got admission in
Swami’s college only when He wills. So, he told Swami,
“Please give me admission
in your college. I want a seat.”
“Ok. Take”, said Swami, handing him the watch.
Vijay did not understand whether Swami was asking him to ‘take’ the watch or the seat. He did not know then that Swami has the ability to bless two birds with the same stone! He felt that Swami wanted to get ‘rid’ of his pestering presence. He took the watch and walked back to his place.
“Ok. Take”, said Swami, handing him the watch.
Vijay did not understand whether Swami was asking him to ‘take’ the watch or the seat. He did not know then that Swami has the ability to bless two birds with the same stone! He felt that Swami wanted to get ‘rid’ of his pestering presence. He took the watch and walked back to his place.
Thus concluded the Parthi
trip which triggered an insatiable thirst in Vijay to
become a student of Swami.
Entrance ‘exam’
Vijay had gone ahead with
his plan and applied for the BSc-MSc course, M.Tech
course and MBA course at the
SSSIHL.
He received invites to write the entrance exams for the
M.Tech and MBA courses only because being a B.Tech
disqualified him from the BSc course. (B.Tech is a
higher if not equal-ranking course with BSc and the MSc
courses at SSSIHL are integrated with BSc.) But he did
not complain. He had two shots at becoming a ‘Sai
Student’.
‘Man proposes; God
disposes’ and this is a common thing that happens in
Swami’s presence. But it always happens for the greater
good. The entrance exams for both the courses were on
the same day at the same time! When Vijay informed his
plight to the officials, he was told to choose one and
give up the other. He felt that he was better equipped
to crack the M.Tech entrance exam as he had an
engineering background. But his destiny was not that and
Swami seemed to prod him towards MBA using ‘logic’ which
always appealed to him. The official told him,
“Are you sure you want to
pick M.Tech and give up MBA? There are only a dozen
seats for M.Tech but about 40 seats for MBA...”
Vijay cleared the entrance
examination for MBA and was chosen for the next stage -
the group discussion. The topic for his group was - Are
SEZs good for corporate India?
Vijay did not know what
SEZ (Special Economic Zone) stood for. He hoped to learn
along the discussion. Much to his consternation, while
everyone spoke of the many advantages and disadvantages
of SEZs, nobody ever expanded the abbreviation! Towards
the end of 15 minutes, Vijay got up and said,
“The SEZ has its
advantages and disadvantages that should be carefully
considered. In conclusion...”, and Vijay summarised all
that he had heard so far. Everyone applauded him and
before he knew it, he had cleared the interview and had
obtained the prized badge of being a Sai Student.
First darshan
All the newcomers were
allowed to occupy the front lines for
darshan
as per the practice every year. This would be Vijay’s
second opportunity to have a close
darshan.
He wrote a letter to Swami. ‘Respected Sri Sathya Sai
Baba’, he began. Then, he wrote everything that had
happened in his life thus far.
‘... I threw the Aarthi
plate and broke your framed photograph...’
‘...you came in my
dream...’
‘...you told me to take
the watch when I came here last year...’
He signed off the letter
as ‘Vijaya Sunder (1st year MBA).
 |
| The joy of speaking to the Lord is incomparable indeed! |
That was the first and
last formal letter that he ever wrote to Swami. Swami’s
interaction during the
darshan
just swept him off his feet and made him enshrine the
Supreme Chancellor of the Universe in his heart. As
Swami moved towards him during
darshan,
He looked into his eyes and smiled. Accepting the latter
He asked,
“Are you happy?”
“Yes Swami...”, Vijay
wanted to tell Him a million things.
“Be happy”, Swami said and
moved on.
Displaying implicit
obedience, a flush of happiness flooded Vijay’s being
and a broad smile blossomed on his face. He had
experienced a joy that he had rarely felt before. And he
craved for more of that joy. Tasting that joy just once
had made him into a raving addict. That is the
mesmerising power of the Lord’s love - He often makes
you pledge your heart to Him at first sight. The sight
of Divine Love results in love at first sight!
“I will try to speak to
Him daily”, Vijay decided.
Another fish baited
Dr.Alreja
who had the privilege of being Swami’s personal
physician had once given an insight about the ways of
the Lord,
“He is an expert
fisherman. He offers us fish a juicy bait and we bite.
Then He fishes us out of the water and puts us in His
basket, angling for more fish. Not used to be out of our
comfort zone, we struggle in the basket. When the
struggle seems to become unbearable, he sprinkles a few
drops of water, providing relief. But that relief is
just temporary.”
He does this because He
wants us to realize that we are not meant to be ‘fish’
wallowing in the
Bhavasagara
(the ocean of life). He wants us to break out of our
little egos (body-attachment) and obtain true freedom.
Disclaimer:
This is not the only way that the Lord operates. But
this is definitely one of the ways!
Apparently, this was the
case with Vijay too. Vijay had taken the bait and was
now in the basket. His struggles began. After that
lovely interaction on day one, Vijay faced a drought of
physical proximity to Swami. He never got a chance to
speak to Him. He began to pine for Swami more than ever
before. He got to hear so many stories of so many
students that he regretted not having come to Swami
earlier. Once again, he felt upset that his father had
not even tried to introduce Swami to him. How strange
that he had to struggle for life’s bounties all by
himself without any support even from his own parents!
Vijay begins his sadhana
The first semester of
Vijay’s MBA life was the most forgettable. He wanted to
count the days and weeks by his interactions with Swami
but the counter seemed stuck at 1 though months passed
by. He wondered what he should do to become the apple of
Swami’s eyes. He had noticed that Swami seemed to show
keen interest in the bhajan singers. So, he decided to
try his luck with
bhajan
singing. His approached a few senior singers for help in
honing his singing ‘skill’. He soon realised that his
efforts to sing were as foolish as the efforts of a fish
to climb a tree! He slunk out of the music room before
further embarrassment.
He decided to embrace
music in another manner - by learning to play the flute.
Vijay approached the master flutist at the mandir and
asked him to be his teacher. The teacher agreed only on
the condition that there were at least half a dozen
students wanting to learn. This person, Mr.Ravi Teja,
takes care of the Sri Sathya Sai Bhakta Sahayak Sangh
and he wanted to ensure that his efforts were well
utilized. Vijay returned to the hostel and inspired
almost a dozen other students to learn the flute. Ravi
Teja began to conduct classes early in the morning for
these aspiring flutists.
Vijay realized that a fish
could neither run fast on land! Ironically, several
months later, all the students except Vijay gave a flute
performance in front of Swami in the Sai Kulwant hall!
But that happened months after Vijay had given up
attempts to master the hollow reed.
As the end semester exams
neared, a dejected and frustrated Vijay decided,
“After the vacations, I
shall not come back here. What is the use of being here
if I cannot get Swami? It only makes me burn more that I
am so close yet so far.”
The Divine Fisherman
sprinkles water on the fish
Vijay felt that it was
courtesy to inform Swami of his plans. He wrote
everything in a letter and hoped that Swami would accept
it during
darshan.
That day, something unexpected happened. Swami accepted
the letter and asked,
“Ay, Em Chestunnav Ra?
(Hey! What are you doing?)”
“Swami... MBA Swami...”
“MBA Kaadu. Inka emi
chestunnavu? (Not MBA. What else are you doing?)”
This was the opening that
Vijay wanted. He poured out his heart to Swami. He said
that he had tried doing so many things. He had put in
his best efforts but they had been grossly insufficient.
He felt like a failure.
Swami smiled and said
half-jokingly,
“Aithe bommalu veyi. (Then
make sketches.)”
 |
| Radha-Krishna was one of Vijay's earliest sketches... |
There was laughter all
around. Vijay also smiled. For him, this was manna from
heaven. Finally his Lord had given him some task. When
he returned to the hostel, he began to paint. He sat for
long hours and completed a painting of Lord Rama and a
prayerful Hanuman. It was no masterpiece but he had
definitely spent hours on it. All his roommates laughed
at him. The general import of what they advised him was
this -
“Swami was just joking
man! Take it easy.”
But Vijay was deaf to
their wisdom.
The day the painting was
completed, Swami keenly observed it. He asked Vijay
several things about it - what Hanuman was doing; what
Rama was saying. He gave tips on depicting Lord Rama
better. Vijay was elated. These were the precious
seconds of interaction for which he was ready to do
anything.
That evening, he began
another painting. Once again, Swami saw it, spoke to
him, gave tips and blessed him. The second semester was
turning to be a bonanza for Vijay as he made several
other paintings. He painted Buddha, Ganesha, Shiva,
Venkateshwara and Krishna. He also painted people of God
like Mother Theresa. Swami appreciated his efforts in
all these paintings and conferred great joy to him.
Vijay now began to make his paintings secretly. He did
not want to offer a painting to the Lord after it had
been ‘tainted’ by the judgemental looks of others. The
first one to cast eyes on the painting must be his
Swami.
How
wonderful it would be if we incorporated this for our lives
too! Instead of offering life (which is so precious) for any
other pursuit, why not offer it for the pursuit of God?
(Actually, this was
Swami’s lament to a student in the interview room as
mentioned in the second story at that link.)
A father’s gift to his son
One day, totally out of
the blue, Swami asked Vijay,
“How is your father?”
“My father? Swami he must
be fine...”
Swami waved his palm and
materialized
vibhuti.
Pouring it completely into Vijay’s palm, He told him to
give it to his father. Vijay nodded and took
namaskar.
That evening, Vijay called
up home. His first question was,
“Mother, how is father?”
“Oh! He is fine now. You
know, yesterday, during the
Satyanarayana
Puja,
your faither fainted suddenly. We did not inform you
because we felt that you would get agitated...”
“Swami asked about him and
has given
vibhuti
for him!”
“Ah! He knows everything.
Blessed indeed are we...”
Vijay’s mother had shed
profuse tears when he was leaving to enroll in
Puttaparthi. She would be missing her only son. But
then, listening to him about how Swami was fostering
him, she felt calmed. Now, with His latest act of grace,
Swami had not only assured the parents that their son
was in good hands but had also comforted Vijay that He
was taking care of his parents.
Vijay was now peaceful. He
was now getting the physical proximity of Swami and he
felt that finally he was happy. After all, didn’t Swami
Himself say that true happiness comes only in union with
God?
He felt grateful that his
painting abilities were being appreciated so much by
Swami. In order to produce these pieces of art at a more
rapid pace, Vijay let go of colours and decided to
create sketches with the pencil. This way, he could
create a sketch overnight. After the night prayer in the
hostel, he slipped out to the Mirpuri College of Music.
In the silence of the night, he sketched on for hours.
At the end of five hours, at 3 a.m., he looked at the
sketch of Sri.N.Kasturi. It had come out pretty well. He
thanked Swami for the patience and strength. He also
thanked Him for the skill.
Suddenly, he had
goosebumps. He also had tears in his eyes for he
realised that he had been so unfair to his father. He
had thought that his father had given him nothing in
life. But Vijay had acquired the rudiments of his skill
in painting and sketching from his father, watching him
at work as a cartoonist for Indian Express. It was this
skill that was giving him his heart’s desire today - not
the intelligence and marks that he possessed. He thought
that his father had deprived him by not assisting him
financially and by not telling him about Swami as a
child. But unknown to both, the father and son, Swami
had gifted Vijay via his father in such a way that he
would be grateful to his parents throughout life.
With Swami’s entry, the
bond of love between the son and parents strengthened.
The love between them grew and Vijay developed deep
reverence for his parents. He understood better the
meaning of the dictum ‘Mathru
Devo Bhava; Pitru Devo Bhava’
(Revere the mother as God; Revere the father as God).
“The good that is done in
the Divine Presence comes back to you a hundredfold. But
remember, the bad done in the Divine Presence too comes
back to you a hundredfold.”
Vijay wasn’t aware that
Swami would not simply forgive him for the act of
destroying a picture of God in anger. He would have to
pay - a hundredfold!
