Swami, the dearest darling of all people everywhere!

On the eve of Sri Sathya Saibaba’s 90^th birthday celebrations, many programs are organized throughout the globe as well as in Prasanthi Nilayam, the erstwhile residence of Bagawan Baba! His Mahasamadhi beautifully decorated with flowers and festoon brings nostalgic memories of Swami as He was dearly addressed by many devotees. When Saibaba was born, it was one of the most backward regions in Andhrapradesh. None would have heard the name “Puttaparthi” except those in adjoining villages along the river Chitravathi! How such a remote village has earned the fortune of being shown in world maps today is due to the birth of incarnation of God on earth!

None would believe that “Sathya” as he was called as a body possessed only a pair of dresses for attending the schools. Every day, he used to wash them and dry them in river bed. There was no ironing facility and hence the dried dresses were kept below the pillow to resemble a somewhat pressed dress. He maintained in humbleness throughout and relished the ragi gruel with hot chutni for food every day. He used to start very early on his schooling expedition since punctuality was the discipline imposed by the stern teachers. He was magnanimous as far as charity is concerned though the household contains very meager resources. Yet he was ready to starve sparing his humble food with some mendicant begging outside. Many a time, his mother admonished him for the misplaced charity and he was warned that he has to be deprived of the food if he is keen to spare with beggars. Nonetheless, Saibaba as he was christened by the devotees was liberal in giving. He will never allow anybody to go emptyhanded.

The greatest part is he was a strict ‘vegetarian’, though his family members were eating animal food on some occasions. Hence, most of the time, he will sneak into a neighbor’s home, where a Brahmin lady prepared food and offered Sathya a share. She was fond of Sathya from baby days since she had no issues. When Sathya grew up, he had to be admitted to high school. His brother, a Telugu Pundit offered to educate him at the place of his posting. But this brother was not aware of the holiness associated with Sathya. Several times, he was witness to mysterious miracles yet he considered Sathya as an ordinary boy. Whereas, the residents in the locality were aware of the powers of the ‘miracle boy’. It so happened that Sathya wished to come out of the illusory relationships and ways of the world. Hence one day he returned from the school much earlier and threw the bag of books inside the house and addressed his sister in law, “I am no longer your Sathya, my devotees are calling me and I am leaving”. Flabbergasted by the sudden turn of events, his brother was summoned who rushed back from the school. Sathya told him the same and went back to a garden of local bungalow of exercise Inspector. There he sat on a rock and people started flocking to him as bees were attracted to honey. Soon there were many curious visitors and a photographer wanted to take a shot at Sathya but he found that a small boulder was obstructing the full view. He requested Sathya to remove the boulder but Sathya told him, “take the photo as it is’. When the print was washed and developed, it contained a statue of Shirdi Baba garlanded in the place of rough boulder.

To summarize, the remote village earned a name in world maps and it is a pilgrimage center for all religious people throughout the world. Today, the once sleepy village is a beautiful township with schools and collages dotting around, a huge planetarium, an airport to handle international flights, a super specialty hospital, a big railway station and many amenities. It has a Hillview stadium to accommodate lakhs of pilgrims during festival days. It houses huge statues of Buddha, Jesus, Mahavir, and Hanuman on the top of the hill which is an architectural marvel. The huge hospital which has a construction area of three lakh square feet was completed in seven months’ time which is a miracle. This hospital has conducted many major surgeries numbering over one lakh during the past twenty five years absolutely FREE. There is no billing department in this huge hospital which resembles a huge temple! In fact, all the surgeons are mere instruments in the hands of Divine as many videos have shown the presence of Baba during the operations though he was elsewhere at that time. Many miracle cures were attributed to the hospital in most complicated and serious cases. Besides these hospitals, Saibaba has founded Sathya Sai Institutes of Higher Learning which combines both spiritual and secular education. The teachings of great one from all the religions are taught to the students there. Thus Saibaba advocate practically honoring every religion. He is against switching of faiths. Hence he always emphasize, “If you are a Christian, follow the teachings of your religion more sincerely and be a true Christian. Likewise, he makes it a point to honor every religion. Hence Christians, Muslims, Jews, Parsis, Chinese, Japanese and even Russian devotees flock to the place regularly in a yearly basis. They celebrate their festivals at Puttaparthi. You can find Muslims reading their holy book in the vast hall. It is no wonder that people from Middle East flock there for consolation and peace. There are many devotees from Iran, Iraq, Yugoslavia and other places.

Saibaba loves one and all without any bias regarding Nationality, Religion, Language and races. He emphasizes, “I am the indweller of your Heart”. Hence I never leave you at any time. He surely protects those who call him at the time of distress. Even if one fails to call him, he rushes to the person invisibly and protect him from harm. His service wing undertakes yeoman service to humanity who needs food, clothing, medicines and shelter in the affected zones. He manifests himself mysteriously in far off places to the astonishment of people there. He has founded free educational Institutes all over India. Many schools in Africa and other backward regions follow his system of education which included human value education.

Apart from that he has provided drinking water to more than 800 villages in Andhra and other places including a big city “Chennai” without any government funding. He is Selfless and Pure Love manifested on earth to uplift the minds of people who are steeped in materialism. Though he left at the age of 85, prematurely since he has promised to remain in our midst until 96 years, many devotees feel that Sathya Saibaba will manifest once again to herald Golden Age on the global level! Om Sri Sai Ram!