Sathya Sai Baba

My guru's daughter
Friday October 27 2006 16:37 IST



"Viddheemma, Viddheee, get ready for your dance class. Dandayudhapani sir will be waiting for you..." "Someone get orange juice and Sanatogen ready for Viddhee for her dance class…" Thus would go my Guru MLV akka's voice, a voice which was melodious even when she spoke. Dosas made of egg-white and coconut-oil massages were a must for the young danseuse under the watchful and loving eyes of her mother. Srividhya was brought up like a princess by her celebrity mother ML Vasanthakumari who was constantly on tour to fulfill her singing engagements all over the world.

Leaving her children at home and travelling, coming back from tour and catching up with them, indulging them and spoiling them, were all part of the routine in Akka's home. And we, the disciples, pitched in where we could, to support this remarkable family. In her early years, Vidhya was pampered by her gracious grandparents Vidwan Ayyasami Iyer and Vidushi Lalithangi amma. Very early on, Viddhee's talent in laya (rhythm) was recognised by her mother. A December-season radio relay was being heard by Akka and her accompanists. Viddhee was a tiny tot playfully jumping around. Palghat Mani Iyer, the mridangam maestro, was playing a fiery thani (solo) . The whole group was perplexed as to the time cycle he was playing — was it seven beats or six they wondered. Suddenly Vidhya the child piped out, "He's playing thaka dimi taka thakita — nine beats," and all of them acknowledged without doubt her laya gnana. Then and there Akka decided that the child should learn dance. Her perfect face and large lustrous eyes were ideal for dance. Once, however, the critic Subbudu felt that she should become trimmer to dance better though he praised her competence no end.

Viddhee mastered the margam (repertoire) from her guru and people came to witness with exhilaration the laya competition between guru and sishya on stage with MLV backing her up with some gorgeous music in the second half of the programme. I have also sung along with Akka for several of Vidhya's scintillating performances. Several disciples like Saraswathi Srinivasan and TM Prabhavathi also helped in Viddhee's upbringing as we were all part of Akka's extended family in the true Gurukula sense. She also trained formally under Vidwan B. Krishnamurthy for Carnatic vocal. She excelled in music and dance and nattuvangam too.

Vidhya was quite reserved by nature but was a dedicated person as far as her dance was concerned. The same commitment came to her film roles too. I remember she was always in a world of her own. She was very keen on joining the turbulent film industry though many of Akka's conservative mami friends advised against such a move. They felt her dance would take a backseat. And it did. Some years ago, Viddhee told me that she had a desire to start a dance school and propagate Dandayudhapani's style for posterity. She seemed to miss her dancing desperately. Naturally, since she had spent years and years mastering the art.

Fate willed otherwise. Brushing aside her mother's protests she rushed into a bad marriage. This traumatic event separated mother and daughter for several years. They never saw eye to eye on things. Akka lapsed briefly into an unexplainable depression. When the marriage soured, Akka and Viddhee came back together with a lot of loving and caring. The interim period had been hell for both of them. God was unkind. Soon Akka fell ill. Vidhya nursed her, and after her death she looked after her father Vikatam (mimic) Krishnamurthy and her brother's family. Vidhya never recovered fully from her mother's demise. That was a deep sadness which became part of her.

Vidhya's life was dedicated to service to others and she led it like a stoic, a karma yogin. There was no real happiness except when she acted. She told me that she found profound joy in the presence of Satya Sai Baba and she also composed and sang 500 songs on Baba. The last few years saw her giving music concerts, and as she was a very good singer it was but natural for her to sing. This I think would have found favour with Akka. I know for a fact that she was educating a number of orphans and doing charity.

Her sudden untimely death was shocking and saddening. One felt that a life had been wasted. It leads one to ponder on the private and sad lives of stars and celebrities and how much they have to sacrifice in life, to remain stars and celebrities in the fickle eyes of the public. For me, a part of my childhood has been erased and thoughts of my guru rekindled. Life has its ups and downs — this is a particular low. Now I want to remember only the good times and get on.

The mother in my Kandukondein Kandukondein had to be somebody who could show great dignity in adversity. Srividya was perfect for that role — a woman who was a great beauty, but who had taken foolish, impulsive decisions, who lived to regret them, but learnt to deal with life. She had the perfect South Indian face, with large expressive eyes. Although she started her career in the Tamil cinema of the 60s and 70s she was incredibly non-melodramatic. Then of course she matured in Malayalam cinema.

During the shooting of my film, I found her totally sensitive to direction. Her eyes would light up if she approved of a particular nuance. In between shots she used to sing Carnatic music on our request. Her music was beautiful. I saw her as a top notch musician surrounded by disciples. That was not to be. She had her mother's knowledge of music and the passion of a dancer. Her talent was not suitably rewarded in her home state. But she died in glory in Kerala.

— Rajiv Menon,
director/cinematographer

Reference

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Words in Ganesh form


BANGALORE: For Venkatesh Ellore, the image of Lord Ganesh is indeed a trigger for his spiritual pursuits. But the artist in Venkatesh takes it beyond the realm of worship, rendering words in the form of Ganesh with clinical precision and ease.

Lend him your name and watch him sketch the letters that seem to take a life of their own. The image of Ganesh would then emerge out of the collective positioning of those letters.

Venkatesh could have branched out deep into photography, being the son of the proprietor of the famed EGK Studios in Bangalore. But this Mechanical Engineering graduate from BMS College had other ideas. His versatility and artistic talent had to find a platform. And he discovered that in his Ganesh renderings. Till date, he has done over a thousand Ganeshs, customised, touched up with computer graphics and neatly framed.

Of course, he does freehand work, much quicker than what you take to spell Ganesh. Venkatesh has done over 6,000 such works. The latest is a work on "Suvarna Karnataka," well timed to coincide with the golden jubilee year of Karnataka. Having rendered that in both Kannada and English, the artist is now looking forward to the big day, November 1. Ten days later, he too would celebrate his 50th birthday.

Venkatesh has now made it a point to gift a wordy Ganesh free to a stranger. "I want to put a smile on the stranger's face," he explains. Otherwise, he is quite busy with orders from companies. With a company's name captured within the image of Ganesh, you not only pray to the Lord but also look up to the company's name.

"I am an artist and I always wanted to be a different kind of an artist. Sathya Sai Baba says there is a God in every human being. He has realised it while we have yet to do so. His words had an impact on me. I think this art of using letters to depict the image of Ganesh is my way of trying to find God. I am also helping others to find God," he says.

Venkatesh had stumbled upon his way with the art, much early. "As a child, I was a very good artist and a visualiser," he recalls.

But the notion that art would not fetch much, caught up with him too. Destiny took him to engineering, although he managed to set up a fitness centre in Indiranagar, and even venture into South Indian Karate in the process. Later, during his engineering college days, he discovered another talent: An amazing, rare ability to write backwards, upside down and even mirror-image words, that too with ambidextrous ease. For proof, watch him write long sentences backwards, and with both hands, simultaneously.

Reference

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REAL PEOPLE
by Ronnie Thomas


DAILY Photo by Jonathan Palmer
Dr. Laj Utreja has traveled the globe ‘in search of truth.’
Going on a global spiritual journey
Madison man’s experiences ‘in search of truth’ inspiration for book

MADISON — Autumn leaves twist in a mild breeze and drift to the ground as Dr. Laj Utreja relaxes on the deck of his Veranda Drive home here and contemplates life.

A Hindu born in New Delhi, he speaks of turning-point travels, such as his arrival in the United States in 1968. He enrolled in engineering graduate studies at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis-St. Paul after receiving offers from several schools.

“Minnesota offered the best assistantship,” he said. “The snow and cold? If you come as a student, you’ll like anything, snowmobiling and tobogganing.”

As overwhelming as coming to America might seem, Utreja’s most incredible journeys came during a three-year period following his brother’s death of a brain tumor in May 1999.

He says the loss started him on a path that changed his life, motivating him to travel to many places, all “in search for truth,” and to write a book, “Who Are We?” on reincarnation and the law of karma.

Utreja, 60, whose wife, Dr. Monita Soni, is a pathologist at Parkway Medical Center, attended self-realization fellowships at temples throughout the Los Angeles area. Because of his brother’s “great faith” in Sri Sathya Sai Baba, he returned to his native country, traveling to Puttaparthi, India, about 1,200 miles south of New Delhi, the birthplace of Sai Baba. It was there, Utreja said, that he encountered “a state of bliss as I have never experienced before.”

Baba, whose teachings are based on truth, righteousness, peace, universal love and non violence, is the most colorful and multifaceted prophet modern India has produced. Followers believe him to be — and Utreja concurs — the incarnation of Shiva Shatki, who proclaims life and death principles, and the potency of God.

Utreja said that as Baba, 79, walked the aisles of Prashanti Nilayam, which means “the abode of peace,” he looked at him “in total awe, mesmerized by his presence. He produces an ash called vibhuti, which means glory of God, in his bare hands.

“The first time I saw him do it was from a distance,” Utreja said. “The second time, nearer to me on another side of the aisle, a man asked for vibhuti, and I saw it clearly. He rubs his hands together, then pours out the ash from his right hand.”

Utreja said he was among about 5,000 people in the audience, composed of people of all faiths, including Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims. Over a million people gather there each year on Baba’s birthday Nov. 23.

His travels included visiting shrines in the Himalayas. He made his final trip in preparation for the book in June 2002, to the holy mountain of Mount Kailash in Tibet. He describes in the book the reincarnation he got at the end of the journey.

Utreja, who has lived in the Huntsville area 30 years, said, “There is no doubt in my mind that we reappear over and over again. When we hurt people, we momentarily forget that hurt can come back to us.”

He said that if “we see others do bad things, but yet have a good life, we are seeing them in a finite duration of time, knowing that no one can go back (in the end) and be one with God without paying the consequences of all actions. We don’t awake until something bad happens to us or unless we are in a situation of conflicts. Otherwise, life is rosy. It is only when we are deprived of health, wealth or happiness that we begin to question.”

Utreja noted that we say “God is just. Will we believe in a God who is not just? A bad guy seemingly gets away unpunished. We shortsight God. We did not see what (God) did to him. He will do justice in his own time.

“But if I do good to you, somewhere in your psyche it is deposited, and you’ll return it to me. When we have an upper hand, when we are intoxicated by power and wealth, we forget about all this.”

Utreja also pointed to another slogan, imprinted on our money, “In God We Trust.” But, he asks if we really trust him, because “if we do, we’ll be good to everyone in a system in which we will not have created classes.”

Utreja claims that “a true scientist cannot prove God doesn’t exist. If there is manifestation, there has to be a cause and that cause is beyond human capacity. And that is why we believe in an omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent God. That is only reasonable. It’s the cause and effect principal. That’s when the law of karma comes into play. You reap the consequences of your karma.”

He added, “We all are believers, philosophers and scientists because we believe, we reason and we observe.”

Utreja, who earned a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at The University of Alabama at Huntsville, taught for about 10 years as adjunct professor in the department of mechanical engineering and the department of foreign languages and literature. He now teaches two courses at UAH in continuing education, one on karma and destiny and one on and stress management.

In 2001, he sold his company, Native American Services, which supported NASA and the Marshall Space Flight Center. Three years ago, he founded the Institute of Spiritual Healing, where he teaches the correct way to breathe and meditate.

Copies of “Who Are We?” are available online at www.amazon.com or at www.barnesandnoble.com.

Utreja will follow his first work with “Where Are We Coming From?” and “What Is Our Purpose?”

Reference

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New Allegations Of Abuse Against Sai Baba
by Payal Nair

He claims to be the direct incarnation of the saint Shirdi Sai Baba, and is self-proclaimed living god with supernatural powers. The prolific Sri Sathya Sai Baba, India’s most popular and enigmatic spiritual guru with a claimed world following of 30 million devotees in over 165 countries, is no less than a global phenomenon. But, this living avatar has been dogged by controversy for over 40 years. He is the subject of several books, newspaper articles and documentaries, most questioning his god-like powers and, rather worryingly, alleging that he has sexually abused young male devotees for a number of years.

Last Thursday, a BBC 2 documentary entitled The Secret Swami, sought to rake up this controversy once again. Investigative journalist Tanya Datta travelled to Puttaparthi, a large township in Ananthapur District of Andhra Pradesh state, in South East India, the birthplace of Sai Baba and home to his famous Prashanti Nilayam ashram to shed light on recent allegations.

The documentary had a two fold purpose, firstly, to investigate sexual abuse claims against the 78 year-old guru, and secondly to try and ascertain whether he really does have god-like powers. What Ms Datta found were disturbing testimonies by two western devotees, who claim to have been abused as teenagers when they lived in Sai Baba’s ashram during the early 1970s.

Americans Alaya Rahm and Mark Roche say they were subject to degrading abuse at the hands of Sai Baba, and that he had allegedly threatened if they told anyone. "He told me that if I said anything, then my life would be full of pain and suffering. I became afraid that if I told my parents, I would lose them forever. No youngster can handle that," says Alaya Rahm. It further emerged in the documentary that the youngster’s father, Al Rahm, had also been subjected to similar experiences as a Sai devotee, but had thought it was ‘normal practice, an initiation ceremony.’ When asked what he felt about Sai Baba, Mark Roche said, "I feel totally betrayed. I gave 25 years of my life to Sai Baba, and he has completely let me down."

On the subject of Sai Baba’s miracle making, the jury is most definitely out. There have been several formal investigations by western scientists, who have concluded that Sai Baba does, indeed, possess some paranormal and psychic powers. However, the sceptics are out in force within India, and some of the country’s top illusionists claim he is no more than a glorified magician, whose hand waving distracts the crowd while he supposedly conjures up objects out of thin air. However, one phenomenon that remains unexplained is the sudden appearance of Vibhuti (holy ash) from Sai Baba pictures.

With as many critics, Sai Baba also has his large, devoted and loyal following, who will hear no wrong against their god. Some of his famous followers include John Lennon, actor Richard Gere and Bill Clinton. The ashram in Puttaparthi is said to be more visited than the Vatican in Rome, as millions flock to see, touch and be near Sai Baba. Pilgrims come from all over the world, and in particular the ashram sees many foreign devotees from as far a field as Croatia and Nigeria. According to one London-based Swiss devotee, Avalane Prashad, "his appeal is universal because his teachings draw people in, you feel calm and peace when you see and hear him," she says.

The latest allegations against Sai Baba have caused a furore amongst the global Hindu community, some of whom have threatened to take legal action against the BBC. Asian Voice spoke to Mr Ashok Bhagani, a trustee of the Sai Organisation UK, who said, "The BBC has acted totally irresponsibly. The allegations in the documentary are completely factless and baseless." He adds, "What actual evidence does the BBC have to substantiate these claims? These allegations have been circulating for years and have never been proved. As far as I’m concerned, there are 30 million happy devotees in the world, but every so often you will get two or three who will make these wild allegations." Mr Bhagani also states that when devotees are selected by Sai Baba for a private interview, there is always someone else present in the room, and this is especially the case when women and children meet him. "We will not take these claims lying down", says Mr Bhagani, "we will protest and make our feelings clear to the BBC."

A spokesman for the BBC told Asian Voice, "The profile of Sai Baba went to great lengths to be balanced and fair, and did not simply concentrate on the negative allegations."

"As the research developed it became clear that the film was about a crisis and ultimately a betrayal of faith. Genuine Sai Baba followers like the Rahm family have had their faith shattered in the most disturbing manner. The man they believed to be God was repeatedly sexually abusing their son. All over the world similar stories are emerging from former devotees. Governments around the world are deeply concerned and are beginning to take action warning their citizens about Sai Baba."

"We were very keen to cooperate with the Sai Baba organisation in the making of this film, offering them many opportunities to take part but they refused. This was in no sense an attack on the faith. I believe the film showed respect for the genuine believers, and it would have been remiss of the BBC not to examine such allegations. A stance we’ve taken when similar charges have arisen within other denominations."

Speaking about his positive experiences as a biochemistry student at the Sathya Sai Arts College in Bangalore during the 1970s, Navin Patel says, "I’ve studied there long enough, and visited the ashram many times, to know that these allegations are untrue." He adds, "The documentary is very misleading. They have based it on just these two western devotees, who may have their own monetary agendas. Why didn’t they speak to Indian or British devotees, and why weren’t people in the ashram interviewed? In my opinion, it is just western journalists jumping on the Sai Baba bashing bandwagon."

Another devotee, Gitaben Shah, tells me, "Sai Baba is God because he advocates pure love, peace, truth and humanitarian service. He doesn’t ask that people change their religion just that they become better people."

Sai Baba’s motto of "love all, serve all" is particularly evident in the charitable works he has orchestrated of building several schools and the Super Speciality hospitals in Puttaparthi and Bangalore, and the large water project he initiated in Bangalore in the 1990s. Adorned by the rural poor as a messiah who has bestowed them with clean water, this is where his popularity is said to lie. Although there have been calls for Sai Baba and his ashram to be properly investigated, he seems to have full impunity from the Indian government, with many ministers, senior politicians , industrialists, judiciary members and Bollywood stars also being devotees.

Whether Sai Baba is a living god, or just a charlatan, one thing is for certain, he is rarely out of the headlines, and will continue to be for many more years to come.

©Asian Voice 26th June 2004

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SOUTHERN NEWS - KARNATAKA Oct 13, 2006

HIV/AIDS awareness programme held
Friday October 13 2006 12:22 IST

SHIMOGA: There are about 53 lakh AIDS patients in the country and proper awareness should be provided to them to lead a normal life, said Field Publicity director M N Shankar.

He was speaking at a special awareness programme organised by Directorate of Field Publicity Shimoga unit, Sri Satya Sai Seva Samste and Abhay Action Aid Karnataka Project at Government PU College in Sagar recently.

Health environment and nutritious food was very essential for HIV / AIDS patients. By taking good care of these things, the person can be made to live for more years, he said.

Taluk coordinator C Suresh, vice principal Parameshwarappa, Field Publicity assistant Parameshwarappa also spoke. G Prakash welcomed and Chowdappa proposed vote of thanks.

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Section From "Miracles Of Welfare":
(Reference)

Sai Baba's concern for quality education and medicare is a positive input for nation building.

At the other end of the spectrum is the violently vociferous lobby of local rationalists (convinced that Sai Baba is a confidence trickster) and international apostate disciples (who paint Sai Baba as the Anti-Christ). To add to the chagrin of these voluble detractors, who have criticised his career in print and on the Internet with malicious intensity for at least a generation, is the ongoing booming growth of his mission. The more they rail against the saint, the greater, it seems, is the number of people who flock to have his darshan.

The critics are so intemperate in their dislike that their vituperation now comes across as almost near comical in its predictability. Nothing Baba can say or do meets their approval. If he provides drinking water to thirsty villagers they scent a scam but if he doesn’t provide drinking water he is anti-poor. The ground reality is that even Naxalites have welcomed Baba's charitable intervention, recognising in him a fellow son of the Andhra soil. Often the impression given is that the vilifiers do not hate Sai Baba as much as they harbour contempt for the religious feelings of ordinary cultivators, whose devotion has made Sathya Sai what he is.

Probably because of the intensity of their hate, when it comes to a serious, forensic examination of their allegations, they resort to bluster and evasion instead of hard facts. Smearing sexual innuendo is a traditional ploy but on failing to substantiate their charges, the critics switch to another unrelated subject.

They will claim that all of Sathya Sai Baba's materialisations are phoney. However, this cannot stick either, because millions have witnessed the outpouring of vibhuti at Shivaratri. So then, financial irregularities are imputed to the saint, and when these are likewise found to be unproductive of scandal, mafia happenings are invoked. (As a longtime observer of ashrams, I always note how Puttaparthi is exceptional in not making any monetary demands on the visitor.)

The strategy of the critics seems to be that if sufficient mud is thrown, some might stick. This hit and run behaviour suggests a neurotic concern to damn by any possible means. Certain foreign evangelical missions invest in these hate campaigns as a godly task while in international forums, pressure on voting patterns is discreetly applied by lobbyists of rival religions, to further their own cause.

The latest in these so called exposes is a BBC documentary whose agenda was so predetermined to denigrate Baba that it stooped to the unethical use of a spy camera. In a last farcical gesture, the producer hired some roadside entertainers to attempt to simulate Baba’s chamatkar. The result is so ludicrous that it leaves the viewer wondering as to who is funding this bizarre display of hostile reporting. The BBC is ultimately governed by the Anglican establishment, and churches in the west are losing out financially to the appeal of the Sai Baba movement.

As a commercial broadcaster, the BBC's opting for sleaze would have the dual advantage of discrediting a rival as well as getting good audience rating. The Church of England can have no objection to programmes that weaken perceived threats—like the papacy or Hindu holy men—to its (declining) influence in the world. Posing as a lion in Asia, the BBC is a mouse in Britain. It dare not criticise public icons like the Queen, who happens to be the supremo of the Anglican church.

Even negative assessments of the Sai movement have to concede that its growth has been phenomenal and that, remarkably, there has been no missionary effort involved. It has increased by spontaneous identification, where individuals have been drawn to the persona and teachings of the Sai saints, a voluntary outpouring of faith that has occurred in an amazingly short period.

In appealing to the core of spirit that lies beneath the surface of all religions, the Deccan saints have not only made a dent in the fragmentary nature of the subcontinental religious loyalties but also restored the classical Upanishadic insight of the oneness of all faiths.

This augurs well with the Indian democracy's need to get beyond religious labels that have stultified its development since Independence. Baba's concern for quality education and medical care is another positive input for nation building. The success of his peninsula drinking water network has proved that for efficient development, the crucial ingredient is sincerity of purpose.

Bill Aitken is an expert on comparative religion and a travel writer. He is author of "Sri Sathya Sai Baba: A Life".

©The Week November 27th 2005

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A Friend in India to All the World
By KEITH BRADSHER

PUTTAPARTHY, India — The president of India, who is best known for overseeing India's nuclear tests in 1998, recently paid a state visit to the country's largest ashram, to meet and receive the blessings of a holy man who preaches nonviolence.

The visit underlined the appeal of the unusual holy man, Sri Sathya Sai Baba, who draws presidents, prime ministers and other leaders not only from India but also from outside it; altogether he claims followers in 178 countries.

The separation between state and religion in India, clear and bright in the years immediately after Indian independence in 1947, has grown less distinct. That is especially true with the political ascendancy of the governing Bharatiya Janata Party, which emphasizes Hindu nationalism.

Part of the appeal of the Baba, as he is called by followers and others here, is that ever since the 1940's he has been preaching an unusual mixture of faiths and encouraging religious tolerance.

Official visits here have become one of the odder features of Indian public life, and among the most colorful. The Baba's mixture of religions extends far beyond traditional Hindu beliefs, and that lets him attract politicians of various faiths, including Muslims like President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam of India.

President Kalam, a former nuclear scientist, flew to the ashram's private airport here in southern India on a blue-and-white air force jet. Saluted by olive-clad police officers, he climbed into the lead car of a motorcade, and Sikh military aides in scarlet turbans followed suit.

Lining the road to the ashram were stone tablets inscribed with the swami's utterances. "Money comes and money goes/Morality comes and grows," read one sign in English, signed simply Baba, meaning divine father.

On a hillside at the ashram's entrance stood enormous, brightly painted statues of Jesus, Buddha and Hanuman, an Indian monkey god. Farther on was a large Chinese temple and a big billboard of a benevolently smiling Baba, his hand raised in blessing.

Two-story modern buildings in fuchsia lined the paved avenue, incongruously interspersed with 30-foot-tall statues of acoustic guitars and wooden drums. The clunky Indian-made Ambassador cars chugged past them and pulled to a halt in front of the great hall of the ashram.

More than 10,000 closely packed acolytes sat cross-legged on the floor, the women in saris of brilliant emerald, ruby and indigo silk, the men in white short-sleeve shirts and white trousers, symbolizing purity.

President Kalam deferentially slipped off his brown loafers and walked in stocking feet to the front of the hall, followed by a small entourage, whose members had also tucked their shoes under flowering bushes outside. The Baba, 76, a short man with a thick mane of black hair, shuffled forward in his robe.

Acolytes discreetly angled for the Baba's notice; one of the few Westerners nearby, a middle-aged man also sitting cross-legged, clapped his hand to his heart and wobbled visibly with emotion when the Baba appeared to wave in his direction.

Famous for seldom saying much in public even to his followers, the Baba silently greeted President Kalam. The two men disappeared through polished wood doors decorated with reliefs of Hindu gods and into the Baba's inner sanctum, where they remained a quarter of an hour while the crowd waited quietly.

A senior aide to the Baba whispered that the spiritual leader's full name, Sri Sathya Sai Baba, signified holy, truth, divine mother and divine father.

Preaching the five principles of truth, peace, love, nonviolence and right conduct, the Baba "represents unity of religion, all religions," not just Hinduism, the aide said.

The president emerged and led his entourage out of the great hall, putting on his shoes and hopping back in a car for a short drive to the ashram's guesthouse. In a brief interview there, he said he had discussed with the swami how to achieve an educational system that combined values with science.

"When they are fused, you get an enlightened citizen," said President Kalam, whose role is mostly ceremonial in this parliamentary democracy; the Parliament elected him in July.

Coming from a Muslim background, the president is a rarity among national politicians in a country that is four-fifths Hindu. He has long contended that India's nuclear weapons program is necessary to keep the peace in the region, and he does not represent warlike intentions.

N. Chandrababu Naidu, the chief minister, or governor, of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh here, said the Baba was not just a holy man but a public policy expert. Mr. Naidu described repeatedly seeking the swami's advice while turning Hyderabad, the state capital of Andhra Pradesh, into a high-tech center where American companies like Microsoft and Oracle now employ thousands of computer programmers.

Using donations from around the world, the Baba has built two hospitals near here that provide free care to the poor. He is now spending $50 million to build systems for drinking water and irrigation, Mr. Naidu said.

But for all the swami's interest in technology, he refuses to use e-mail, or even pick up a telephone. "He won't correspond with anybody, he won't use phones either," the chief minister said with a faint hint of irritation. "Everyone has to come here."

©The New York Times, Dec. 1, 2002
http://www.nytimes.com/

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SRI SATHYA SAI BABA
A LIVING LEGEND
AN EMBODIMENT OF LOVE FOR ALL MANKIND

We are deeply pained and anguished by the wild, reckless and concocted allegations made by certain vested interests and people against Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. We would normally expect that responsible media would ascertain the true facts before printing such calumny - especially when the person is revered globally as an embodiment of love and selfless service to humanity. Since this professional ethic has not been observed by a section of the media, we have elected to go public with this signed statement.

We are among several million people in the world who regard Sri Sathya Baba as a great spiritual master and teacher. We come from different nationalities and religions and greatly admire the fact that Sathya Sai Baba asks us to become a true follower of our chosen path. His is a message of truth, right conduct, love, peace and non-violence. He always emphasizes that these universal human values belong to all faiths and religious traditions.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba leads by example. he devotes all his time and energy for the well being of society. People from all walks of life and from all parts of world visit him in Prasanthi Nilayam (Andhra Pradesh, India). He meets them and showers his love and blessings on all those who seek him. He has been the sole inspiration behind some of the most monumental public service projects in recent times. He has set up schools, colleges and universities where finest qualify man-making education is imparted to all at no cost. His educational program of universal human values is being used by thousands of educational institutions all over the world. He has set up hospitals where complex surgical interventions are performed everyday without any cost to the patients. He has set up a mammoth clean drinking water network in drought-prone areas. Indeed the list of activities and projects inspired by him continues to grow with new projects being undertaken in all parts of the world.

We have had the privilege of meeting Sri Sathya Sai Baba many times and seeing him engage ceaselessly in community service projects.

We unequivocally condemn the baseless and malicious allegations being hurled upon Sathya Sai Baba in certain quarters. Great men have often faced slander in their lives. Such pitiful efforts neither diminish their glory nor slow down their resolve to achieve their mission.

May God give good sense to all who create these scurrilous stories and wisdom to all others not to pay any heed to them.

A.B. VAJPAYEE
Prime Minister of India

P.N. Bhagawati
Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India

Ranganath Mishra
Chair Person, National Human Rights Commissioner of India
Formerly Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India

Najma Heptulla
President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union; UNDP Distinguished Human Development Ambassador

Shivraj V. Patil
Member of Parliament, India; Formerly of the Lok Sabda & Union Minister

Labels: sai controversy

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