With the arrival of Wintry December comes the memoirs of Little Jesus and His
Advent, the celebration of Christmas. With the Christmas Day a fortnight away,
Prasanthi is slowly gearing up for the D-Day when once again the Advent of the Son
of God will be celebrated in the immediate Divine Presence of Lord walking on two
Feet!
..and such an Advent cannot miss the 'pomp and show', the "gaiety and piety"
divinity richly deserves. Prasanthi Nilayam traditionally witnesses Christmas with
western flavour as teams from overseas make it a point to light up the Divine Abode
to match the spiritual significance and grandeur of the occasion.
Last year, during Christmas 2008, it was the turn of the 'Americans', a dedicated
team from Region 8, California, to deck up the Divine Abode; and the team did it to
perfection. Read on the story of their dedicated team effort that made the task a
grand success... compiled by Ms. Sue Kelly Christie
Posted at 18:20:08 Hrs. IST on 10 Dec 2009
Well, their President – Barack Obama – told the world during his election campaign
last year, “Yes we can” and after their job of decorating the Sai Kulwant Hall,
Swami’s residence and guest house, the USA Region 8 of the Sri Sathya Sai
Organisation can honestly declare – “Yes we did!”
Yes, they most certainly did! What an achievement and a singular accomplishment.
Especially considering this is the first time the Americans have been accorded the
honour of lighting up, for THE Light of the Universe, our Beloved Bhagawan Baba.
They most certainly did do it!
I am sure that those fortunate enough to be present in Puttaparthi for the Holy
Christmas Festival could not have failed to be impressed by the tremendous work of
decorating the ashram for the Christmas season by the USA Region 8 (which includes
Hawaii, Southern California and Las Vegas) dedicated to our Beauteous Baba.
Being here in Parthi always inspires in one a sense of awe and wonder, that being
so, one may not always be so aware of the hard work and tremendous attention to
detail that go into many of the wondrous sights that we could so easily regard as
yet another of Baba’s marvellous “manifestations.”
Here’s a wee glimpse “backstage,” so we can show our appreciation to all those who
put in so much loving effort and hard work, to make Christmas in Parthi even more
beautiful.
The planning began almost one year before Christmas 2008. It was February of 2008,
when the first planning meeting took place. There, an organizational chart, time
table and initial design ideas were tabled. The theme was also decided – Christmas
Gift of Love. This was all executed under the very capable leadership of Dr. Mike
Congleton, President of the USA Region 8, and April Skrobiza, the Region 8 Christmas
Decorations Coordinator.
An exciting innovation was unveiled this year – LED – (Light Emitting Diodes).
Although this marvellous technology is not brand new, this is the first time it has
ever been used here in Parthi. Due to the limited supply of electricity to the
Ashram, lighting has never before been made a feature in the decorations. However,
by using LED, USA Region 8 devotees were able to put on electrifying displays at a
fraction of the wattage for electricity. This colourful lighting technology enabled
our Swami’s residence and guest house to be aglow with wash lights which would
illuminate the outside walls with a changing array of beautiful colours, each colour
fading slowly into another. The colours were of gentle hues, giving the effect of a
rainbow passing over the Holy Abode.
The light genies were the family Bakshi! The Bakshis are experts at making
commercial light displays. They also graciously lent their skills to the Sai Kulwant
Hall which the team decided was to have a heavenly theme, depicting God’s glorious
kingdom with angels and stars. The mandir was to be adorned with beautiful pictures
of Jesus and Mother Mary. Also, Bible scenes about the birth of Jesus. In portraying
the heavenly realms, the designers created exquisite spiral “ribbon” lights, plus a
“Moravian” style star which was placed in the centre of the mandir balcony.
The Bakshi family’s lighting design drew a blessed sound from the lips of the Lord.
“Beautiful!” He declared as He observed the display.
What validation for the Bakshi family, who are experts in installing massive
lighting effects for Las Vegas hotel signs. So, it was with love from Vegas to
Vishnu!
The core team consisted of a couple of dozen devotees who met frequently to discuss
designs and ideas, also to report on progress made in locating the required
materials and resources.
Phyllis Wohlberg led the design team which consisted of artists blessed with
numerous talents ranging from painting to sculpting. Then the gifted group set about
the challenging task. Some worked with their hands, while others carried out their
tasks on computers. Then all of their numerous concepts were unified so that the
decorations would be consistent. Jai! Celebrate Unity in Diversity! The simple, yet
striking palette of the traditional Christmas colours of red and green with gold and
silver accents was decided upon, as was the theme of using angels in the Sai Kulwant
Hall.
Also in the design plans, were many small details that one might have missed unless
you were part of the design team. For instance, as part of the decorations on the
mandir windows, the designers wanted lighted candles on the window sills, nestling
among the pine garlands. The team was told that there could not be real candles
burning – associate lighted candles very much with the Christmas holiday, persisted,
and found a new candle technology introduced a few years previously, making
available many different types of decorative wax candles with LED “flicker” lights.
These candles looked exactly like real candles, emitting a glowing, flickering light
from within. Because of the LED bulbs, these candles could stay lit for over 350
hours, using batteries. This was more than enough time to last through the entire
Christmas celebration.
The three candles that Bhagawan lit to open the celebrations, were hand-made by a
candle factory in Carlsbad, California. They were made especially for Swami and were
placed on three tall, antique gold candle-holders.
So determined were our USA Region 8 Christmas Decorations group to make the occasion
as real as possible, they even brought over real beach sand from Cardiff by the Sea
in Southern California. Several bags of the sand were taken over by Region 8
volunteers. The sand was spread around the “Surfing Santa” display to simulate a
real beach.
Continuing in their pursuit of reality – they wanted Snow! Some of their designers
decided to install two snow machines in the middle of the Sai Kulwant Hall. These
snow machines added a surprise element to the design and provided a realistic
snowing effect during several segments of the Christmas program.
I believe someone in the choir which performed for Swami on Christmas Eve, when the
“snow” began falling from the middle section of the mandir, looked up and said:
“Look, it’s snowing, it’s Swami, it’s a miracle!” Ha! Ha!
Some of the eager young adults in Region 8 wanted to create something special for
Swami. They were responsible for 30 beautiful red and green velvet banners, with
lovely gold and silver trim. These added an elegant note to the mandir and gate
columns.
The planning was going well, and the first all volunteers meeting was held on June
21. Here the majority of the designs were presented on MS Powerpoint slides. This
was to help the volunteers with the assembling and installing of the various
designs. Within a day of that presentation, these slides were presented to Dr.
Narendranath Reddy, (of Prasanthi Council) who was very pleased with them. He
suggested that the presentation be given to the Secretary of the Ashram, Mr.
Chakravarthi, after Gurupoornima.
The Region 8 Service Coordinator. Rohan Balasuriya, was asked to take the
presentation to Prasanthi. He also needed to measure the exact dimensions of the Sai
Kulwant Hall and other buildings to be decorated, to enable the team to properly
finalise the designs and purchase the exact amount of decorations for each area.
With Swami’s grace, the presentation was made to Mr. Chakravarthi, who reviewed each
slide and asked detailed questions. Mr. Chakravarthi made many positive comments and
agreed to all the designs. As you can imagine, dear reader, this was to the absolute
delight of the presentation team.
In early August, with measurements now securely in hand, their purchasing team began
the work of locating and ordering all the different items needed to create the
designs that had been approved by the ashram. No small task!
An 18-page spreadsheet with details of all the design areas was compiled, listing
the exact items needed, including quantities, sizes and suggested sources. This
information enabled the purchasing team, which was headed by Task Force Leader
Vimala Srinivas and team leader Roopa Sharma, to gather all the needed items – which
included 24,000 ornaments, thousands of metres of garlands and hundreds of wreaths.
Also specialty items such as LED twinkle and rope lights, statues, banners and snow
machines! They were found in such diverse places as China, India and the USA.
As an added task, many items had to be organized into 25-30 pound packages so they
could be taken to India as extra baggage by each volunteer. This was to avoid the
decorations being stuck in customs, which had been a problem in the past. With the
help of devotees in Bangalore, some of the green pine-style garlands were made into
various sized wreaths and 10,000 prasad packets were filled with nuts, raisins and
mango candy. The Bangalore devotees also helped with the items from China, which
they received, checked, organized and then stored until it was time to transport
them via truck to the ashram in early December.
In October of 2008, the team received wonderful news from Prasanthi. Swami had
personally reviewed the proposed Christmas decoration designs, and He had given His
approval. Dr. Narendranath Reddy said that Swami carefully looked at all of the
pictures, making comments as He looked through them. Understandably this was the
best and most precious news the team could have received, as they had all been
working long hours to make this project worthy of their beloved Bhagawan.
Now that the purchasing team had completed their buying bonanza, it was time for the
Construction Team to enter the scene. These talented people were in charge of the
assembly and installation of the decorations. Meetings were held in October and
November to plan what would be needed to assemble and install the decorations.
Obviously there was much to discuss and many solutions to be found.
At the final meeting on November 16th the decorations group of over 150 devotees
divided into teams, under the direction of Construction Task Force Leader Dushyant
Mehta. Each team was assigned to handle the assembly and installation of decorations
for a certain area of Sai Kulwant Hall, Swami’s residence, and Poornachandra
balconies. The team finalized their plans and answered questions about assembling
and installing their Particular decorations.
The excitement was mounting. Soon it would be time for India. Some of the volunteers
had left in mid-November in order to participate in Swami’s 83rd birthday
celebration, while others would leave at the end of November or early December. The
first meeting of the USA Region 8 Decorations Team at the ashram was held on
December 11 at 7pm.
The team had been allocated a shed – Shed 32. This shed was to become home to all
the ideas, imaginings, mouldings, cuttings, stitchings, hammerings, gluings, oohings
and aahings which undoubtedly emerged from the concerted efforts of USA Region 8
devotees in the upcoming 12 days.
Which reminds me of the song, Twelve Days of Christmas..
On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me..
The chance to decorate for Swami….
Even though USA Region 8 devotees decorated the central portion of the ashram, there
were decorations needed for other parts of the ashram as well. These were the
Western canteen, the shopping centre, bakery, bookstore and hospitals. These areas
were designed, assembled and installed by a team of experienced international
volunteers consisting of people from Iran, Russia, Holland, Australia and Germany.
The international volunteers integrated with the USA Region 8 Christmas Decorations
Team and were guided by Tom Lahey (International Christmas Decorations Director).
Mr. Lahey proved to be an absolute gem for the team as he provided them with
invaluable advice, as well as creative solutions to many of the team’s most
perplexing installation issues. Lahey and his international team assisted the Region
8 team in completing their installation task quickly and thoroughly with their
expertise, according to a very grateful April Skrobiza, the Region 8 Christmas
Decorations Coordinator.
She also told us: “From December 12 to 21, Shed 32 was the centre of our lives! It
was amazing and inspiring to see so many devotees working with such dedication and
perseverance. Many of the group went without meals and had very little sleep, but
still they kept on with their work, thinking only of pleasing Swami”.
Shed 32 was to be the working home for the majority of the USA Region 8 decorations
team and their volunteers for the intensive ten-day run up to Christmas. But, also
working hard in a different building was a team of Region 8 ladies headed by Semali
Balasuriya at the Easwaramma Women’s Welfare Trust building (located between North 3
& 4 buildings). The Region 8 ladies worked with the 18 young girls of the Easwaramma
Trust whose ages ranged from 16-24. Together, they sewed all the pillar and pigeon
guard covers. The Easwaramma Trust girls worked hard and diligently with the Region
8 ladies for almost three weeks to finish the pillar and pigeon guard covers.
Another group placed gift items into the 10,000 red, green and gold organza bags
which were distributed as Prasad. A photo of Swami, a small bag of vibuthi and two
traditional Christmas candies were added to the Prasad bag, which was already filled
with raisins and mango candies. These devotees did all this, with the name of the
Lord lingering lovingly on their lips.
Then came the time for the LED lights to be incorporated into the decorations. There
arose a question of a different kind – to twinkle or not to twinkle? It transpired
that these twinkle lights, which were purchased in China had a built in program that
enabled them to run through a series of transitions, which included twinkling,
blinking, dimming and staying on. Well, as much as we all love a bit of twinkle and
blinkle, what was needed for the decoration team’s purposes was simply, staying on!
Lights in the Sai Kulwant Hall just had to stay on, static, no twinkle, not even the
slightest blinkle, simply on! This created a dilemma for the lighting team, how
could the lights be changed so as not to twinkle?
Refusing to accept this blinking obstacle, they spoke with Mr. Ramalingam, the head
of the Maintenance Department at Prasanthi Nilayam, and he found a way, using a
candle flame to strip the plastic from the wires and then he rewired the lights so
they only stayed in the On position. Mr Ramalingam stayed up late into the night,
stripping and rewiring many strands of twinkle lights until the lighting team, led
by Daniel Gomez, who was the Christmas team electrician, were able to assist him.
Although the decoration team had many obstacles to overcome, there was much grace as
well. All the volunteers had special Christmas decoration badges which they wore for
identification. During the time in Shed 32 many of the volunteers found Vibhuti
manifesting on their badges. Another sweet blessing came in the form of our Lord
Himself when he drove past Shed 32 and gave all the team members car darshan. It
seems that Shed 32 itself received some of the biggest blessings! Every morning
Ganesh prayers would be held in Shed 32.
Rohini Haq, who was also part of the decorations team, recalls: “In the shed, it was
amazing how all problems got resolved as quickly as they arose, showing us how Swami
is always with us. The love we shared, even with the time constraints and work load,
the understanding that everyone had for each other’s idiosyncrasies, the care
everyone imparted with bringing food for each other or a coffee when needed, showed
our Divine bond of Sai Love.
“I’d like to share some of my other personal experiences. One day I went shopping
for bhajan CDs. The shopkeeper kept trying to push Swami CDs on to me. Frustrated I
said to him: ‘Look, I don’t want the same old songs sung by Swami, I already have
them, moreover, Swami doesn’t sing any more.’
“That afternoon in darshan, we had great seating, right in front of the mandir, we
were all excited. Swami came out dressed in white. Swami then gave a discourse.
Suddenly, He started singing. The words I had spoken to the shopkeeper earlier in
the day resounded in my head like a bolt of lightning! Swami had finished one bhajan
and just before starting the second one He turned His head a sharp left and looked
right at me. Normally I sing the loudest while joining in the mandir bhajans but
upon this day my throat felt as if it were choked. I was in tears, dreading the
words I had uttered in the morning. With that look, it was as if my Lord was showing
me, it is not He, who doesn’t sing bhajans, but, at His will, it is me who can’t
sing them! As Swami’s second bhajan was coming to a close, my tears were now tears
of joy, as I had realized our Lord is always with us all, listening to each word we
utter, each action we do and every breath we take - in any part of the world. He
gives us these lessons to realize His Omnipresent love, the only thing asked in
return is Faith and Love for Him.”
Shelley Harrison, one of the team leaders, had these personal teachings from
Bhagawan Baba: “Sometime in the week before Christmas, I prayed to Swami, ‘If this
is not real, show me what is real.’ On Christmas night after his discourse, I left
the Sai Kulwant Hall, walking down the road between the West Prasanthi buildings. As
I came down the main road to retrieve my shoes, I saw a frail old Indian man sitting
on a step on the corner. As I approached him, I heard a voice in my head say ‘Give
him the Prasad.’ I wondered to myself, what will I say to him, what will he think? I
walked passed him, found my shoes, then heard the voice again, ‘Give him the
packet.’ I immediately started back to find the man. He had left. Disappointed, I
looked up to try and find him and saw him almost directly in front of me, bent over
almost double, walking slowly. I went over to him, bent over saying, ‘Sai Ram’
holding the packet in my hands. He looked up at the green packet with the picture of
Swami showing through, dropped his walking stick and opened his hands to receive the
packet. After I placed it in his hands he raised the packet to his forehead, with
great reverence and joy on his face! I received a rush of joy from his joy, and we
shared a moment of Divine love.
“The love of that moment stayed with me as I walked up the road. Swami had showed me
what is real, what real service is, divine love shared by two hearts.”
Another beautiful teaching experience from our Divine Teacher happened to John
Harrison who, alongside Yogesh Alekal, was the co-manager of decorating Swami’s
residence and guest house.
“One experience stands out. Christmas evening, as I was walking to darshan,
something in me cracked. I suddenly felt as though I had had enough. Not just
because of the experience of this trip, but old feelings welled up from the past,
feelings I thought I had overcome years ago. Maybe because Swami had not looked at
me when I was quite close in Darshan, or because I was not feeling his presence
inside: I don’t know. But I was ready to leave. I was feeling angry, hurt and done –
no, undone. I was telling Baba inside my head that he had better do something, and
not something subtle, not something I could mistake as my imagination, or I might
not be a devotee any more. Just as I was having these thoughts, Dr. Congleton came
up to me and said that Bruce Kintz (building contractor) and I would be sitting on
the verandah. I think I blinked at him and called to him as he was walking away and
asked if he was sure I was supposed to sit there. He said yes. I think I said ‘thank
you,’ and he said something like, no, it’s Swami’s wish. I turned to Bruce and he
said he felt like crying.
“Another important thing I learnt on this trip is how one can so easily misperceive
things. I had two glaring examples that happened to me on that trip. I was really
enjoying working with a Particular person. We did a lot of work together and I felt
that this workmate and I were becoming good friends. One day, another fellow showed
up and my friend started spending more and more time with this new guy and not so
much time with me. I am ashamed to admit it, but I became jealous. I recognized what
was happening but could not totally overcome it. One day I asked my friend’s wife
who this new guy was, she said, Oh, he is my husband’s son from his first marriage,
and his son is here for the first time here. I was stunned, and ashamed. But
grateful to have a fault of mine exposed so I could start the process of accepting
it and forgiving myself for having it.
“The other misperception happened while being seated inside the mandir. A seva dal
was walking among us, waving his hand in a forward moving motion saying ‘closer,
closer.’ We moved at once. Then came the inevitable, ‘closer, closer,’ we scooted up
again. I was now right up against the man in front of me and was already wondering
how my legs were going to survive the next hour or so. Then the same Seva dal stood
right above me pointing down at me saying ‘close, close.’ I looked at my legs
already pressed against the person in front of me and couldn’t imagine getting any
closer. Again he pointed down at me and said in a firm tone “CLOSE” At this point I
turned up my face, with a pitiful look upon it, took his hands in both of my hands
and pleaded: I can’t get any closer. What do you want me to do? He looked me
straight in the eye and said ‘Close zipper!’
Despite the facial colour I had gained after many hours working in the Indian sun, I
felt my face redden. Oh was all I could say as I quickly corrected the situation.
The point is that I, and I’m sure we all, misperceive things, it would behoove us
all to get all the facts before we react to things, especially if the reaction is
negative. It would save us all a lot of grief. Another thing I learned is that when
you hear that small, nearly imperceptible voice in your mind telling you to do
something, listen to it.”
So, it transpires, during Christmas 2008, while USA Region 8 devotees were busy
decorating, designing, constructing and lighting up the Sai Kulwant Hall, Swami’s
residence and guest house, the Lord was ever busy, teaching, coaxing, encouraging,
protecting and loving his beloved devotees as they diligently went about their many
and varied tasks.
The team were really blessed from head to toe. In turn, they had the opportunity to
adorn our Lord, literally from head to toe. The toes were given a beautiful
handcrafted footstool. April Skrobiza recalls: “Another sweet blessing came in the
form of a footstool. Back in September, our Region 8 service coordinator Rohan
Balasuriya was inspired to suggest that Region 8 offer a beautiful footstool to
Swami as a Christmas gift on which He could rest His Lotus feet. After some research
it was determined that available commercial footstools did not meet our
specifications and quality requirements.
“We decided to custom-make a special footstool using the highest quality materials
available in Southern California. A member of our Christmas decorations team, Adrian
Kupersmid, who is a furniture maker, volunteered to construct the footstool for
Swami using memory foam, a revolutionary new product that senses the body
weight/temperature and automatically adjusts to provide the correct support. He also
worked with Rohan to select a beautiful soft red velvet fabric to cover the
footstool. The footstool dimensions specified by the ashram were 15 inches wide, 22
inches long and 6 inches high.
“After the careful handcrafting of the footstool was complete, Adrian packed and
carried it with him to Prasanthi Nilayam. The President of USA Region 8, Dr.
Congleton, presented the footstool to Swami on Christmas day, just after Swami had
cut the Christmas cakes on the verandah. Dr. Congleton knelt before Swami and said
‘Swami, the devotees from Region 8 Southern California, offer this footstool to you
as a Christmas gift of Love for You to rest your Lotus feet on.’ Swami nodded, and
felt the gold fringe that was around the top edge.”
And the adornment of the Divine Head? Two of the members of the decorations team
recall their experiences.
Diana Wenman from the Encinitas Sai Centre recalls: “My most revelatory and
meaningful moment was when I saw Swami sitting under the Moravian star. Being a
Christian, I grew up with the Star of Bethlehem leading the Three Wise Men to the
manger and Jesus, and to see that star over Swami –Jesus – God of all the Universe,
was an amazing and deeply felt experience.”
Corinne Codye of Wrightwood, California, remembers: “At the last minute we needed a
different design for the central forward chandelier. The new design, invented as the
artists and installers worked together, became a circlet of gauzy organza swags,
adorned with hanging stars. Only the next day, Christmas Eve, as Swami came out and
sat in this area, did we notice how this design had become a virtual celestial crown
of gold, dancing in the symbolic heavens above his head as he sat on the verandah in
His golden chair.
It is said when God does something, it is not only efficient but charming to all.
Surely the divine plan was flowing through us to create such delightful effects as
these, producing a true feeling of being an instrument in His hands.”
So there you have it, our dear reader – a little glimpse behind the scenes into what
it was like Decorating Divinity for Christmas 2008. The Americans’ Region 8 really
“Did It” from Vegas to Vishnu, from Broadway to Baba. From Christmas to Krishna.
With Love, love, and more Love!
From the tip of His toes to the Top of His head Beloved Bhagawan Baba was swathed in
the USA’s Region 8’s Gift of Love. Well, well do
Being a member of Team Christmas Decorations - 2008 was an most
wonderful opportunity to sEternallyHis Mission that deepened
the devotion and commitment to love and serve fellow men, echoes
Bruce Kintz from Region 8, California, United States about the
God Given Opportunity...Read on...
Posted at 11:36:01Hrs. IST on 11 Dec 2009
I received a call in March 2008 from April Skrobiza asking if I
would like to be part of the Christmas Decorations Team for the
2008 Christmas in Prasanthi Nilayam. Swami is calling me! Yes!!!
I was to be a member of the Construction Team and of course the
installation of our decorations. For the next 8 months there
were many meetings for planning, designing, procuring and
shipping. As all this was progressing and we were nearing our
departure I was feeling so grateful to Swami for this
opportunity!
My wife and I left on Dec 6 for Prasanthi Nilayam, with other
members of our team on the same flight – that was very nice.
Swami took care of everything, literally, and that became more
and more obvious to me during the whole experience. He was doing
it and me! Every day I noticed that I had no anxiousness or
mental agitation about anything. Swami put me where He wanted me
and I just followed the inner moment to moment guidance and it’s
still going on by His Grace!
Back to the ongoing play (Swami’s leela). We started in earnest
as a group on Dec 11 and went to work at Shed 32 every day until
the 22nd morning when we began the installation. What a
beautiful experience working with this group from Region 8 and
many others from Iran, Russia, Holland, Australia, Germany, and
other countries as well! We worked together in Harmony, and
Unity, what an experience it was and so very impactful and
expanding the love in my heart.
One day early on in our process, I had gone back to my room to
get a tool and I was walking back to the shed, and I noticed a
Seva Dal standing by a lane which goes back through a gate to
the School and Orphanage. A lady approaching from the opposite
direction asked the Seva Dal, “Swami coming?” I heard that and
spun around and asked the same thing! He nodded and the lady
walked across the road and stood waiting. I decided to cross
over also (and she moved a distance away from me to keep the
protocol appropriate regarding men and women standing
together). I took note of that and was appreciative as I was
only thinking of Swami, and the Love I was feeling for Him was
growing as I stood waiting. Shortly after, the gate opened and
Swami’s car slowly came down the lane, and here we were the Seva
Dal, another man, a lady, and me, that’s all!! Swami passed the
lady looking straight forward and then His head turned and He
looked directly at me with a very wide eyed look. There I was,
beaming back at Him with all this love and gratitude, it was a
precious moment in time!
On the 22nd morning after 10 a.m. we started bringing the
decorations over to the Sai Kulwant Hall. We were very
organised, many thanks to our leaders!!! On the 22nd eve, after
7 p.m., we really got going on the installation of the
decorations. About 9:30 that evening while I was working on the
Verandah area, someone reached over the brass rail and tapped me
on my shoulder. I turned around and it was my oldest son, he
just arrived in India for the first time and also the first time
he would be seeing Baba. He was able to walk right in and greet
me, what a leela! I knew he was coming and I had worked it out
with the leaders for him to join the group, so he participated
during the whole installation and took care of working all
around the hall and Swami’s house and guest house. What a
blessing for him to be able to go places that none of us could
ever set foot. I told him that we were walking on very sacred
ground and it was an incredible blessing for us all to be so
happily and lovingly working in this whole Mandir and Residence
area!!!!
The next day we again brought more decorations down to the
Kulwant Hall after morning Darshan and again after afternoon
Darshan. We were making progress but it was an epic undertaking
from my perspective! (I am a Building Contractor and I do many
large and small residential construction projects).That evening
we got word that we could work until 2 a.m. At about 9.30 that
night, I was getting tired so I walked back to the shed to rest
a bit and get some food. How thoughtful of our group to think of
providing an evening meal and it was so good. I rested for about
an hour debating within myself if I could hold up till 2 a.m. I
caught a second wind (Swami) and worked enthusiastically till
3.30 a.m. We know who the doer is.
We accomplished so much that it was incredible. So on the 24th
morning we again went into the Hall and Swami’s residence area
after morning Darshan and finished the installation of all the
decorations. We did it by Swami’s Grace and we all knew it was
only due to His Grace that we could accomplish such a task!
Christmas Eve we had special seating as a group and had a
wonderful Darshan! Christmas Day we went to the afternoon
Darshan as a group and again had special seating. A couple of
our leaders came up to another group member and me and said that
they had arranged for some of us to sit on the Verandah, as a
special Grace from Swami and from our Group as a whole! We were
disciplined all throughout our Seva, and our leaders did such a
service for us and we greatly appreciated their roles! So here I
was with several of our group sitting in a very nice position on
the Verandah!!! It was and is such a blessing. Swami gave a
Discourse that day and it was a pivotal moment for me, a
deepening of my Devotion and Commitment to Love and Serve my
fellow men.
These are stories ‘past’ one year, of greater team effort and
understanding, dedication and devotion. …And in between comes
rare glimpses of His touch that spells lessons for life and
beyond. Read on from Rohini Hak’s team experiences during
Christmas 2008.
Posted at 11:00:00 Hrs. IST on 13 Dec 2009
I was blessed to be a part of the Christmas decoration team 2008
from Region 8. This is a life altering experience, the bliss,
connection with Swami, sharing, caring between people from
different parts of the world, and most of all the learning
through personal events is beyond something one can pen in mere
words. But here is my humble attempt to do the same.
My incredible journey started on December 7, when I arrived into
the blessed Shed 32 for the first time and picked up the tarps
to lay them down. It was empty with only a few people there, in
a few days the same shed would be filled with multiple hearts
and hands put to divine work.
We had already started planning the work with Tom who had
previous experience with decorations in his Parthi Resume. Soon
our leaders and co-coordinators arrived and work got delegated
as needed. I was placed between the shed and the Easwarama
Trust. We had meetings in the morning after the Ganesha Prayers
about the day’s work and targets and then at the end of the day
after a couple of rejuvenating bhajans.
We did not go to darshans until we had accomplished most of the
tasks after the first week of being there. But we had darshans
every day through Swami’s instruments that we were working with.
The feeling of His presence was so much stronger in the shed and
around His work being done at different locations, that we never
felt we were missing out any instance. It really goes to show us
that we are close to Him everywhere, as long as He is close in
our thoughts and deeds.
At the Easwaramma Trust we worked on every fabric that was put
up in the decoration design, sewing, cutting, pillar covers,
patching bows, pigeon covers, beautiful swabs to even huge
banners. These 18 girls at the trust with ages ranging from as
young as 16 years old to about 24, showed the maturity,
diligence, patience and love for Swami that has touched and
inspired my heart and soul forever. We worked and changed things
around numerous times but were always met with smiling faces
willing to do whatever we asked. All they asked for was the love
we showered on them. Their leader, Kiran, was amazing. She
convinced them to work non-stop with no days off almost for
three weeks. We would bring work back and forth from the shed
with instructions, and even though there was a language barrier
in the beginning, it was as though we communicated with our
hearts and our love for Swami. We would sit there talking in
different languages and have the greatest of conversations!!!
This is when Swami’s teaching “There is One Language the
Language of the Heart” was in action!!!
In the shed, it was amazing how all problems came and got
resolved as quickly as they arose, showing us how Swami was
always with us. The love we shared even with the time
constraints and work load, the understanding that everyone had
with each other’s idiosyncrasies, the care everyone imparted
with bringing food for each other or a coffee just when needed,
showed our Divine Bond of Sai Love.
I want to share some personal experiences that come to mind
amongst many of them that I am sure we all had. One day we were
cutting postcards for some stars that had to be put on a design
template. While the volunteers cut them in the right size in
ovals, one of the Christmas Drama children, Suhas, came up and
questioned me as to why we ruthlessly cutting away Swami’s
pictures. I explained that we needed to use them in a specific
size. He then said something that made me feel like Swami was
talking right to us, “why are you cutting away my favorite part,
Swami’s feet?” I was stunned for some time and told him that I
would make all the girls cut out the feet in a good shape to be
given out to all that were gathered for the evening meeting. He
jumped up and down and was happy to hear that. As he distributed
the feet amongst all that were present, they started the Ganesha
Bhajan which was, “We bow Down at The FEET of Ganesha.” Just
went to show me and others I shared this with that there are no
coincidences with Swami, but only miracles and lessons from them
that are meant to be.
Another time, I was shopping for bhajan CDs and the shopkeeper
kept trying to push this CD of bhajans sung by Swami instead of
the ones I was looking at. Getting frustrated with his being
pushy I said out aloud to him, “I don’t want the same old songs
sung by Swami, I already have all the ones sung by Swami on
older CDs, and, moreover, it’s been a while since Swami has sung
in Kulwant Hall. Swami doesn’t sing anymore.” It was random talk
between me and a shopkeeper, and I forgot about it when running
here and there with all the errands and work for the
decorations. That afternoon, as we sat for darshans, it was the
last thing on my mind. We had great seating right in front close
to the mandir, and we were all excited. Swami came out dressed
in white. Swami gave a discourse, and we were so happy at that,
and suddenly He started singing. Just then, as though struck by
a lightning bolt, my words to the shopkeeper started playing in
my mind. I love bhajans and always sing with the mandir bhajans,
and in previous Parthi visits when Swami sang, I would be the
loudest follower, as I enjoy them tremendously. But on this day,
my throat felt like it was choked. And just then, to add to the
turmoil going on in my head, Swami finished one bhajan and
started a second one. Just before starting the song, Swami
turned His head a sharp left and looked right at me. At this
point I was in tears, choking, and dreading my words said in the
morning. It was as though My lord was showing me that it is not
Him who can’t sing bhajans, but at His will it’s me who can’t
sing them!!! But our Mother Sai, is loving and in her actions
always have the undercurrent of love.
As Swami’s second bhajan was coming to a close, my tears were
now tears of Joy, as I had realised how my Lord is always with
us all, listening to each word we utter, each action we do, and
every breath we take, in any part of the world. He gives us
these experiences so we realize His Omnipresence, His
Omnipresent Love, the only thing asked in return is Faith and
Love for Him.
My most important lesson from this trip is that, “When God
solves our problems we trust in HIS ability, but when He does
not solve our problems we need to remember that he trusts in OUR
ability.” I think I lived this through numerous experiences
while working hands-on at the Christmas Decoration 2008 trip.
I wish that all of you reading this could have been on this trip
with us, and I hope that my humble writing will give you a
glimpse of the Joy that is ever-flowing and can be felt so
strongly. It is inexplicable in words. From this trip, I am
stronger emotionally, mentally, my faith and I now travel this
world with the Lord’s Love as my beacon, hoping and praying to
do his work and be his instrument always.
Love to all my Brothers and Sisters, Do forgive my emotional
ramblings.
Life, wherein change is the only thing that is permanent,
Oh Swami, your divine grace on me blessed me to be your
instrument
I knew your light my lord even before O took this flight you,
I knew you loved us so, to make us the chosen few,
Now my life is touched by your presence so strong with me
everywhere I go,
This feeling, such bliss, to have you so close was the aim you
had from this task I know,
Decorations we put together was an illusion, the real happening
was in our hearts to end our delusion,
We come through this reborn, so strong, we know we can do
whatever is asked in our service paths,
Can face all turmoil, tempest, pain or even devil’s wrath,
Your love with us we take,
For that all we can forsake,
As I thank you for the grace shared,
I smile in the knowledge that for each one of us how much you
cared.
