SATHYA SAI BABA - DRAMA AND Music Program BY SAI DEVOTEES FROM NILGIRI

"Brindavan Folk Dance", a programme
by Sai Baba Devotees from Nilgiris

February 17, 2009

After the Hungarian hunger had been satiated, it was time for the Ooty outing! As had been mentioned earlier, these devotees from the western ghats had arrived and accompanying them were about 30 sadhus - men and women. These devotees have been continuosly rendering service and spreading His message in the Nilgiri hills for many years now. Nestled among the mountains, the story of transformation of places near and around Ooty is so inspiring. Just have a peep into their beautiful stories at: Amazing-Transformation-And-Divine-Miracle

Swami had acceded to their prayers and requests yesterday and had permitted them to put up their programme in the Divine presence today. A huge backdrop depicting the "Raasa leela" dance of Lord Krishna with the gopikas had been suspended in the centre of the hall. It was 4:40pm when Swami arrived for darshan. As He moved through the ladies side, His attention seemed to be captured by the backdrop. He kept looking at it for quite a while and He also blessed the performers for the day who were seated in front of it. Moving through the gents side, He completed His rounds and took a small round through the portico too. Just before 5 pm, Swami arrived on the stage and the programme got underway.

http://www.saibabaofindia.com/devotees_from_nilgiri_music_program_for_sai_baba.htm

The simple village folk and tribal people had prepared a sequence of dances under the theme, "Brinidavan folk dances". A brief summary of the programme would be, "the village folk danced to the tune of songs on Krishna in their language for more than 45 minutes." And what was "their" language? It was a mixture ofKannada, Tamil and Tulu. A single sentence in a song would be composed of a a harmonious blend of words from these different languages. It was evident that the language of the heart was in full swing and the gopalas and Krishna danced in front of Swami. For some of the songs which involved the Gopikas, the gopalas themselves doubled up as the gopikas! Very often, while presenting, we often try to get the best possible costumes and make up. Here were simple folk and they laid emphasis on the spirit rather than the physical. All their depictions were in the way they moved and their face expressions. They never felt it out of place if a man doubled up as a gopika in the dance!

The dance went on for 45 minutes. In between, Swami visited the interview room briefly and the dancers continued with no drop in enthusiasm or energy. Swami called the "Krishna" of the dance troupe and materialised a gold chain for him. He also gave clothes to all the performers as they came up to Him one by one. They all utilised that opportunity to take padanamaskar. Then Swami said that He would move down and gift them with group pictures too. Slowly, He moved down the stage and sat amidst them, smiling and blessing them all. They too poured out their love for Swami and returned His smiles. Swami then moved back to the stage. Meanwhile, the students had started singing bhajans, and that too, Krishna bhajans in particular. Swami was back on the stage and the elderly person, who was the leader of the group went to Swami. Swami called the Krishna too on stage and they all posed for photographs. After that, there was a beautiful scene...

"Krishna" was lost in the ecstasy of the moment. So much so that, he began to dance with the bhajan, "Govinda Krishna Jai" that was going on! He moved down the stage and continued to dance. Swami semed to watch him with amusement at his innocent joy. And frankly speaking, the audience seeme dto enjoy this dance the most- it was so spontaneous and forthcoming. Prasadam was distributed and after receiving Aarthi, Swami retired at about 6:15pm.