Monday, 18 August 2014
Destroyed in seconds but rebuilt over years - the love story of Vijaya Sunder with his Swami
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
An introductory chapter on
the Divine Romance
The Indian summer in 2003 was
coming to an end and giving way to a cool
spring. But that made no difference to the
sultry climate in the city of Chennai in
South India. With the sea breeze plucking
the beads of perspiration off his face,
Vijaya Sunder ran towards his home. His calf
muscles ached from the strain of running and
his lungs huffed and puffed with exertion.
But he had a broad smile plastered on his
face. The results of the state level (Tamil
Nadu) grade XII exam had been declared and
Vijay had performed exceedingly well. In
fact, he had obtained the perfect result, a
centum, in his favourite subjects - Physics
and Chemistry. He was convinced that he had
moved a step closer towards achieving his
dream of becoming an engineer.
“Mom! Dad! Look. I am the
state-topper in Chemistry and Physics...”
screamed Vijay as he entered the home.
“Ah! Praise be to the Lord”,
exclaimed the mother as she rushed out from
her morning worship to hug her son.
“C’mon Mom! I wrote the exams
and you give credit to your God!” Vijay
couldn’t suppress the smile as he said that.
“Whatever you may say.
Everything happens because of God.”
 |
| Yet another story of divine romance between the Lord and Vijaya Sunder. |
Vijay now showed the results
to his father who did not say a thing. The
tears in his eyes said everything - he was
proud, happy and grateful. Vijay’s chest
swelled in pride.
“Dad! I want to study in the
best of engineering colleges and my marks
will ensure a ‘merit’ seat for me.”
“Yes my son!” agreed the father and embraced Vijay. He would get ready now to withdraw the special savings he had made for precisely this purpose.
“Yes my son!” agreed the father and embraced Vijay. He would get ready now to withdraw the special savings he had made for precisely this purpose.
Like anywhere else in the
world, to get into the top notch colleges,
one either had to be rich in the
intelligence department or had to be the
child of a parent rich in the finance
department. Finances had always been hard to
come by for Vijay’s family. Vijay had been a
late-born and his father had retired as a
cartoonist at the
Indian Express
when he was barely 11 years old. On
retirement, he had got about 4 lakh rupees
(about $10,000 then) as his lifetime savings
from the Provident Fund. That had been
invested into two separate
Chit funds,
which are basically microfinance
organizations. The interest amount was being
used to pay Vijay’s fees and the father
hoped to use th principal amount to pay for
Vijay’s higher studies. The fees for the 4
years of engineering would be as low as
₹1.8
lakhs now since Vijay had secured a ‘merit’
seat. (A seat by ‘Management quota’ had to
be bought for about
₹7
lakhs!) This was better than what Vijay’s
father had bargained for.
A God-shattering experience
It was Vijay’s father who
received the shock first.
Chit funds operate in
different ways, and there are also many
fraudulent tactics practiced by private
firms. The basic necessity of conducting a
'Chitty' is a group needy people called
subscribers. The foreman—the company or
person conducting the chitty—brings these
people together and conducts the chitty. He
is also the one who has the ‘power’ to
commit fraud.
Much to the father’s
consternation, he discovered that the
foreman of the first fund had run away with
the money! What a horrible time to get
cheated! Thanking God for the wisdom to
invest in two separate chit funds, Vijay’s
father decided to pull out the money from
the second investment. That was when his
consternation turned to horror. At exactly
the same time, the foreman there too had
defrauded the subscribers and absconded!
Within minutes, Vijay’s father discovered
that his savings had dropped from
₹4
lakh to nil!
Vijay did not receive this
news kindly. He slowly realized that there
was no way he could pursue higher studies.
To add to the pain was the fact that many of
his classmates, boys whom he had helped in
studies, had already enrolled themselves
into engineering colleges. His mighty result
had not got him any competitive advantage
simply because he had no money to pay for
the fees. The feeling of hopelessness soon
turned into a rage. He walked up to his
mother who was sun-drying
vadagams
(fried rice fritters) on the terrace. He
began to pour out his anger copiously on
her. He minced no words in saying how
disappointed he was with his parents and how
they had failed in their basic duty of
educating him.
“Of what use it is, being a
father and not being able to provide
anything for the son.”
In his fury, Vijay had no
idea of the harsh words he hurled at her.
The mother patiently heard him out and just
said one thing,
“Don’t worry. Just pray to
God. He will take care.”
Then, she walked down to the
altar.
When one is angry, the most
benevolent and soothing advice too appears
like fuel to the inner fire. Vijay could
feel intense hatred in his heart for God
now. The fact that he did not believed in
his/her/its existence did not matter! He was
simply angry. And as his mother began to
wave the camphor and perform Arati, he felt
blinding rage. He pulled the Arati plate
from her hand and flung it to the floor. The
mother was horrified. Then, Vijay’s eyes
fell on the framed photograph of Bhagawan
Sri Sathya Sai Baba which was receiving the
Arati.
This Baba had occupied the
altar in his house from ever since Vijay’s
memory served him. He had not bothered much
about his parents’ devotion to a living
person. In fact, Vijay had several times
joined his classmates and friends in
ridiculing him and gossiping about him.
Suddenly today, Vijay felt it very unfair
that the Baba was receiving all respects and
devotion without giving back anything in
return. He pulled the frame out of the altar
and broke it. He destroyed the picture in
his rage and cast it to a side. The mother
stood still, a mute and horrified witness to
the madness of anger.
 |
|
At that point in time
Vijaya Sunder had no idea that he would
be made to pine for a smile of that same
'Sai Baba' whose picture he had destroyed in moments. |
Vijay felt exhausted now. He
walked to his bed and collapsed in it, tears
in his eyes. Anger, apart from demolishing
one’s discrimination, also definitely
depletes one’s energy resources. ( In fact,
during His
discourse on the 11th of
August, 2000,
Swami said,
“If you get angry once, the energy gained by
you from the food consumed over three months
will be destroyed. Not merely that, it also
boils your blood, which will take nearly
three months to cool down. Such being the
case, imagine what would be your fate if you
lose your temper time and time again.”)
That was when he had his
first
darshan
of Swami - in a dream.
Bhagawan Baba was in a white robe trying to
‘touch’ him. But Vijay was resisting His
touch. Baba asks him,
“Why are you making such a
big fuss over such a small thing? You want
engineering? I shall give you more than what
you seek. Just be happy.”
Coincidences galore
Vijay woke up with a start
almost. The dream was so vivid that he
couldn’t help thinking about it. However, he
finally concluded that his mind had played
tricks on him when his brain was asleep! He
tried to push the dream away from his
wakeful consciousness.
That evening, a good friend
and senior from school, Parthiban dropped in
to say hi to Vijay. Vijay was in no mood to
speak to his parents and so, he felt
relieved to have got someone else to open up
to. Without the slightest break, he poured
out all his anguish and anger to Parthiban
who seemed to be extremely calm, listening
to him. It was as if he had come with the
sole purpose to help him feel better! But
Vijay was far from feeling better. He
actually confessed to Parthiban,
“You know, I feel like
placing my head on the railway tracks. The
end will be quick and painless then...”
“You should take a walk with
me.” That was Parthiban’s response. Not
having any other option, Vijay walked with
his friend. To his shock, Parthiban led him
to the Sathya Sai
samithi
at
Chromepet.
Some music was emanating from the building
that Parthiban led him into and everyone
seemed to be singing
bhajans.
Vijay followed Parthiban and sat on the
gents’ side of the hall. He felt eerie
facing the picture of Bhagawan Baba that
adorned the altar there. But, he definitely
felt a calm descend on him too. He closed
his eyes and continued to sit in the hall.
He also began to enjoy the bhajans and the
peace they brought to his tormented mind. An
hour passed like five minutes at the end of
which Parthiban told him,
“Tomorrow, I shall take you
to a person who will help you. Don’t worry.”
Vijay wondered how anybody
could help him other than by donating a sum
of
₹1.8
lakhs and donating it fast at that. He had
at best 2 weeks after which admissions would
be closed in every engineering college.
 |
| The Union Bank of India branch that Parthiban took Vijay to. |
The next day, Parthiban and
Vijay walked into the
Union Bank of India,
Chromepet branch,
into the manager’s office. The name on the
board read ‘Mr. Narayanan’. As soon as they
walked in, Vijay noticed a larger than life
sized image of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
right behind the manager! Baba’s hands were
raised in benediction. Narayanan heard out
the story of Vijay’s plight and assured him
of a term loan. He told him that he could
get an education loan if he could promise to
pay regular interest payment and repayment
of principal once education was complete.
Vijay just agreed. The brief meeting was
over and within a week, Vijay got all the
necessary papers assuring him of his loan!
He was simply thrilled.
His first impulse was to call
Parthiban. He was informed that Parthiban
had left for the United States to pursue
higher studies. Making a mental note to call
Parthiban during his daytime, Vijay
purchased a box of sweets to offer to Mr.
Narayanan. When he walked into the Union
Bank office, he was in for a surprise. The
big picture of Baba was now missing and so
was Mr. Narayanan. When he made his
enquiries, all that he got was,
“Sorry. Mr. Narayanan is no
longer with Union Bank.”
He had no idea whether he
quit or was transferred. When Vijay called
Parthiban in the night to express his joy,
even he had no idea about what happened to
Mr. Narayanan.
Vijay returned home totally
struck by so much happening in a week. He
began to feel ashamed and guilty about the
way he had spoken to his parents. But they
were simply stoic and heroic. They had sold
away all the gold and jewelry at home in
order to ensure funds for day to day
expenses and for Vijay’s pocket money at
college! Vijay enrolled at the
Thangavelu Engineering
College
under the Anna University.
Memoirs of a Sai Student
Vijay slowly became a regular
at the Chromepet Sai Samithi because he felt
that there was definitely something going on
in his life which was being orchestrated by
Swami. (Yes, by now, he began to address Him
as ‘Swami’ instead of ‘Sai Baba’. :) ) The
more he seemed to attend the Samithi
activities, the better his life seemed to
get. He began to coach and tutor students in
science, especially in physics and
chemistry. Word spread fast that Vijay was
an excellent teacher and quite a few
students enrolled for tuition under him. The
money he earned was used to pay off the
loan. At the same time, his mother also
started doing some tailoring at home and
added income to the family. Things began to
get comfortable on the financial front.
Vijay was happy. His academics at college
also soared.
It was about this time in
early 2006 that he came to know the term
‘Sai Student’. A certain Shyam Sunder, who
was also part of the Chromepet Samithi,
began to create waves there. Everyone seemed
to look up to him in awe and great
affection. And all this was because he was a
‘Sai Student’. Vijay was curious and so he
befriended Shyam. The stories that he heard
about life as Swami’s student in Puttaparthi
simply mesmerised him. He could not believe
that Shyam Sunder actually spoke and
interacted with ‘God’. But Shyam was simply
too humble and would never utilize the
boasting rights that were amply available
for him. One day, Vijay saw the videos from
Shyam’s collection and fell instantly in
love with the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of
Higher Learning. A resolve firmed within him
that he had too enroll in this University to
win a chance to speak to its Chancellor -
his Swami! He made a prayer probably for the
first time in his life-
“Swami, I want a chance to
become a Sai Student.”
The first step had been
taken. But he would have to wait for he had
another year to complete his engineering.
In the meanwhile, Vijay began
to discuss his options with Shyam. What
should be the course to opt for? Should he
choose the integrated BSc-MSc course?. Or
should he choose the MTech course? What
about doing MBA? Shyam smiled and replied,
“Join any course! How does it
matter?”
That seemed so illogical to
Vijay. Little did he know that logic is
something that never helps one on the path
to God.
“See, I am good in physics
and chemistry... Should I not synergize?”
Shyam continued,
“Its all about getting into
the University. That is all that matters.
And remember that it is not your grades that
will get you in. It is entirely Swami’s
decision whether you get to study there or
not!”
Vijay began to prepare for
all three options by studying in the Samithi
building every night. The conviction with
which Shyam had told him about ‘Swami’s
decision’ being paramount in him obtaining a
seat made him jittery. He was a lad who
loved to be in control. He did not like his
destiny being in the control of some element
beyond his control. That was when he
reminded himself of Parthiban, Narayanan and
the loan.
“Hope He chooses to take me”,
he thought to himself.
Swami takes ten steps towards
Vijay
It was late in 2006 that the
Samithi convenor came to Vijay and asked,
“Vijay, the Kancheepuram
district has been blessed with an
opportunity to put up a play in the presence
of Swami at Prasanthi Nilayam. They are all
set. However, one of the volunteers helping
in the movement of sets has taken ill and
they need a replacement. Would you be able
to travel to Puttaparthi and cover for him?”
Wow! Here was an opportunity
and it had presented itself without any
direct effort on Vijay’s part. Vijay
realized that logic doesn’t work with God
because He grants without reason. Vijay’s
role was simple. There was a scene in the
drama where the saint Adi Sankaracharya
sings the
Kanakadhara Stotram,
a hymn that is believed to have the ability
to banish poverty from one’s life. At the
end of it, there is a shower of gold. Vijay
had to hide behind the screen and shower
gold on the singing Shankaracharya. It was a
simple role and Vijay agreed to do it.
The Kanakadhara Stotram as
rendered by M.S.Subbulakshmi
He had no idea of the shower
of grace that Swami had planned for him. But
then, at that time, he had no idea of so
many things - of the storm that would start
in his heart; of the complete neglect that
Swami is capable of gifting His beloved; of
the greatest gift that his father had
actually given him without his knowledge; of
the ultimate fulfillment in life that he
would find in two years.
But that is subject of the
next part of this story. At this point, just
like our protagonist Vijay, it would be good
for us to learn that logic is something that
we have to leave outside the door before
entering the sanctum of the Lord. Else, it
will only dampen the experience.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
