Bangalore Regional Alumni Meet
The alumni spread across the city Bangalore got together on 2nd October for a regional alumni meet. It might be said that the event served to lay the foundation for the re-connection of the alumni residing in Karnataka. The inscrutable ways of the Lord ensured that the cogwheels started rotating as the date neared and the events happened as though they were the products of a well laid out plan.
The meet took place at the Sai Kishan Kalyana Mantapam in Brindavan. The programme commenced with Vedam chanting and singing of Bhajans. The tone of the meet was set with a senior alumnus exhorting the gathered alumni to act united as one force to play the role Bhagawan has assigned to His students and thus to keep up promises each one of us had given.
The first talk was by a member of the Alumni Steering Committee who first provided a basic overview of the committee. The committee is moving towards defining the structure of an official SSSIHL alumni body and laying the basic guidelines for its purpose and function. He concluded mentioning that more information on the discussion and developments would be made known to all alumni in days to come.
Another presentation followed on the medical camp that is held on the first Sunday of every month at Brindavan. A brief overview of its inception 19 years ago, in the February of 1996, to its current form and process was provided. He highlighted the efforts taken up by some senior brothers who set the path for this and Bhagawan’s ever loving grace that ensured its success. A very important factor that has contributed to its sustained success has been its consistency – not a single month passed without the conduction of the camp. In a recent camp, Vydehi Hospital at Whitefield became a partner in the service activity. The speaker concluded mentioning that few more partners were likely to join in soon and that collaboration and co-ordination would be the key factors to take this service activity to the next level.
The next presentation, given by two borthers, was on Samarpan – an exclusive event started by alumni in Bangalore about 24 months ago. The speciality of Samarpan was highlighted by the speakers as perhaps the only event where every guest speaker is requested to speak about his personal interaction, experience and times with Bhagawan and not about the teachings of Bhagawan. What makes this event special is that it intends to take the listener into the world of the speaker and his precious times with Bhagawan. Samarpan is nostalgic in its style and fulfilling through its moments. We have had some noted speakers in the last two years who have graced the occasion and added immense value to Samarpan.
An example how a ‘fistful’ of service can change people’s lives was the subject of the next update by the alumni. An initiative by some Bangalore alumni, Amruthakalasam in simple words is keeping aside a fistful of rice and pulses (dal) on a daily basis by every interested contributor. The collection is then contributed to the poor and marginalised people in the city. A simple, but sound, solution to fight the most powerful ‘ailment’ of sorts – Hunger!
Bhagawan says the hallmark of education is character. A group of dedicated alumni have been actively pursuing activities in the field of education through the Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vahini. Easy-to-read lesson plans blended with value-based outlook to create a better understanding of a subject concept is what Vidya Vahini strives to achieve. Speaking on the topic, the next speaker provided an update that Vidya Vahini has gone ‘Live’ in 18 schools across India and the team has some solid plans to expand further. Noting that very few educational institutions in India provide value-based learning and a far lesser number provide free education, the speaker concluded with the thought that Vidya Vahini does both the above.
They say money cannot get everything. True, but then money does get a few things done… Touching the subject of corpus fund, a senior alumnus recollected the time when the concept of the corpus fund was initiated. He related an incident when Bhagawan declared to some elder devotees as to how students avoid a meal and save money to contribute towards Bhagawan’s mission and said, “My boys’ contribution is a 1000 times more than anything.” Bhagawan simply magnifies our role and heightens our credibility for whatever little we do. For Bhagawan, any amount is a big amount – denominations exist only for humans for Him the willingness is enough!
Apart from the above activities, there are several other activities being carried out by some of our alumni in their own ways. All these brothers inspire us to take a step towards giving back to the society and spreading the word of Bhagawan.
A brain storming session was conducted and all alumni participated in separate groups. The topics of discussion were:
- How to network better?
- How to increase (Alumni) participation?
- What more can be done?
- What can we do for Premabandham (Dec –Jan Meet at Prasanthi Nilayam)?
Several ideas came up to ensure a better way of connecting and networking. Ideas on how to improvise on connecting’ and bringing more into the fold were also discussed.
The session concluded with talks by the hostel warden, Shri Ravi Kumar and the director of the Brindavan campus, Shri Sanjay Sahani.
Shri Ravi Kumar urged that alumni should meet to celebrate and reenergise themselves. The meet should be treated as a function, a gathering of family and friends. He stressed on consolidation of alumni activities before moving onto newer ones. A relevant point highlighted was the need for more alumni participation in Samarpan. He encouraged more members of the assembled alumni to join activities such as medical camp and Samarpan and ensure a better level of participation and thus please Bhagawan.
Shri Sanjay Sahani started his speech on the thought that the best way for alumni to be associated with Bhagawan and His institutions is to participate in Bhagawan’s activities, however small or negligible they may seem. He urged the alumni to play their role in laying the solid foundation for a value-based life that would serve as signposts for decades to come. He highlighted that the alumni community should try and blend in with the Sri Sathya Sai Organisation and move together as one unit. Agreeing with Shri Ravi Kumar, he sir opined that consolidation would be in the best interest of alumni and that could be done by establishing better connections among the group and with Bhagawan.
The icing on the cake for the event was Trayee Darshan. The alumni were rewarded and re-energised by the time spent inside Trayee Brindavan in absolute silence . Shri Sahani narrated few instances of Bhagawan and His boys that transported all participants to those glorious old days, flooding one and all with loving reminiscences of the time when God in His physical form played the role of Mother, Father, Guide and Friend
The event concluded with sumptuous lunch. The assembled alumni expressed their collective gratitude to Bhagawan for having given them the opportunity and reaffirming their commitment to tread on the path laid out by Him.
Sai Students Portal Upgrade
A dedicated group of alumni has been continuously involved in making the Sai Students portal a reality over the past few years and in ensuring a seamless experience throughout. More recently, the team has given the portal a significant facelift – significant upgrades have been rolled out on the Sai Students portal, transforming the same from a standalone social network to a real-time communications hub. It comprises functional enhancements to help alumni stay connected with relevant content.
Important terms
| Term | Definition |
| Content | Any artefact created on the portal such as a blog entry, photo, web link, file, etc. |
| Friend | A relationship with another member on the portal that provides privileges for access and sharing content |
| Friend’s Collection | Custom grouping of friends. |
| Email Notification | Email sent to registered email ID from the portal |
| Master Switch | A check box on the personal subscriptions page to allow turning notifications on/off. |
In summary, the upgrades have enabled the portal to easily integrate into alumni’s daily lives. The administrators urge every member of the alumni community to visit the portal and enjoy the benefits provided by the upgrade.
Vid International preschool – An Educare initiative
Vid International (The preschool with a heart) is a pre-school based on Bhagawan’s educational philosophy. It has been founded by a senior alumnus. Located in Trinidad, the school is run by the Educare wing of the Values in Action Foundation that does service in areas of Educare, Medicare and Sociocare.
With the goal to lay the foundation of noble character in young minds by fostering eternal and universal Human Values, and firmly committed to Bhagawan’s message that the ‘End of Education is Character’, Vid International preschool integrates Human Values into the curriculum. The focus areas for the school are all round development of the children through physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual pursuits. The school admits children in the age group of 3–5 years, thus catering to important stages of development that occur in early childhood. Salient features of the school include an open admission policy, teacher to student ratio of 1:10, and a contribution-based structure where parents could contribute as per their capacity.
Though there were challenges that cropped up, Bhagawan’s grace ensured things fell in place and issues such as construction progress, funds, etc. were smoothly resolved. With Bhagawan’s blessings the pre-school started in April 2013, welcoming 23 tiny tots about 3 years old. The to-be teachers were given an orientation in Human Values in the month of October 2013 through the Values in Action Teachers Training Programme – a free course for potential teachers having relevant sound academic background. Festivals are celebrated together with great gusto, with November 23 being the most important day in the calendar – Human Values day. The children benefit from periodic medical checkups as well as nutritious and healthy food during the week. Parents are also given orientation through a parental Human Values programme. The first batch of students graduated in July. The school has received glittering testimonials from parents and students alike. As part of its gratitude initiatives, Vid promotes social service programmes attracting participation from all of the school stakeholders: children, teachers, parents, community members and well wishers and involves sharing love with the less fortunate members of society.
Presently the school is preparing to welcome the next batch of kids, and the existing batch moving to the senior level.
Sai Naam 2013
With the loving grace of our beloved Bhagawan, the Sai North American Alumni Meet (Sai NAAM) for 2013 took place during October 5–6 in Seattle, Washington, USA. Alumni of the Prasanthi Nilayam and Brindavan campuses, residing in the United States and Canada, participated in the two-day event. As in previous years, the event provided a wonderful opportunity for the alumni to immerse themselves in His thought and share with one another various ways in which the alumni could serve and participate in the Divine mission. Here is a day-to-day synopsis of the event.
October 5 – Morning session
The event began with Omkaram and Suprabhatam at 6.00am, with a beautiful altar designed after the stage in the Poornachandra auditorium, setting the tone for a nostalgic trip down the memory lane. After a short break and breakfast, the alumni reconvened to listen to an inspiring clip from one of Bhagawan’s discourses to students. This was followed by an ice breaker session moderated by a senior alumnus brother to get to know each other better.
The morning session featured talks by three eminent speakers, all with a close bond to the alumni. The first speaker, Dr. T. Ravikumar, warden of the Brindavan hostel, addressed the students through video conference, and shared some of his wonderful experiences with Bhagawan spanning decades of his association with Him, first as a student and later as a member of the faculty of His institute. The second speaker of the session, also through video conference, was brother Satyajit Salian, whose talk revealed touching details of Bhagawan’s love and concern for His students. The alumni listened spellbound as he recounted some of his innumerable experiences in the close proximity of Bhagawan. Dr. Narendranath Reddy, Chairman of the Prasanthi Council, was the third speaker of session, again through video conference from California. Dr. Reddy’s talk contained valuable practical tips on living Bhagawan’s message and working together with the Sai organisation. Dr. Reddy also spared some time to answer questions from various alumni.
October 5 – Afternoon session
The afternoon session was dedicated to discussions on service projects that the alumni could participate in. The primary goal was to raise awareness among the alumni for the various avenues that exist to this end. Two alumni brothers shared presentations that they had prepared on how the alumni could support the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning and the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, respectively, in various ways. Both sessions were received enthusiastically by the audience who were happy to learn about the different options in which one could contribute time and resources to these noble causes. This was followed by a presentation by on the Sri Sathya Sai School in Toronto, Canada.
The next session was open to the Sai youth of the region who were invited to a question and answer hour with the alumni. The youth were happy to learn how the alumni applied Bhagawan’s teachings to address some of the challenges they were facing in their daily lives.
October 5 – Evening session
Devotees from the various Sai centres in the Greater Seattle area were invited to the evening session, which began with some stirring Bhajans rendered by the alumni. Two talks followed that covered memories of the time spent with Bhagawan as a student and a mini version of the popular Samarpan programme, including several rare pictures of Bhagawan and the stories associated with them. The talks were followed by dinner, which along with all the other meals during the event, were lovingly prepared by devotees from the local Sai centres. The Seattle alumni gratefully acknowledged the support provided by the local Sai organisation in making the event a success.
The alumni attending the meet included several singers and instrumentalists who had performed in the Divine Presence on various occasions. Through their soulful rendering of a collection of devotional songs, they recreated the atmosphere of Prasanthi Nilayam in Seattle and provided a fitting conclusion to the first day’s event.
On October 6, the alumni were conducted to a local sightseeing trip in Seattle.
