In May 2011, a few of our brothers met in Sai Krishan Kalyana Mandapam in Brindavan, each of them wondering on what can be done to remind
ourselves of Swami’s eternal presence. There were millions of people who were in the same emotional state of mind. But, we tend to forget that it is a great good fortune to be a contemporary of the Avatar and even greater blessing to serve in His mission. That day, the boys who had gathered understood that listening and contemplating on the wonderful memories and stories of Swami was most comforting to all of us. It is indeed a blessing to live life in contemplation of the Avatar. The great emperor Parikshit, grandson of Arjuna, realized this truth towards the end. We are grateful to Swami that He made us all realize this truth and initiated a forum where we could reflect on His life and His message and with that thought began the Samarpan series.
We decided that every month on the third Sunday we would congregate in Brindavan and spend the evening to reminisce the memories with Bhagawan. The First session was held in May 2011. The warden of the Brindavan hostel was the speaker. And then every consecutive month we have had a devotee to share with us his cherished memories of Swami and the wisdom that they have been blessed with. The devotees who come to speak in Samarpan have been most happy. They share their experiences on how they came to Swami and tales of their spiritual sojourn. Soon, Samarpan sessions were also being held in Shivam, Hyderabad and then in Dharmakshetra, Mumbai. Today Samarpan has become a global event, also held in various Samithis in India, including Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneshwar, Indore, Pune, Guwahati and across the globe including, Toronto and Singapore. Over the years, Samarpan has become an important event in Brindavan. In August 2019, we completed 100 episodes of Samarpan. The speaker of the 100th Samarpan session was Dr.Keshav,
who had come all the way from the USA to Prasanthi Nilayam. Students in Brindavan campus look forward to these talks. Many devotees who live across Bangalore city make it a point to attend the sessions, recollect His leelas, and get showered in bliss.
On the 100th Samarpan, the Sai Ramesh Hall was decorated with festive lights and bunting.
Devotees were offered delicious prasadam. The Ashram was lit up and everyone was joyous. This initiative that started as a congregation to remember Swami has now become an important Seva activity. Many devotees come and offer prayers. Patients (and their caretakers) of the Sri Sathya Sai Super Speciality Hospital at Whitefield come for succor. Those who just happen to visit the Ashram during Samarpan go away impressed by the talks. They now enquire about Bhagawan.
Many devotees who are not able to come to Ashram look forward to the live telecast of the program or wait for the video to be uploaded on the internet.
Mid-Year Alumni Meet
The fifth mid-year meeting between the alumni and the faculty & the office bearers of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute was conducted by Swami’s grace on 10 August 2019.
The day commenced with engagement between the alumni and current students during the moral class session. It was a heart-to-heart connection and a rendering that every student would remember on how Swami blessed the alumni and continued to guide them as long as the individual keeps the connectivity, growing from strength to strength.
The formal session was inaugurated by the respected Vice Chancellor. He addressed the gathering and was extremely happy to hear from each department head about the current contributions of the alumni, working all over the world, towards their respective department in various ways.
Every department head presented how they are connected with the alumni community and how the group responds in academic development, personality development, towards research and data collection, skill development for some specific areas and also towards refreshing syllabus and examination.
The Vice Chancellor explained the launch of the Alumni Cell in January 2019 and the engagement of alumni in connecting with the Institute throughout the year. He stressed the importance of the new research facility that is addressing common man’s problem and how it would help rural population. He explained the possibility of constituting Chairs by alumni and instituting expert lectures by globally renowned scientists. He announced two coordinators for the alumni cell among the teaching faculty who would facilitate the alumni cell functioning to its full glory.
As per the practice there was a needs analysis conducted by the alumni for August 2019 to August 2020 by discussing with respective departments and specific engagement plans have been chartered by each department based on the same. It was resolved to publish a newsletter on alumni engagement regularly to reach out to the larger alumni community from the alumni cell, highlighting the Institute engagement program so that interested alumni can always reach out to their department heads.
As per practice, the alumni were treated to their favourite lunch at hostel served with love by the warden and team. We pray to Bhagawan to bless us to serve His institution as per His command.
Are you interested in being associated with your alma mater?
Those who wish to engage in the above Seva at any time of the year are requested to connect with brother K.Prasanna Sai (+91 98400 39505) or Niranjan Mudbidri (+91 94484 54364). There are various opportunities such as guest lectures, symposiums, summer internships, industrial visits, research facilitation, supporting data collection, mentoring aspirants, personality development, value education, participation in assessments, contribution in syllabus upgradation, teaching specific subjects, skill build programs, case studies preparation, support in dissertations, village development programs, facilitation of industry partnership for research, identification of industries that can utilize research labs, teaching effectiveness program, and so on.
Prasanthi Seva: A humble offering at the Divine Abode
For someone who is looking to serve, there has never been a dearth of opportunities. Recently at Prasanthi Nilayam, a volunteer was seen monitoring the water wastage at the hand wash area near the Narayan Seva camp. As someone who understands the importance of water, he decided to take it up as his bit of seva offering. And in this same spirit, in 2017 the SSSIHL alumni had decided to do something at the
Premabandham alumni meet. They decided to spend two days: 30th & 31st Dec, just before Premabandham, with all-hands engaged in seva initiatives at the Divine abode. Considering the increased footfall around the Premabandham celebrations, there were activities for both alumni
and their family members to participate. It included
• Offering services at the General & Super Speciality hospitals – including discarding the old medical records, reorganising the library, other maintenance related work at the hospital to complement their primary patient-care related services
• Engaging with the elderly devotees at PrasanthiNilayam to spend a day with them and listen to them
• Serving across all the 4 canteens in PrasanthiNilayam
• Setting up more drinking water points / serving water to the sevadals& devotees
• Prashanthicleanup drive and more!
