An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

Martin Luther King Jr

Acts of God

The story of man is filled with events that we call the ‘Act of God’. We reserve the name for those forces of nature over which we have no control, forces which have a tremendous impact on life and property, forces that burden humanity with a huge amount of grief and pain. But an Act of God is also a reminder to us about what it means to be a human. It is a call for us to come together as a species, to pull each other up as we rise together, to show our resilience, to show our formidability. An Act of God is called so not because it reminds us of our mortality; it is called so because it reminds us of our greatest strength – our humanity.

The Kerala floods were one of the worst natural calamities of recent times –16 districts, 6.3 lakh affected people, lives uprooted, livelihoods eradicated – it was a scar on the psyche of humanity. It was a story of loss and grief.

Or so we thought.

What actually happened was that the Kerala floods became a story of extraordinary bravery, of the rise of humanity, of the heroism of the common man. People came together in what would be the greatest human recovery effort, to help Kerala stand back up, to move ahead. And as ever, the Sathya Sai alumni were one of the first to jump into action.

Alumni step in

“It was the 16th of August when I got up to the news that red alert had been declared in 14 districts in Kerala”, says brother Venkat. “I soon get a call from Rakesh (brother Rakesh Menon) and he tells me that we have to do something about it. And I said let’s try.” A total of 45 alumni worked at the Kerala relief centre of Sathya Sai Seva Organization at Aluva. The activity of relief went on for a month followed by weekly medical camps.

From previous experiences in Chennai our brothers knew it would be foolhardy to jump into action during floods – they would end up being a liability instead of an asset. They knew their role would begin once the water recedes and therefore they spent the time until then getting the right resources. Hence, the activity began after the mid-year alumni meet in August 2018.

The first step was to see how many volunteers they could muster. A call went out to all alumni for contribution – in cash or kind – as well as for in person assistance in helping the people. Around 150 boys were united on a whatsapp group agreeing to serve in Kerala or contribute in kind and financially. In the meanwhile brothers Rakesh, Shivram and Venkat drove down to Coimbatore where the Amrutha Kalasha / Prema Dhara Kits – a kit of 35 items essential for disaster recovery – were being packed. Brother Nishant Anand from Delhi supported with sending clothing material from Delhi. Once they assessed the situation, they drove down to Aluva in Kerala – the place that would then be the centre for the Sathya Sai Seva efforts in Kerala.

Aluva – the epicenter of action

The alumni groups working at Aluva joined hands with the SSSO State President and they set up a structure, a channel of communication with the District Presidents, State Coordinators, and IT Coordinators that who enable them to carry out their disaster relief and recovery work efficiently for the next 4-5 weeks. Also, the Aluva centre was close to the railway station and hence ideal for bringing in supplies. All relief material came in here and was carefully stocked at the centre. The district presidents assessed their regions and sent out stock requests. Trucks came into Aluva from the various districts, which were then loaded with supplies as per the requests sent in and back to help the people in need.

Initially the PremaDhara kits formed a major part of the supplies that were moved through Aluva to the other affected districts. However, as water receded and people started coming back to their homes to rebuild their lives, the supply needs slowly changed to cleaning kits, clothing kits, women’s kits. And the alumni and devotees responded with enthusiasm – this was a sign of revival – the story of humanity had trumped again.

When the schools started opening, there was a need for school kits. Alumni gathered resources and took help from current students of the Institute create 2000 school kits. These kits comprised of notebooks, pencil boxes, a water bottle and tiffin box per beautifully packed kit. The packing was done across Hyderabad (by youth), Brindavan (current students) and Parthi (school students).

One need that remained constant was the need for medical supplies.And there came the experience of our alumni brother, Guna. With a tremendous experience of running highly optimised medical camps in places around Hyderabad, Guna was able to efficiently identify strategic locations for camps – 18-20 of those – to provide aid to the maximum number of people possible. The alumni came together to plan the logistics of the whole effort – the movement of doctors and staff, packing of medicine kits, their transportation – everything was optimised to the extent possible. These camps are slated to run through October and November.

We are grateful

The alumni community expresses gratitude  to  Prof.  Mukundan,  the  Kerela  State  President of SathyaSai Organization for permitting alumni to lead the relief initiatives. Incidentally, Mukundan sir’s son, brother Shivprasad, is also our institute alumni and helped alumni groups in the Seva initiative.

And thus goes the story of humanity – the story of solidarity, of empathy, of revival. The story not of how the Kerala floods were a disaster, but of how the Kerala floods brought together people from all walks of life in the time of humanity’s need. The story of how normal people became heroes, the story of how we fought destiny, the story of how we transformed an Act of God into an Act of Love!

Years ago, Swami had done rehabilitation work in Orissa during floods. Responding to gratitude expressed by the beneficiaries, Swami responded, “Why thank Me, it is My duty!”. Inspired by the humility of our beloved Lord, the alumni brothers thank Him for giving them the opportunity and ability to serve Him in Kerala.