Though the pandemic posed a challenge to the usual Seva activities, it opened up new avenues of Seva where one can extend meaningful and relevant contributions to the society. Since mass Seva activities may not be appropriate during these times, the focus has been on serving unique individual needs. This has made the alumni don their thinking caps to come up with new Seva activities which address the current needs of the society. Swami insists on the availability of a sevak and not his/her ability, as Swami makes the one ‘available’ ‘able’ to render service. Alumni have used instant messaging groups effectively during this time. They regularly work with members of the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organization (SSSSO), Sai devotees and other good samaritans. All of these are done silently adhering to Swami’s message, “Sai seva is silent seva”.
An Offering of Love to The Unseen Thread in The Garland of Flowers
पत्रं पुष्पं फलं तोयं यो मे भक्त्या प्रयच्छति |
तदहं भक्त्युपहृतमश्नामि प्रयतात्मन: ||
patraṁ puṣhpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayachchhati
tadahaṁ bhaktyupahṛitam aśhnāmi prayatātmanaḥ
[ Translation : If one offers to Me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or even water, I delightfully partake of that article offered with love by My devotee in pure consciousness.]
Swami has graciously blessed the whole of humanity with a golden opportunity to offer flowers to Him for several decades now. In the yesteryears, our eyes have had the good fortune of feasting on Bhagawan’s beautiful form bedecked with garlands of flowers in all His beauty, glory and majesty. The blessing to see Him, as the Formless Absolute, adored, adorned, and worshipped with fresh and fragrant flowers continues till date through this loving seva at the Abode of Highest Peace.
For His students, the flower decorations during His visits to the schools, the hostels, and the Institute at Puttaparthi are full of sweet, timeless, and precious memories, for it conferred on them a chance to offer their love and prayers to their Mother Sai through these decorations. Don’t each of us treasure every moment we spent with Swami when we held a rose in our hands and had hopes in our hearts, with the sole objective to get physically close to Him? That priceless opportunity continues even now at His Sannidhi at Puttaparthi.
This daily Seva involves a coordinated labour of love from several people, viz. the flower vendors, the transport persons, Sevadal members and His students. Flowers are sourced from Bangalore and are shipped by the daily bus service to Puttaparthi. The package is offloaded by Sevadals and is duly checked for quality and quantity by the team responsible for decorations. The gajamala garlands are made of roses and tuberose. The bouquets comprise a combination of a wide range of flowers such as Heliconia, Pineapple, Birds of Paradise, Anthuriums, Carnations, Chrysanthemums, GoldenRods, Roses, Gladiolus, Lilies, Daisies, Orchids and a variety of bouquet leaves such as Xanadu, Golden, Ping Pong, Dracaena, Marti, Fish, Palm, Song of India, Song of Jamaica, Birds of Paradise, to name a few.
All those involved directly or indirectly in this daily Seva, bow in reverence and gratitude to Bhagawan for bestowing on all of us this boon, grace, and blessing, as it gives all of us an opportunity to remain connected to Bhagawan. Swami reminds us that each one of us should continuously strive to offer the flower of our pure heart with all our love and humility, for that is what truly pleases Him and that is all that we can give to Him – for the very thought to give is His alone, the giver is He alone, the given is He alone and the ultimate enjoyer is He alone.
Alumni wanting to voluntarily be part of this service may please contact
Brother Hemkumar G (phone: +91 81052 72555, email ID: [email protected])
Brother Prashant C P (phone: +91 94481 19693, email ID: [email protected])
Seva Activities in Tamil Nadu
Many of the Seva activities (around 20), which were paused due to the ongoing pandemic, are planned to be resumed from January or February 2022. One amongst them is the reopening of Public Utility Cell in the Chennai Central Station tentatively in January 2022.
Service around providing medical help is continuing. One of them, which has been going on for three decades, is working with SSSSO daily to coordinate the blood bank requirements. During the pandemic this expanded to cater to the requirement of plasma. The two decade old blood donors database was updated.
An Oxygen Concentrators Bank was opened in Sundaram to provide the equipment pro bono to those who are in need of it. They are currently being door-delivered as well. Besides, the alumni are helping with the registrations for the COVID-19 vaccination camps and migration of the platform to the cloud. They are also active in the National Medical Mission.
The alumni continue to deliver special lectures to the students of the SSSIHL and talk at the Samithis. These are done with an extensive use of online video conferencing platforms. In order to attract good talent for SSSIHL, a novel initiative has been started which involves making short videos highlighting the importance of Integral Education and the future prospects of the courses offered. These would be circulated to create awareness and answer some of the frequently asked questions. The alumni have painted a school in Nallathur which is to be opened soon. Apart from these Seva activities the alumni regularly participate in the Flower Seva and in Bhajans at Sundaram and Sai Baba temple in Guindy (consecrated and blessed by Swami).
To participate in any of the activities, please contact
Brother Prasanna Sai at +91 98400 39505.
Seva Activities in Delhi NCR
The alumni of Delhi NCR and their family members undertake several Seva activities with the support of SSSSO Delhi NCR on the second Sunday of every month. These activities are organised at Sri Sathya Sai International Centre (SSSIC), Lodhi Road. Over 20 alumni (men and women) participate in multiple initiatives which are scheduled throughout the day. Medical Dispensary Seva begins at 10.00 A.M. and continues till the last patient is served. Around 75-80 patients visit the dispensary. The activities include patient registration, checking their vitals, tele-consultations with the doctors, dispensing medicines and inventory control in the pharmacy. Along with medicines, fruits and juice are served to the patients as prasadam.
There is Narayana Seva from 12:30 PM to 1:30PM where over 500 Narayans are lovingly served lunch Prasadam. Amrutha Kalashams are also distributed to the beneficiaries. This initiative includes providing pulses, dry ration and other essential food and household items to around 30 beneficiaries. Some of the alumni are involved in providing computer training classes to enthusiastic students between 2.00 P.M. to 4.00 P.M. Training sessions include basics of computers, its components and MS Office (Excel, Powerpoint and Word). Similarly, English speaking and personality development classes are also conducted parallelly to over 20 students. The day-long Seva activities culminate with offering gratitude and Mangal Aarti to Swami.
To participate in any of the Seva activities, please contact
Brother Dinesh Patil via his Email ID: [email protected]
Bhagawan’s 96th Birthday Celebrations at Sai Krushna Charitable Trust (SKCT)
Students and Teachers of Sai Krushna Vidya Mandir, alumni, volunteers and their family members came together to celebrate Swami’s 96th Birthday at Hosadoddi village in Bangalore. A musical gratitude program was held at Sai Krushna Arogya Dham (primary healthcare center) offering the year’s Seva activities (such as the virtual mentor program and science lab in the school & COVID helplines) at His lotus feet and to inspire & guide us in all our endeavours in future.
This was followed by Nagarsankeertan and Grama Seva by the students, SKCT volunteers including alumni and family. Villagers had decorated their homes and put rangolis outside their residence to welcome Swami.
A Philips charging bulb with 4 hours power backup and a sweet box (Gajak from Ujjain) was served to every home in the village as Grama Seva prasadam. This will ensure lighting even during power cuts (avg. 4-5 hours/day). Lunch prasadam was served post Grama Seva.
To participate in any of these Seva activities please contact
Brother Venkatadesikan at +91 96324 22311.
Seva activities in and around Puttaparthi
In the month of May 2021, the alumni had received information that Sri Sathya Sai Hostel for Junior Boys had about 10 tonnes of rice stock. Given the pandemic, it would be a while before the boys returned to the Hostel and by then the rice would have gone past its shelf life. After several deliberations, the alumni requested the Hostel authorities to make this rice available to them so that the alumni can distribute it to the people in and around Puttaparthi whose livelihoods were affected. The Hostel authorities graciously accepted this request.
The alumni based in Puttaparthi swung into action and identified a suitable hall in Kothacheruvu and also enlisted some youth to participate in this seva activities. On a planned day, the alumni and volunteers came to Hostel, offered bhajans and prayers to the Benevolent Hostel Ganesha and transferred the rice bags to the hall in Kothacheruvu. The rice was then repacked into smaller bags and neatly stored. The alumni then visited several villages in and around Puttaparthi and distributed the rice bags to street vendors, physically challenged and needy Narayanas. The beneficiaries were delighted to receive this prasad. The alumni are grateful to Bhagawan Baba and to the Hostel authorities for giving them an opportunity to offer this Seva during the troubled times.
To participate in such Seva activities in Puttaparthi please contact
Brother B Srinivas at +91 89191 00617.
The alumni community wishes to express its collective gratitude to Bhagawan for giving the inspiration and the ability to render meaningful and relevant Seva activities during these challenging times. The alumni firmly believe that His unseen Hands have enabled them to render these Seva activities.
