Ghandikota Ravishankar
1986 – Mcom

What can I say about brother Ruchir. In simple terms he was a true karma yogi. With one pointed devotion, he spent his life in dedicated service to our Beloved Swami. This is his greatest achievement! Ruchir is surely in Bliss with our Dear Swami now.

Ruchir was my classmate in MCom, my colleague in Brindavan, but above all he was my brother.

Ruchir was no doubt brilliant, but one thing that always stood out was his one pointed dedication to offer anything he did with nothing but excellence. This didn’t just apply only to him – he took others along with him. He was always eager to learn. I recall one experience. In July of 1985 Swami had given our MCom class the chance to do a socio-economic survey of Sathya Sai Taluk, so that grama seva could be planned for Swami’s 60th Birthday. Swami spoke to us and instructed us on how to serve. Swami also asked us to pair up – one non-Telugu speaking person with a Telugu speaking person, so we could converse effectively with the villagers. Ruchir and I paired up since I knew Telugu and he didn’t. As we went around the villages, Ruchir always wanted to learn some phrases and the language so he could better serve. This pairing up was fortuitous since we both started teaching commerce in Brindavan together.

I recall the day in June 1986 when Ruchir’s career in the service of Swami began. We had completed our MCom in April. This was now June and Institute classes had already begun for the semester. Swami had instructed our other classmates on the next steps in their lives and Ruchir and I were waiting in the veranda for SWAMI‘s next instructions for us. Swami had been seeing us for many days but didn’t mention anything until that morning, when Swami came out of the interview room and gave us a simple instruction – “Go to Brindavan and teach”. We were ecstatic and grateful for the opportunity to continue our lives in His Divine presence, and asked when we should go. Swami said we should go immediately and so we got up and left after taking namaskar. My father arranged a taxi for us and by late afternoon/evening we were in Brindavan and started teaching the next day. Four to five subjects each. Ruchir was brilliant in jumping into teaching. He also took to heart the responsibility Swami gave him to be a lecturer in His college and to teach His students. He was always looking to improve the student’s experience. As they say, the rest is history – For 35 years Ruchir positively impacted the lives of so many students, myself and other colleagues, and the many others he came in contact with. Whatever he did, he did it with excellence, and with an overarching goal as an offering to Swami. Ruchir always asked the right question – would this action be approved by Swami. That was his yardstick.

I had come back to the US in 1992, but Ruchir and I spoke periodically, worked on a few projects, and met yearly in Parthi or Brindavan. What struck me all these years was his drive to always do something better, be it academics, stores, books & publications, and finally the museum project – all in an effort to offer more and more and better and better things to Swami. Ruchir really made Swami’s message his life. Ruchir also never neglected his duties as a son. It was beautiful to see the love between Ruchir and his elderly mother. Knowing Ruchir’s mother and also her supreme surrender to Swami, no wonder Ruchir was exemplary in so many ways.

I’m grateful to Swami for the opportunity He gave me to know Ruchir and to be able to call Ruchir my brother.