Brother Ravi Mariwalla studied in Prasanthi Nilayam from 1982 to 1991. He was also the blessed recipient of three Gold Medals for distinction in MSc, MBA and the All Rounder’s Gold Medal – from Bhagawan’s own Hands. He also accompanied Swami to Kodaikanal and Chennai. Bhagawan asked him to work as one of the first employees of the Sri Sathya Sai Super Specialty Hospital, at Prasanthi Nilayam. Ravi served at the Hospital for 14 years in the Cardiac Surgery department, as a full-time Clinical Perfusionist.

He works as an Associate Director in the Healthcare practice at Cognizant and lives with his family in Cary, North Carolina. Ravi is a regular speaker at Sai centres and retreats across the US and Canada.

First Meetings with the Master are Turning Points

Our first meetings with the great Masters are particularly significant, not so much for others to applaud, but for ourselves to study these events for their importance and purpose in our lives. These events always provide insights that are not bookish or conceptual.

Such an event has been imprinted in my memory and cannot be replaced. My first deep interaction with Bhagawan happened when I had the chance to speak in His presence in Mumbai in 1979. Let me narrate the event that preceded this. I think I was, up until that point, a typical Mumbai boy and my company and friends were clearly out of line with Swami’s expectations. I was drifting with peer pressure towards bad company. We often do not recognize it, but a sure sign of His Grace is His timely intervention before we drift too far. When I joined Bal Vikas all this began to change from the inside. I was fortunate to have Gurus who were exceptionally devoted and learned. They inspired me to look inwards. Sure enough that introspection helped me make the decision to change. Inspired, I took a vow, known only to myself, to walk the path that would please Swami.

It seemed only logical to try and enrol myself into Bhagawan’s college in Puttaparthi. Again, it is His Grace that two Brindavan college students, who had proximity to Swami, lived less than a mile from my home. One in fact was the relative of my Bal Vikas Guru! Meeting them was such an inspiration. The desire to join His college became stronger.

No sooner had I made these choices, the phone rang and there was Sri Indulal Shah asking my mother if I was available to speak before Bhagawan in a few days!

When that blessing materialized, Swami accepted my garland and lovingly led me to the stage. During the talk, Bhagawan kept on looking at me. Afterwards, He made me sit by His side on stage and rubbed my back. I imagine He was getting rid of my ‘Mumbai thoughts’ and was preparing me to join His college. When He asked me what I wanted – I expressed my desire to join His college and He blessed me with that!

My humble learning from this defining incident, which shaped my life and changed its course, is that Swami can and will make so many incidents happen around us to enable, support and inspire us. However, the trigger or initiation for those lies with us – our desire to change and move in the direction of Sai. Truly, He proved to me, in a manner I can never forget, that if we took one step towards Him, He would take a thousand!

Do pause at this juncture and reflect on your own first meeting and its significance.

Evenings in the Mandir were special

Swami was not our college teacher. He did not teach us Math, Chemistry, Physics or Physical Education or even Music. And yet, we knew we were being educated in something beyond value. Here we were being taught the true measure of value from none other than the Sadguru, the Avatar, who was also our guide and guardian angel.

As we rushed to the Mandir after a full day in college, there were times when we got there early to see Him take an entire Darshan round. At other times, He was already with devotees, inside the interview room and we would have to wait an hour before He emerged. When He was done with interviews, though, there would be an expectant hush and we would wait with bated breath for Him to come amongst us, bless the birthday boys and literally ‘shower’ us with candy, collect our letters, ask us how hostel food had tasted that day and make light-hearted conversation. He might also ask about upcoming examinations, sports events or talk about preparing a small group for a music program or a play for an upcoming occasion. He might even tell us about the visit from a dignitary or political leader and the guidance He had given them. There were times, when, standing amongst us, He would reminiscence about a visit to Badrinath, Delhi or Mumbai, about certain individuals and their devotion.

“Living with God is True Education!”

There was always a sweetness, sincerity, and spontaneity in Swami’s communication. Often He would talk about one of His ashrams or about Brindavan or Anantapur and give us updates about events, construction or changes being made. It was not always formal teaching, but there would be some useful takeaways and then, the sweetness of it all, the good feeling of the interaction even if it wasn’t personal, even if you couldn’t hear all of it. That is why, as I look back and bring to mind the overall experience I wonder whether it was just His words. I’m ever more convinced now that it was His presence that made those days in the Mandir so special. Where He was that place was sacred. Where He spoke those words inspired listeners. Where He taught bystanders became disciples. Where He showered His wisdom, for those who opened their hearts and believed, the transformation began.

It is my belief that those hundreds of hours that He invested each year amongst the students were extraordinary times. His aura blended with ours and He was elevating us. We were incredibly fortunate to have been there at that time during those years.

It was during such evening sessions that He sometimes shared more serious guidance.

He would talk about Vedic teachings or say, “There are three things you should always remember: the good others did to you, death is certain, and what you see is untrue; what you cannot see is true (meaning reality is beyond senses)”. He would counsel a student or a devotee in the Mandir and say, “Bumps, jumps, bumps, jumps” (meaning, you aren’t steady) or “Mad monkey. The mind is like a mad monkey. Not an ordinary mad monkey, but a mad monkey bitten by a scorpion!” or “Study for steady”. When He asked a new devotee or a new student,” MSc over? Are you ready for MRS?”, we’d all break out in loud laughter seeing the confusion of the devotee’s face. Swami was asking whether he was ready for marriage! And then Suddenly Swami would add “WIFE is Worry Invited For Ever”… and walk away.

An evening in the Mandir listening to Swami, followed by Bhajans was like the perfect spiritual feast for a Sai student. It was not as if Swami spoke to us all every day. Maybe one or two per cent of the students got that opportunity on a particular day, but that never mattered. If, as He passed by, He cast but one look, acknowledging a prayer or a wish or an effort we had made, our hearts were filled with joy. And if He did not look into our eyes, it would leave us feeling a little down, but motivated to redouble our prayers, to try again, the next day.

The Inner View Room

The Interview Room in Prasanthi Nilayam and Trayee Brindavan was obviously the place every student desired to be in, even if only for a few minutes. We would request Swami for an interview when our parents were visiting Parthi. In addition, when a class was graduating, we would pray for a group interview. The resultant couple of hours, a large group spent with Swami would then become the most memorable time of our college course.

But possibly the best opportunities with Swami were the times when He would Himself handpick a few students and call them for a “chat”  inside the interview room. During our MBA course, between 1989 and 1991, Swami had been calling some of us, for such sessions, almost every day. These were informal, relaxed sessions. The Divine Teacher would often slip in pearls of spiritual wisdom and even personal guidance so we had to be alert to pick those up, always!

Familiarity and Faith

Swami often asked us, students, to be alert and not to fall prey to Maya or illusion that surrounds an Avatar. The human mind, unless purified, is totally unprepared and unable to accept that a human being can manifest the power of such magnitude. The mind creates an endless stream of doubts, based on analytical thinking, often projecting one’s own, inner, often hidden subconscious fears and weaknesses onto the Master’s actions.

Swami would gesture to the waiting attentive devotees in Darshan and say, ”They are like bees coming to sip the nectar (pointing to Himself). You are like frogs in the well (pointing to us all). He meant that we were ‘near Swami’, but we needed to earn the merit to become, ‘dear to Swami’.

Doubting Thomas

Lord Jesus Christ called out Thomas’s doubt but did not reject him. Instead, He provided him with more illustrations of Divinity that helped Thomas emerge faithfull and not succumb to doubt. No less frequently, in our time too, misguided by multiple forces, we may doubt the Master’s Divinity, turning away from the Saviour and missing the opportunity for salvation.

I would like to share an event I was involved with. A student, who I knew through a common friend, seemed troubled. Over time, he felt comfortable to share that his doubts were growing and He was unable to accept Swami. We were both in the Institute speakers group, so we met often. He was a very nice person and while I felt empathy, I also knew that he would need to find his own way through this. I shared with him my belief that if he should pray to Swami his doubts would be resolved.

Interview Room – Our Experience Lab

After a few days, Swami called the speakers group for an interview. I was fortunate to be seated at Swami’s feet. All of a sudden Swami asked me to get up from that coveted position and to my amazement, beckoned this student to come and sit at His Feet. This student, as he later told me, felt guilty to doubt Swami and was worried Swami would embarrass him by giving his secret away.

Swami of course, had no such intention. At the end of the interview, Swami asked this student to extend his hand. Then He insisted that he extend both hands and keep them together. It was all very odd. Swami then started to wave his hands in wide circles, but unlike the ‘normal’ materializations (if there can really be such a thing as a normal materialization – out of thin air!) nothing seemed to manifest in His hands. At last, with some strange powdering / crushing motion of His fingers, He kept releasing something into this boy’s hands. It was a large quantity of laddoo – a well-known Indian sweet made of small pieces of boondi (flour). Swami was powdering the sweet as He materialized it. A fairly big mound of this powdered sweet had piled up in this student’s hands. At this point, I noticed that the student’s hands were shaking. I guessed he was nervous, but they were shaking too much to be due to being nervous! He also seemed quite uncomfortable as Swami and he moved around the room, distributing the laddoo to the 35 or so boys, packed into the interview room.

Later, I met this boy in the hostel. He was beaming and whispered to me, “Brother, Swami was so kind. He resolved all my doubts”. When I asked him why his hands were shaking so much, he said, “Ravi, it wasn’t just that it was a huge quantity of laddoo (sweet) for 35 boys. The laddoo was very hot. I was struggling to hold it and barely managed to avoid dropping the hot sweet pieces!”

In a flash, I now understood how Swami had customized the entire incident so that he could remove every shade of doubt from this student’s mind. Not only had He rolled up His sleeve so this boy, who was seated right under Swami, could see that there was nothing there. He created a large quantity of “hot” sweet so much so the boy was struggling to hold it. What a comprehensive, unforgettable way to resolve the students doubt – through direct experience seen and touched directly! No need for scriptural or conceptual proof from a book or third-party narration. Needless to say, both of us were in tears as we thanked Swami for His indulgence and for His willingness to work with us.

Pure Thoughts

On one such occasion, Swami called about seven or eight of us, all MBA classmates, into the interview room. During the course of the chat, Swami materialized a large piece of rock sugar candy. It was larger than a fist in size and approximately triangular in shape. What He proceeded to do was most amazing and unique. He started by saying that if we had good thoughts we’d have the physical strength required to break the sugar candy piece. He asked us to sit back and give ourselves space.

He then tossed the large piece of rock candy to one of us. Each of us, young boys of 26 years, tried really hard to split the candy into two. Try as we may we were not successful. Swami was watching us all along. We passed it around and the whole group had made one ineffective attempt. Then, one of us got a bright idea, took out a handkerchief and tried to get a better grip of the piece of candy. Swami smiled and permitted all of us to try that approach as well. But none of us were able to break even a small portion of the candy. Swami encouraged us to try and exert all our strength. Now and then He would lament that we only looked young and strong. Finally, after about 20 minutes of this game, He asked for the rock candy to be returned.

Then with great ease, as if it was child’s play, He broke the candy into two halves. Further, He proceeded to break the two halves into smaller pieces! The atmosphere was truly charged. The candy was really impossible to break. As the pieces became smaller, it was just impossible to grip them and break them any further. Swami explained that this was not a demonstration of His Divine power, but was the result of His absolute purity that led to this type of power.

That was the day, we learnt a spiritual concept about how the purity of thought will translate into physical strength, if we tried! This was a beautiful practical demonstration in the Divine classroom of Swami’s interview room.

Waiting for His Grace

While many of us enjoyed every minute of our stay, because we got to be in Swami’s direct presence and to interact with Him, it wasn’t smooth sailing for everyone all the time.

The amount of attention Swami gave a student was in no one’s control. There could be no way for us to understand why He was interacting with us or others when He would interact or for how long. All of these parameters were beyond our understanding. An important lesson we were being taught was to trust Him and accept His will.

I joined Swami’s college in 1982 in my eleventh grade. I had only one personal interview in 1983 and nothing since then for quite a long time. I had several sets of classmates – the boys who joined in 1982, 1984 (at the university for graduation), 1987 (for post-graduation) and 1989 for MBA. Classmates in earlier courses were picked by Swami for interviews, with parents, individually and for other blessings. Suddenly, during 1989- 90, Swami began showering His attention and that continued for 15 years.

As I look back at my days in Parthi, I see a perfect set of interactions and well-spaced attention spikes from Swami. Each interaction slowly, but surely, led to deepening the relationship, never coming too early or too late. In my opinion, Swami prolonged my stay at His feet by keeping some more opportunity, in balance, to be hoped for. As I craved for proximity and He delayed it, ever so little, it created intensity and longing. More than anything else, I learnt a valuable lesson – to wait while submitting to His timing, not the demands of my mind.

Our connection with Swami is very personal and it is an individual connection. We have to foster the connection ourselves. We should avoid comparing the relative success of our connection, only because it is not useful to further our devotion.

Bhagawan was teaching us and preparing us to establish the connection during His physical advent. His message and His Grace for the world will continue beyond the time He lived with us. Only time will tell what will be the depth and extent of Bhagawan’s positive influence on earth, but one thing is for sure, it is going to be enormous.

He taught us the three Ps – Purity, Patience and Perseverance and inspired us to develop love for God. Is the culmination a fourth P (Prema)?  Love deeply to find out.