Shiven Tandon
Prasanthi Nilayam

My dearest Bhagawan has been extremely gracious to me and has loved me, and continues to love me so much so that, often I feel I am His special child. I was born in a God-loving family where all Hindu deities are worshipped. My grandparents & father were devout Hindus and my mother was devoted to Swami. Slowly, but surely, my father too became a Sai devotee and it was because of his conviction, my mother’s prayers, and Bhagawan’s grace that I and both my brothers have had the privilege of being called Swami’s boys.

Prior to becoming His students, only thing that we strived for was success in academics, because that seemed to be the only way to be successful in the big world. And the only measure of this success was the money earned. Apparently, there wasn’t too much else to life. Then, His divine will and blessings brought me at His lotus feet, and it wouldn’t be farfetched to say that everything changed. He became the inspiration and the destination of all my exploits. Everything just became so simple. To say that life in Puttaparthi as a student was amazing doesn’t even begin to describe how great it was.

But life moves on and as a particular phase of life ends another begins. Swami however is the only constant. Though I am physically away from His divine abode, He has continued to protect me and guide me through each day. Sometimes through His picture on a wall, sometimes through thoughts and dreams, sometimes through bhajans and texts, and sometimes through different people that I interact with in my daily life; He makes His presence felt. It’s absolutely overwhelming how He finds time for me, an infinitesimal part of his creation.

Through the ups and downs, the most important thing that I’ve learnt is that we must try to see His hand in everything. Our sense of surrender must be so strong that we should never question His will and continue to do our duty. That’s what He has taught us in his Prayer of Surrender, which, in my opinion, is the most powerful piece of text I’ve ever read.

Though it is extremely difficult to put into words what Bhagawan means to me, all I can say is that He is my biggest strength to whom I turn when the going gets tough; He is my favourite companion who is with me in the good times and the bad; my conscience keeper who helps me tame the mind when it wants to go astray; my Guru who has taught me everything I know; and my Lord to whom I humbly bow. I pray that He always keeps me dear to Him and that I never fall out of love with Him.

Brother Shiven Tandon did his schooling from Prasanthi Nilayam. He is currently pursuing his Chartered Accountancy& working with a private firm in Chandigarh