Deccan Herald: Sachin among glitterati at Baba's birthday fete

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Deccan Herald » Front Page » Detailed Story 24 November 2005 Sachin

among glitterati at Baba’s birthday fete By R Krishnakumar DH News

Service Puttaparthi: True to the high-profile nature of the event, a line

of VIPs turned up at the function, sending the police and security personnel

into an overdrive of caution. At a heavily guarded gate at the Sathya Sai

Hill View Stadium, an elderly man is halted by the volunteers. “Sai Ram, this

area is marked for VIPs. Who are you? VIP or delegate?” asks a volunteer. “I’m

a VIP,” goes the man, deadpan. At 4.30 am, that’s not the kind of existential

exchange you want to overhear.

But in Puttaparthi, on Sathya Sai Baba’s 80th birthday, you can be anything

but groggy.

The town’s main thoroughfare, dotted by Sai phone booths, Sai restaurants

and other brands inspired by the Baba, bustles right from the wee hours of the

day. The road leads to the moonlit stadium, where the excitement is rising.

Old-timers reminisce Baba’s 60th and 70th birthdays. “(Sunil) Gavaskar is going

to be there...”, “Is the Governor coming?...”, “There’s going to be a march

past...” Possibilities are immense.

At 7.50 am, the Baba’s car rolls in, amid cheers and confetti. Anand

barsaa... goes the bhajan as aides support Baba out of his detachable seat and

get him on the stage. All it takes from him is a mild wave of hand and the

smile, to set the one-lakh plus crowd on a collective cheer.

Soon, Sunil Gavaskar wishes Baba. “It’s an emotional moment for me and all

those who have assembled here. We see diverse continents and cultures united by

a thread of his divine embodiment,” he says. There are dance performances and

other speeches, before Baba gets to his discourse. The assistants prop him up

at the podium. After the visible initial discomfort, he settles into rhythm.

 

“Charity and kindness are of no value if they come without peace,

righteousness and love. Ask yourself, ‘Who am I?’... Once you know that, you’ll

be free from your difficulties,” he says.

 

Reiterating his message of God within self, Baba urges people to explore

spirituality. “You are forgetting your innate divinity. God is beyond forms and

names. It’s your task to find him within yourself. Contemplate on your identity,

and I’ll manifest in you,” he says to a cheering crowd.

 

The near-one-hour discourse is music to many devotees but there are also

seekers of other Gods, jostling around to catch a glimpse of the Indian

cricketers who had flown in for the event. There are the curious first-timers

as well, trying to soak in what unfurls around them. Many of them would hang

around for the evening’s cultural programmes. As Baba’s car rolls out, the

bhajan goes again, Anand barsaa...

True to the high-profile nature of the event, a line of VIPs turned up at

the function, sending the police and security personnel into an overdrive of

caution. There was Olympics silver medallist Lt Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore,

who also hoisted the global peace and harmony insignia at the event. Members of

the Indian cricket team with Sachin Tendulkar leading the pack. He, along with

V V S Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Murli Karthik, J P Yadav, R P Singh, Suresh Raina

and S Sreesanth, sat around Baba through the discourse.

Karnataka Governor T N Chaturvedi, violin ace L Subramaniam, santoor maestro

Pt Shivkumar Sharma, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh with son and

actor Riteish Deshmukh and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu

Naidu were also among the guests.

 

Source: http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/nov242005/index2015320051123.asp