Looking for an article on Swami

[Guest guest]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

 

I am looking for an article on Swami entitled “

bold">A Friend in India to All the World.”

The ar

mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">ticle was published in the New York Times

on December 01, 2002 (By KEITH

BRADSHER (NYT); Foreign Desk, Late Edition - Final, Section 1, Page 10,

Column 1, 964 words).

 

If anyone has a

copy, please forward it to me.

 

- nimish

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram

 

The article "A Friend in India to All the World" published in the

New York Times International, 1 Dec 2002, is available at these web pages:

 

http://www.sathyasai.org/news/2002/02dec1nytimes.html

http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2002/Sri-Sathya-Sai-Baba.htm

http://www.indianembassy.org/US_Media/2002/dec/A%20Friend%20in%20India%20to%20Al\

l%20the%20World.htm

 

Here is the text:

 

A Friend in India to All the World

 

December 1, 2002

 

By KEITH BRADSHER

 

PUTTAPARTHY, India - The president of India, who is best known for

overseeing India's nuclear tests in 1998, recently paid a state

visit to the country's largest ashram, to meet and receive the

blessings of a holy man who preaches nonviolence.

 

The visit underlined the appeal of the unusual holy man, Sri Sathya

Sai Baba, who draws presidents, prime ministers and other leaders

not only from India but also from outside it; altogether he claims

followers in 178 countries.

 

The separation between state and religion in India, clear and bright

in the years immediately after Indian independence in 1947, has

grown less distinct. That is especially true with the political

ascendancy of the governing Bharatiya Janata Party, which emphasizes

Hindu nationalism.

 

Part of the appeal of the Baba, as he is called by followers and

others here, is that ever since the 1940's he has been preaching an

unusual mixture of faiths and encouraging religious tolerance.

 

Official visits here have become one of the odder features of Indian

public life, and among the most colorful. The Baba's mixture of

religions extends far beyond traditional Hindu beliefs, and that

lets him attract politicians of various faiths, including Muslims

like President A. P. J.

 

Abdul Kalam of India. President Kalam, a former nuclear scientist,

flew to the ashram's private airport here in southern India on a

blue-and-white air force jet. Saluted by olive-clad police officers,

he climbed into the lead car of a motorcade, and Sikh military aides

in scarlet turbans followed suit.

 

Lining the road to the ashram were stone tablets inscribed with the

swami's utterances. "Money comes and money goes/Morality comes and

grows," read one sign in English, signed simply Baba, meaning divine

father.

 

On a hillside at the ashram's entrance stood enormous, brightly

painted statues of Jesus, Buddha and Hanuman, an Indian monkey god.

Farther on was a large Chinese temple and a big billboard of a

benevolently smiling Baba, his hand raised in blessing.

 

Two-story modern buildings in fuchsia lined the paved avenue,

incongruously interspersed with 30-foot-tall statues of acoustic

guitars and wooden drums. The clunky Indian-made Ambassador cars

chugged past them and pulled to a halt in front of the great hall of

the ashram.

 

More than 10,000 closely packed acolytes sat cross-legged on the

floor, the women in saris of brilliant emerald, ruby and indigo

silk, the men in white short-sleeve shirts and white trousers,

symbolizing purity.

 

President Kalam deferentially slipped off his brown loafers and

walked in stocking feet to the front of the hall, followed by a

small entourage, whose members had also tucked their shoes under

flowering bushes outside. The Baba, 76, a short man with a thick

mane of black hair, shuffled forward in his robe.

 

Acolytes discreetly angled for the Baba's notice; one of the few

Westerners nearby, a middle-aged man also sitting cross-legged,

clapped his hand to his heart and wobbled visibly with emotion when

the Baba appeared to wave in his direction.

 

Famous for seldom saying much in public even to his followers, the

Baba silently greeted President Kalam. The two men disappeared

through polished wood doors decorated with reliefs of Hindu gods and

into the Baba's inner sanctum, where they remained a quarter of an

hour while the crowd waited quietly.

 

A senior aide to the Baba whispered that the spiritual leader's full

name, Sri Sathya Sai Baba, signified holy, truth, divine mother and

divine father. Preaching the five principles of truth, peace, love,

nonviolence and right conduct, the Baba "represents unity of

religion, all religions," not just Hinduism, the aide said.

 

The president emerged and led his entourage out of the great hall,

putting on his shoes and hopping back in a car for a short drive to

the ashram's guesthouse. In a brief interview there, he said he had

discussed with the swami how to achieve an educational system that

combined values with science. "When they are fused, you get an

enlightened citizen," said President Kalam, whose role is mostly

ceremonial in this parliamentary democracy; the Parliament elected

him in July.

 

Coming from a Muslim background, the president is a rarity among

national politicians in a country that is four-fifths Hindu. He has

long contended that India's nuclear weapons program is necessary to

keep the peace in the region, and he does not represent warlike

intentions.

 

N. Chandrababu Naidu, the chief minister, or governor, of the Indian

state of Andhra Pradesh here, said the Baba was not just a holy man

but a public policy expert. Mr. Naidu described repeatedly seeking

the swami's advice while turning Hyderabad, the state capital of

Andhra Pradesh, into a high-tech center where American companies

like Microsoft and Oracle now employ thousands of computer

programmers.

 

Using donations from around the world, the Baba has built two

hospitals near here that provide free care to the poor. He is now

spending $50 million to build systems for drinking water and

irrigation, Mr. Naidu said.

 

But for all the swami's interest in technology, he refuses to use e-

mail, or even pick up a telephone. "He won't correspond with

anybody, he won't use phones either," the chief minister said with a

faint hint of irritation. "Everyone has to come here."

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/01/international/asia/01GURU.html?

ex=1039731984&ei=1&en=ff9e8e38088eb293

 

***

Thanks to the members:

- kiran kumar

- sairamdoris

- neena chand

- Bodla Ramesh

who have sent their contributions.

 

Moderator

****

 

 

 

saibabanews, "Nimish Thakkar" <nimish@r...>

wrote:

>

> Dear Brothers and Sisters,

>

> I am looking for an article on Swami entitled "A Friend in India

> to All the World." .....