Sathyam Sivam Sundaram - Part I

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the diseased, and led them by the hand to the doorstep of his parents. The

sisters had to secure from the store or the kitchen some grain or food and put

it into the beggar's bowl while the little master looked on happily.

Satyanarayana was held up so often before the children as the ideal child by

every mother and father that the children of the village started referring to

him as Guru, meaning Teacher or Master. The parents and others came to know of

this under strange circumstances. It was late in the night of

Style'">Ramanavami, the Holy Day of Devotion to Rama, when a procession wended

its way round the village. A huge picture of Sri Rama was placed on a

flower-bedecked bullock cart upon which the priest sat in order that the flower

garlands offered by the householders could be placed on the picture and the

camphor they presented be duly burned and waved in front of the picture. The

pipers and drummers awakened the sleeping villagers, and thus the cart

proceeded along the uneven roads. Suddenly the two sisters discovered that

little Sathya was

not at home. A search was ordered. Everyone in the house ran about frantically,

for it was already past midnight. All at once their attention was diverted by

the arrival outside the door of the bullock cart carrying the large picture of

Sri Rama. When they went to the doorstep, they were surprised to see the five

year old Sathya sitting nicely dressed, and with evident authority, underneath

the picture! They asked his companions why he was seated on top and not walking

with them on the road. Promptly came the answer, "He is our Guru!" Indeed He is

the Guru of children of all climes, of all ages! There is a small primary

school in Puttaparthi which Sathya attended with his contemporaries for

something nobler than learning to spell and write. The school at that time had

a very harsh scheme of punishment to ensure punctuality. The lucky child who

came in first and saluted the teacher, as well as the student who arrived next

and also saluted, were exempt from punishment. Every other boy, for whatever

reason, legitimate or not, who arrived late, was

given a taste of the cane. The number of cuts across the hand depended on his

place in the list of late-comers. In order to escape from this torture, the

children gathered under the eaves of the schoolhouse long before sunrise in

rain or in fog. Sathya saw the plight of, and sympathized with, his shivering

playmates. He visited them under the eaves. Bringing shirts and towels from his

home, he covered the boys and made them warm and comfortable. The elders at home

discovered this and locked up all the clothes they could not afford to lose!

Satyanarayana was a precocious child, learning by himself more than anyone else

could teach him and much quicker than most

other children. He could sing all the songs rehearsed at home for the village

operas and mystery plays. He even composed at the tender age of seven some

touching songs which were gladly accepted by the cast for public presentation.

SaiRam.