November 23rd morning, 2007 - Sai Students

[Guest guest]

November 23rd morning, 2007 The day finally dawned! The day for which thousands had literally waited. From last night 11:00pm itself, serpentine lines of devotees had begun to form outside the Nilayam amidst heavy security. The fact that there were not too many high profile guests did not make security any lesser from the previous birthdays. We came to know that the Anointing ceremony which used to be the highlight of birthday celebrations of the yore would be revived this year! That was a real wonderful piece of news.On the day of His birthday, Swami came out at about 9:00 am. Everyone had their eyes focused on the Yajur Mandir and the procession began. It was a real long one headed by the Primary school bands followed by the Anantapur brass band, the Institute brass band, Veda chanting 'tiny tots' pandits followed by the stalwarts of the Institute. The best was reserved for the end naturally - Swami and that too

in the wheel sofa much to everyone's delight! Like the sunflowers which celebrate the sunrise, the assembly of devotees celebrated His arrival with loud applause. To see God on the day He decided to take up a human frame to redeem all and confer joy is indeed a special privilege.Swami's face lights up as He sees the devotees. He appears very touched. He makes everyone feel that the privilege is His to see all on this special day. But then that is the way the Lord always looks at His devotees. As He mentioned in the discourse yesterday, His entire life and being is only for the devotees. Swami slowly moved through the ladies side. Towards the end of the ladies side were ladies from His family who had brought all the items considered auspicious to be placed near Swami during the anointment ceremony. Swami went on to the gents side. A Mexican wave ran through the crowd as they rose to various heights so that Swami too could have their "Darshan"! One could see the

uplifting influence of the Lord as people rose wherever He went. A plethora of cards had been made by the students from KG to PG to wish Him on His birthday and the whole portico was filled with cakes of varied colours, shapes and sizes. Swami went into the portico and then began a massive exercise in cake cutting. With great patience, Swami went around to each of the cakes that had been so lovingly made and made His 'mark' on them after 'lighting' them up. Then He went into the interview room.Meanwhile the stage was being set for the ceremonies to follow. The Malladi brothers took their positions on stage. The oil to be used for the anointment was brought in a special silver bowl and placed on a highly decorated pedestal. Swami came out and sat on the stage. He asked the Malladi brothers to begin their concert. The brothers who sat facing Him, began on a wonderful note with the joyous celebration of His birthday. The songs were actually the poetic compositions of

Santhisri Paapayya Shastri who was a great devotee of Swami. They comprehensively captured the beauty and divinity of Swami. Swami was very touched as He heard the songs. The other songs made comparisions between Swami, Rama and Krishna. Another musical composition was filled with puns on the word "Putta" of Puttaparthi. It was so poetic to the musicians' ears and so musical to the poets' ears! Swami was enjoying it and it was so wonderful to see Swami so happy on His 'special' day.In the middle of the concert, Swami called Prof.Anil Kumar and told him to make the announcements. It was then that the entire "November" assembly, if we may use the term, came to know of the Anointment ceremony. The professor introduced the ceremony in its true grandeur making allusions to the birthday of Lord Sri Rama when Kausalya and the the sages with their wives would perform the anointment, applying sacred oil to the Divine locks. The first couple to get the privilege was that of

Sri Ratnakar and his wife. They came up and after prostrating to Swami, applied turmeric and kumkum to His feet. Then, with the aid of a marigold flower, they applied oil to His hair. The next couple were justice Bhagawati and his wife. Swami was all smiles as He gently bowed to accept the oil that was being applied. The Mr. Indulal Shah and his wife went on stage. Indulal Shah was introduced as the Bheeshmacharya of the Sai mission and Swami asked that term to be repeated for all to hear once again. The next couples were Mr and Mrs Shourie, Mr and Mrs Gangadhar Shetty and finally Mr and Mrs Margabandhu. All of them were well above 80 years of age.Swami's feet were so wonderfully decorated with flowers and turmeric. When one looked at them, it reminded of the Guru's redeeming feet. After the ceremony, Swami permitted the Malladi brothers to resume their concert. They sang beautiful songs which were apt for the occasion. The concert went on and Swami sat enjoying

it. After a while, Swami asked for the prasadam to be brought out and distributed to all. At about 11 am, Swami told them that it was lunch time and that the devotees would be hungry!! He told the brothers that He would give them a chance to perform in the evening. Receiving Aarthi, He retired at about 11:15 am. Courtesy: http://www.saistudents.org