Christmas Eve in Prasanthi Nilayam

[Guest guest]

Om Sairam dearest Sai Family, Wishihg all the brothers and sisters a very happy and merry Christmas. The atmosphere is fully charged here and plat form well set for Chirstmas celebrations. Devotees from all corners of the world have thronged in, to celebrate Christmas in the immediate presence of our Lord. Sai Kulwanth hall, is wearing a BRIDAL look with all the beautiful decorations. (talking of Bride, by Swami’s grace hopefully, I will be getting married very soon, with the help of family members and well wishers , already in search of a Sai devotee girl and hopefully the good news is round the corner).. This year’s Christmas choir was a huge one consisting of over 600 ladies and about 350 gents.

It’s a huge number for any choir and blessed were those who were handpicked by our beloved Lord, to sing His glory in His immediate presence. The choir practice started a fortnight ago and the amount of hardwork and practice they put in ended up in a happy note, when our beloved Lord, very graciously blessed the huge group to sing on the Christmas eve. This afternoon, Sai Kulwant hall was full by 3pm with special seating arrangement made for all the overseas devotees. Swami blessed the huge gathering with His divine darshan at 4:45pm. After taking a full round, Swami directly came on the stage. Swami then signaled for the programme to start. The first programme was the children’s choir which interestingly started with verses from Bhagwat Geetha’s last chapter. After 30 mins of sweet songs, the adult choir started. They were also

equally impressive and at 6pm Swami asked for the Bhajans. While the bhajans were sung, Swami called one lady with Violin (Cello), who was seated near the first pillar to Swami’s left. Swami’s hand made small circles and there came a dazzling beautiful golden chain which Swami personally put around her neck amidst huge applauds from the devotees. It took some time for Swami to open the hook of the chain and the lady rested her head on Swami’s lap as Swami was trying to tighten the chain. The lady’s happiness knew no bounds and she was in tears, probably thanking mother Sai for such a surprising gift and a treasured one….. The programme came to an end as Arathi was given to Swami around 7pm.

Prof.Anil Kumar later announced that there will be special Christmas carols programme by the students of Sathya Sai University in the Chirstmas morning. Looking forward to yet another beautiful Christmas in India’s Vatican, Puttaparthi…. With Love Satish Naik.