Sai Premadhara...to....Sai Anandam...!

The Beginnings

It was a "spiritual" evening at Sai Vihar in BDA Colony, Bhubaneswar, and Shri Ashok Hota had come to deliver a talk. The father of a Sai Student questioned him how are we going to harness these young minds from Swami's Institute in the Organization's Activity. Shri Hota took it seriously and ultimately with the dedication of a few youth members hunted out a list of approximately 50 Sai Students throughout Orissa. The author was fortunete to be part of them. It was the month of November in the year 2005 and the students had come home from Parthi. It was decided to hold a Yaddein aur Eradein Programme for the students. A beautiful yellow colored invitation letter highlighting the agenda for the day went to each of the identified student.

6th of November dawned, and the author was really tired attending the Grama Seva the previous night at a village on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. It was the 80th year of Bhagwan's Advent and an Integrated Grama Seva was going on. The author was in two minds, to go to the student's conclave or dunk it. Anyway the heart prevailed over the head and the author found himself at Unit 3, Bhubaneswar Seva Samiti of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organizations at 10:30 am.

It was a revelation. Seniors (rather I will say ancestors of SSSIHL) to freshers all were there. After months of leaving the portals of the Holy Institution, the familiar "english" with the special ending and the never ending "nicknames" of the teachers hit the ears of the author. It was an instant connect, a homely touch to a lonely soul. The programme began right away. The introductions revealed what we are capable of with His grace. Someone was an industrialist, and someone a professor. Someone was trying to put Swami's message at the school level by being a principal there - Catch them young ! The programme went on with a 'parthi" flavour and ended with a amazing group discussion on "Relevance of Values in the Present Social Order". After that someone suggested, it is better to have a collective name for the conclave. Pretty funny names came up like "Sai ganga" to pretty philosophical ones.."Sai Amrit" ! It was heartening to see the guys thinking like kids...something we do in Parthi to put up a programme in front of Bhagwan overnight ! And then a sister came up with a question, "What is the motto?' Someone said, "To share Bhagwan's love".."Hmmmmm , what about "sai premadhara"" ? It was an instant hit and a universal consensus amongst the students.

The 80th year of our Swami concieved the organization of His children - "Sai Premadhara"
Do not forget the birth date - Nov 6th, 2005. !

The Rumblings

Well forming a group is one thing and then working together is another. The group faced a internal resistance first. Insecurity was written large on the face of each student. It is just not a platform to remember "The Good Old Days", but to build a "Golden Future" welcoming the "Golden Age of Bhagwan". What to do? Well the younger lot went back to Swami, the older lot to their jobs. The onus fell on a few individuals to think, plan and formulate a strategy.

Initially these few individuals went ahead and participated with the State Organization in conducting seva activities. Some had been doing that even before "Sai Premadhara" was born. They continued the seva but with renewed vigour and a separate identity, the identity of being the chosen one of God ! But life is not smooth you know. To do something different, one has to break status quo, think differently, with eyes only on the goal. Decision making must be fast and hierarchy low. The typical sai student bred up in the goody-goody environment of Parthi, Brindavan and Anantapur, faced the music. The stark reality and the slow pace of work irked him/her. Even at a time, the Sai Premadhara looked sick and useless. It appeared as an additional burden and not an asset which it was meant to be. the situation had reached the climax - make or break.

Towards the end of 2006, a sister gave the author a brilliant idea. She said "Bhai, you know what? We need independence and more importantly our think tank and personal communication. So why not start a group of our own?" The author in his youth ful excitement opened up a community in the social network "orkut". The sister did not spare the orkut, "Bhai, when will you learn? Orkut is an open forum, what privacy will remain? Open something like a yahoo group" Well this led to the birth of "Sai Student of Orissa" group in yahoo. The group grew at a fast rate and has currently 26 registered old students. Many more are still to join and we are on the lookout. The basic idea was as pointed above - independent think tank and working agenda away from dominating authorities of the State. The immediate discussion was the on the role of Students in the youth festival that the State is going to host in front of Bhagwan. Numerous ideas came up, many good but impractical. I say impractical not because it was not feasible to execute but rather because the mass of Orissa Sai Students is spread all over India. A chunk live in Bangalore, followed by Hyderabad and Chennai. The Indian Capital and the City of Nawabs too have their share. A few of them are in London and Minnesota. And our very own Bhubaneswar has a handful. It is just humanly impossible to get all these people together to work out something tangible. Lekin kuch to karna hey !

Well why not have a repeat "Yaadien and Erradein" - the 2007 version? It was agreed to immediately but unfortunately had a few turnouts. But the yahoo group came in handy now, thanx to that sis of mine, the proceedings were communicated objectively and feedback was sought. April 2007 saw the birth of independent minded Sai Students. An immediate promise for funds was given and the budgeting was done on the spot. An announcement in this regard was also made. The public was shocked at the instantaneous response. The message was loud and clear. Work is important and not talk ! Reaction and feedback should be instanteneous and decision making should be flat. The baby has grown up and wanted to take responsibility in two years time. Many were apprehensive, many discouraging...yet a few determined souls just marched on ready to face anything head on. Lot of plans like Medical Seva, Newsletter etc. came up, and a new coordinator was appointed. Yet still that 'fire" was missing ! Something needs to be done and fast !

Sai Premadhara

It was May 2007, a month after the conclave of Sai Students. The author went forward with a plan to one of the State Authorities for the upcoming youth festival. He was pleasantly surprised to find the Student Coordinator there too with this wonderful plan of orphanage. From what he could make out, someone was gracious enough to give a house at Barang, in the outskirts of the city of Bhubaneswar and that an orphanage can be built in the premises with a complete Sathya Sai Educare system. Swami was with us. We felt Him guiding us. A few devotees who saw the practical utility of the purpose and decided to support us every way possible, in manpower and finance.

The author returned back to Lucknow,and his contribution is nil practically. But it goes to the Student Coordinator to actualize that dream. Despite all odds, and all constraints, he moved on with only Swami as his Guide. 15th July 2007, Sai Anandam came into being with 5 children picked up with a singular mission to groom them to ideal human beings with Swami's philosophy of education. From what the author learnt, the inaguration ceremony was a sight to see, with fanciful speeches and lot of promises. Yet the credit goes to the Student Coordinator and some other brothers with him who kept a level head and are still working to get a process to the system. Due inputs were also taken from the teachers at Puttaparthy, who were no doubt impressed with this endeavor.

Lot of work is still to be done. Children are still added to the orphanage. The system is yet to be standardized, the education, day to day expenditure to be finalized, the actual working process to be chalked, a financial back up to be built. The road is not rosy ahead, but then the One who got us till here, will get take us to the end. We are happy we made a small and good beginning to please our Mother. And most importantly it showed that dogmas, rules and authorities are practically useless in in-front of single minded determination of a few individuals. Either you can flow with us, or be a witness to the flow, but never against us !

In the end, "Utthishta Jagrata, Jagrata" !!