Delhi Tour - Part 8

11th April 2010 continued...

The snacks session concluded at about 4:15pm. Swami then told all of us to get up and get going. We moved out of the hall. I returned to pick up my camera which was on the table. The elders were still seated and I moved out with my camera. We all sat in the corridor outside Swami’s lift, waiting for Him. Soon Swami came and it was about 4:20pm as He moved down the lift for darshan. As I came out of the building, I saw that Appa was seated in the first line! And then to my pleasant surprise, I saw that Amma too sat in the first line on the chair. I took pictures and moved alongside Swami as He descended the gentle slope of the ramp. Amma was beaming from ear to ear as Swami passed by her and Swami too raised His hand in Abhayahastha. That must have really thrilled her.

A group of alumni and youth were doing the chanting and Swami sat listening to it for some ten minutes or so. Then He asked for the bhajans to begin. Bhajans began and since I was now seated behind Swami’s chair, I could get some pictures of the devotees and the crowd that had gathered. Swami knew all the while that there was a programme in the auditorium and so after 4-5 bhajans, He asked for Aarthi. The Poojari was missing and so when Swami wanted Aarthi, He would either tell St or move His head vigorously to both sides and everyone would get the message. Today, the Aarthi was taken by a stocky person who was well mustached.

As the prasadam came up for distribution, Swami took one packet and threw it to the person doing the Aarthi and he duly collected it after the Aarthi was done. As Swami was going back also, my mother had a nice darshan and I was happy for her.

Swami now turned around and headed to the car which was waiting at the main entrance. Once more, all of us filed in front of Swami. As I was passing Him, He was reading a letter and I took a picture. Swami gently looked up and then told me to hurry to the vehicle.

Going to the vehicle, I noticed that the minibus had been replaced with Innova cars! Wow! That was a good change and it had been done fast. And we rushed behind Swami’s car, being a part of the convoy. It felt good to be with Swami in the convoy. The traffic in busy Delhi had been held and we got VIP passage. Never in my life would I experience this kind of VIP treatment I felt. Yes! People may give me some importance, but holding up traffic in the capital city…..err…that’s something that I did not even dream of. I reminded myself that this was due to the figure in the third car ahead of us!

Soon we reached the Mavalankar auditorium where the evening programme had been scheduled. We quickly got out of our cars and rushed to the entrance. Swami was getting down and a huge crowd had gathered around Him as usual. He entered the auditorium and soon moved to the stage of the auditorium. It was 5:00pm. A solitary Love All Serve All banner was displayed inside, in front of the big balcony.

The auditorium was a poor replacement for the Balayogi auditorium in which the programme was originally scheduled. But the seats were very comfortable. Air-chief marshal Suri was giving the introductory address. Reiterating Swami’s message of seeing Him in everyone and thus loving everyone, He introduced the three speakers for the evening. First to speak was the CEO of Bharti-Televentures, Sri Sunil Mittal.

Sri Sunil Mittal started off by saying the MrCheema had insisted he speak and then made his opening remarks, addressing Swami, “I don’t know if good people get attracted to you or people who get attracted to you become good, but good things are happening and that is good to know.” He confessed that his wife and in laws were all staunch devotees but He had only little acquaintance with Swami and His teachings. Talking about the different philanthropic ventures of his company, he gave credit for the inspiration to Swami and His teachings. He concluded in 12 minutes. In the meanwhile, as I was taking pictures, CG told me to shoot the video.

And so, moving to the centre, I erected the monopod and began to shoot. SV sir called and asked me for a rose to give Swami. GV told me to tell CG to put off the light that was hitting the screen. Amidst all the video shooting, I had to do these two jobs also! I was not finding any roses and told V, “Pluck some rose of the decorations and give it to me man!” However, there were roses that had been arranged! The next speaker was SVG. He spoke on Vidya and his pet topic, the Grama Seva ( Sri Sathya Sai Village Service Programme). He concluded in 12 minutes. As he spoke, CG was playing different slides of Swami from GV’s talk. Swami was watching them on the flat screen that had been placed for Him.

Finally, came the talk by GV. His topic was, “The importance of being compassionate.” His talk had a wonderful photo-video presentation and it was about the water supply project which brought water to Chennai. When the video of the citizens pouring out their woes (in Tamil) came, Swami was moved. He was also happy with His declaration at the SSSIHMS Bangalore where He emphatically declared that He would provide water to the metro, Chennai.

Towards the end of His talk, Swami went to His room by the side of the stage for a few moments. Then as He came on stage, Mr.Cheema requested Swami for the Delhi youth to put up the drama that they had prepared. Swami agreed and moved down the ramp to the front. Three chairs had been covered with cloth and flowers had been placed on them. They were meant to be for Swami. So, when Swami saw them, He said, “They have placed flowers for me. I will sit there.” CG got up and told Swami that the seats sink inside a lot and so it was better that He was on the same chair. Swami agreed and continued to sit on the chair.


The drama was simple but humorous and nice. It began with a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna. To show the relevance of the Bhagwad Gita in modern life, the protagonist was Muthuswami. He is tormented by his materialistic wife and mother in law. The mother in law did superb acting and he had me convinced that ‘he’ was actually a ‘she’ for quite some time. Krishna then comes in guise of a friend of the protagonist and gives the theory of the Gita to the mother in law. The practical lesson is learnt when tragedy strikes her. Her son who was supposed to have taken her to USA with him ditches her and also cheats her! That shock transforms her and she breaks down.

Many times during the drama, Swami looked at Mr.Cheema and smiled. Towards the end, Swami wanted to leave and He kept indicating to CG for a number of times. Finally, when a lovely dance with fantastic lights and sounds concluded, Swami blessed them. He began to move out of the auditorium. Soon we were also out and in our cars zooming towards the Rai house where we were supposed to have dinner.

Soon we were on Aurangzeb street and Swami’s car went into the Rai residence. I jumped out of the car and rushed in. There was a huge crowd that had gathered in the front porch. At first I did not know where we had come. Seeing Swami’s car go into the compound, I had rushed in. Seeing Mrs.Malvika Rai near the car door, I realized that it was the Rai estate. Swami was welcomed with a profusion of roses and flowers. A Poornakumbham (a Hindu traditional symbol) was also blessed. It was when I was moving into the home that I realized who the mysterious sender of smses yesterday was. I had got an sms stating, “Please get your parents too to our home. Its on Aurangzeb lane.” I felt bad that I did not call mom and dad here even though they had been invited.