The Unseen Hand of Sri Sathya Sai

Sathyanarayana Kumar Chavali, a student of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Prasanthi Nilayam Campus, from 1992-2000 writes the following article. After graduating from SSIHL he joined iNautix Technologies as a Project Manager in Chennai.

Twameva Mata Cha Pita Twameva Twameva Bandhuscha Sakha Twameva
Twameva Vidya Dravinam Twameva Twameva Sarvam Mama Deva Deva…Sri Sai Deva.

[You are my mother, you indeed are my father. You are my friend, you are my companion.
You  are my wisdom, you are my wealth. You are all, my Lord, o Lord]

Swami has said “Nee Inta Ne, Jante Ne, Venta Ne, Kante Ne Vuntaanu.” [In other words] He has assured everyone that He will always be with them, guiding their lives. I am sure that every student of Bhagavan has some story to tell or an experience to share. Swami may not have spoken directly to so many students, yet everyone would have an experience to narrate. And this is true even after the student completed his education and entered the outside world. If only one spends a few minutes thinking a little deeper, will he perceive His unseen hand guiding him all through his life.

I had joined Swami’s Institute in 1992, and I completed my Masters (Physics) and MBA by 2000. Swami then gave me an opportunity to work in Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences. After being in Swami’s institutions for about a decade, I had to go back to my parents in Chennai, as they needed me there. It was not an easy decision for me to leave Swami’s physical presence and move out. But in everything that happens, there is an underlying reason. Swami sees to it that whatever happens is for our good.

In May 2002 everybody at home had planned a trip to Kerala. This was just a week after my returning to my parents in Chennai. While we were traveling in our car to Kerala near Trivandrum a truck rammed into our car head-on. Our car swirled and turned 180 degrees toward Chennai on account of the impact. Everything happened in a fraction of a second. I was sitting next to the driver in the front. I closed my eyes when I realized that the truck was about to crash into us. When I opened my eyes after the impact, the driver was lying with his head on the steering wheel in a pool of blood.

My parents and my brother were all badly hurt. I did not know if anyone was alive or not. I was also badly hurt. All the glass pieces had pierced the skin; I received a deep cut on my forehead and a dislocated hip. But then I heard someone, possibly someone in the crowd of onlookers or from other vehicles on the road, shouting Sairam, Sairam. I knew then that He would take care of us. I knew He was there and if not for Him the impact would have been still worse. Yes, His unseen hands were there to protect all of us.

I was in excruciating pain because of the dislocated hip. If it had fractured, then maybe I could have borne the pain. But the dislocated bone was putting pressure on a nerve and the pain was unbearable. I had to bear the pain for almost four hours before I was taken to a hospital and operated upon. The only thing that helped me was the chanting of the Gayatri Mantra.

My sister and brother-in-law were contacted and they made arrangements in a hospital at Chennai to get all of us admitted there. Even now they tell me that it is only by Swami’s grace that we are all alive today. As I have said before, when we spend a few minutes thinking a little deeper into these happenings, we would be able to see His invisible guiding hand. When I was lying on the bed in the hospital with my right leg in a cast, I remembered an incident that happened during the Dassera celebrations of 1993. That year we got the golden opportunity of chanting Vedam inside the mandir where Swami stays. We were all sitting in the bhajan hall and chanting Vedam. I was in the first line, very close to the steps on which Swami’s throne is placed.

Swami came into the Bhajan Hall and was listening to our chanting, and after some time we could see Swami‘s lips also softly chanting along with us. God Himself chanting the Suktas [verses] that praise Him is ‘a rare experience indeed.’ After some time Swami came toward the front to leave the Bhajan Hall from the front door. He came to the place where I sat and stopped for a moment. He then raised His Divine foot and placed it on my right thigh but immediately removed it and went past me as if nothing had happened. I did not understand the significance then. When I lay on the hospital bed after almost nine years I realized its significance, and that every interaction and incident we have with Swami has a deeper significance and it is for us to realize it.

Another sweet incident comes to my mind. During the Dassera celebrations in the same year, Swami was distributing dhotis to all the Vedam boys in the Bhajan Hall, in a random fashion. The Vedam boys sat with outstretched hands. Once a boy got a dhoti, he would move back, making way for the others. Swami would see the dhoti, the boy with his outstretched hand, and then would give it to him. When a pink dhoti came into His hands, He would put it back and give a red or saffron-colored one.

After sometime I was in the position with stretched hands to receive a dhoti from Swami; incidentally the dhoti turned out to be a pink-colored one. Swami looked into my eyes, and instead of putting it back, as He had done earlier, He put it into my hands and smiled. Swami had seen me in a dress with the same color as the dhoti. It was during our Sports Meet in January 1993, when I was acting in an Indian village scene as a lady fetching water from a pond and performing a dance that the villagers perform during Sankranti [festival]. In that scene, I had worn a pink-colored sari. He just wanted to show me that He had noticed me. There is a reason in everything that He does.

After I was discharged from the hospital, I was on crutches and had to undergo physiotherapy. The doctors advised me that only exercise and physiotherapy would improve my condition, and the time it takes to heal varies from person to person   depending upon his constitution and effort. I needed a lot of patience, as I could not seek any employment due to my prolonged physiotherapy treatment. The indefinite time it took to heal made the situation worse.

Most people stop going for physiotherapy once their condition improves slightly, and do not wait for the injury to heal fully. This leads to some deformities. Swami says that three P’s are very important: Purity, Patience, and Perseverance. I needed all the three and above all, Swami’s grace if I were to become normal again. It took me close to a year and a half to be able to walk, jog, or even run. I was sure that I would get back the strength in my right leg as Swami had blessed it by placing His foot there. He knows our past, present, and future and takes care of us.

Now I had to look for a career to earn my livelihood. I went to a training institute and learnt all about the IBM mainframes. I chose this line as I learnt that it had a good scope in the future. But the company had its own way of selecting the employees. They took into consideration: the number of years of experience after graduation, and experience in I.T. [information technology] was mandatory. I did not have any such experience as the first two years after getting an MBA I was in Swami’s Hospital in Whitefield, and then for a year and a half I was nursing my injury.

Swami says:
‘Satyam Bruyaat, Priyam Bruyaat,
Na Bruyaat Satyam Apriyam.’
[Speak the truth, speak pleasantly,
do not speak unpleasant truths]

Being Swami’s student I resolved that come what may, I was not going to utter any lies. Many called me a fool, but I ignored them. I joined a consultancy firm temporarily. For almost a year, I was in that consultancy firm waiting for some opportunity, undergoing some training, and honing my skills. Then an opportunity knocked at my door. A company by name iNautix India Pvt. Ltd. came in for recruitment. They conducted written tests, technical interviews, and H.R. interviews.

Only two among the hundred who appeared got selected. By Swami’s grace, I was one of them. My colleagues in the consultancy firm were surprised as to how I was hired. Not only did I have no experience but also had a gap of almost five years after completing my college education. His unseen hands were there to guide me and to help me tread the path He had willed.

Swami says, “Take one step toward Me and I will take a hundred steps toward you.” When we, His beloved students, follow at least one of His teachings, we make Swami happy. Swami does not need anything from anybody. But as Swami’s students, all that we can do for Him in return for all that He has done for us, is doing for us, and will do for us, is to get a very good name for the Institute, by following His advice and conducting ourselves as begets a Sai Student.

Anyatha Sharanam Naasti
Twameva Sharanam Mama
Tasmaat Karunya Bhavena
Raksha Raksha Hrudyeashwara

[O Lord, please show mercy on me—as there is no one but you,
I prostrate in front of you, to kill all my sins and to seek Your blessings.]

Source: Fragrance 2005