100th Birthday of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba: Essence and Significance

As part of our efforts to include more people in the seva of spreading Bhagawan's message, we invited those who would like to join our content team as volunteers. We requested them to submit articles on any one of the two themes: 'Celebrating the 100th Birthday of Bhagawan' and 'The Glory of Chitravati'. We will be sharing some of the impressive entries we received as part of this campaign. We thank all those who participated and sent in their entries, and we pray to Bhagawan to shower His blessings on each one of you.

It’s been a hundred years!!! From being a God-forsaken hamlet in Andhra Pradesh… to the God-inhabited, spiritual capital of the world; from the self-playing harmonium, tabla, and sitar announcing the birth of Sathya… to the magical Sai Symphony Orchestra; from trudging to fetch potable drinking water… to the Sri Sathya Sai Drinking Water Project; from the bullock cart rides on dirt track… to a four-lane highway; from the tiny old mandir… to the Sai Kulwant Hall and the Sai Hira Global Convention Centre, Puttaparthi has come a long way.

From no medical aid… to super speciality hospitals; from a young boy leading the Pandhari bhajan group and singing, “Manas bhajo re Guru Charanam”… to the divine rendition of Vedas and bhajans; from looking for the petite figure in orange flitting from the mandir to the stadium, school and college… to looking for our heartthrob within our hearts; from waiting for the monthly edition of the Santhana Sarathi… to daily messages from the Sri Sathya Sai Media Centre; from little Sathya walking to Bukkapatnam to attend school… to Sri Sathya Sai Vidhya Vahini making waves on the DIKSHA Portal we have come a long way. From, “My life is My message”… to “Your life is My message,” we have come a long, long way.

This journey of 100 years is not merely about development, it is one of love, service, devotion and dedication. It is about the transformation of the human heart. This saga of a hundred years of love, cannot be encapsulated in mere words. It is a saga that has been felt and experienced by those who were blessed to have the darshan, sparshan and sambhashan of our beloved Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. The Lord has left behind Him, a minuscule portion of Himself in the hearts of each one of us. It is up to us to find Him within and take His mission to the next level. Celebrating His 100^th birthday is our honour and privilege. Let’s do it with aplomb!

- Mrs Priya S Tandon