Mrs. Geeta Ram
comes from a family
which has been
associated with Swami
for the last four
generations. Her great
grandfather, Mr.
Seshagiri Rao, came to
Swami in 1943 and was
the temple priest of
Prasanthi Nilayam for
many years. Her father,
Dr. Padmanabhan is a
familiar figure in
Swami's ashram in
Bangalore. Having come
to Swami at a tender
age, her life is full of
exciting and
illuminating
experiences. Below is
the transcript of a talk
delivered by her during
a Sai Retreat on May 13,
2006 in Atlanta, USA.
My
Pranams (salutations)
at the Lotus Feet of our
Ever-Present Swami and Sai
Ram to all of you on this
wonderful day a holy day
of Buddha Poornima, with
Mother's Day coming up
tomorrow.
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Mrs Geetha Ram
talking about
Swami
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Thank you for giving me the
opportunity to do my
Namasmarana and place
my respects at Sai - my
Mother who has been a part
of my life since the day I
have come into this world.
So I thank you all for
bringing me here and giving
me the opportunity to think
of Him, re-live my
experiences with Him and
share His Love with all of
you.
To speak of Swami is a huge
responsibility. To speak of
many subjects, you can
prepare, you can read books,
and you can have references,
but when we speak of Swami,
we are looked at very
differently by the eyes of
the people who look at us.
They look at us and wonder
and say: "They have had the
association of this Divine
Being how has their life
changed?"
So when you speak of Swami,
your life changes. When you
enter a Sai Center and start
sitting down here for the
bhajans, for the study
circles, your life changes
it should change, otherwise
we would be very poor
representatives of this
wonderful Mother that we
have!
My Multi-Faceted
Beloved Swami
For me, Swami has been many
things. I have seen many
facets of Swami and I still
discover more as the years
go by. He has been my Mother
a very loving Mother
corrected me like all
Mothers do with their
daughters. He has been a
strict Father pointing out
my poor marks on several
exams. He has been a strict
teacher and has not forgiven
if I have made the same
mistake twice even after
having been corrected.
But He has also been a very
good friend! These are all
things that a Mother has to
be with their children you
have to be a loving mother
when your child is very
young; you have to be a
strict parent to inculcate
discipline and devotion; you
have to be a teacher by
example I am sure many
parents will agree with me.
And you have to be a friend
too with your child. And
Swami has been those many
things to me.
When The Lord
Becomes Your Guest
My earliest memories of
Swami has been that as a
child - a very sweet one -
when He used to come and
stay with us in Bangalore in
my parents' house in those
days the Brindavan building
was not there. So when He
came, He used to stay with
devotees, among them my
parents.
And I remember as a child
that He would stay with us
for several days. And when
Swami is with you, you know
that everybody is very much
focused. Even when we have a
guest in our house, the
housewife knows that she
will be focused on the room,
the bedroom, and the food
whatever that you want to
make to give the guest a
pleasant stay.
But imagine having Swami
staying with you! You will
have this wondrous feeling
of when He is going to walk
into the kitchen and I
remember my mother would
constantly be cleaning the
kitchen never knowing when
Swami would walk into the
kitchen!
I remember my father who
never lifted the newspaper
and put it away, constantly
putting away the newspaper
so that Swami wouldn't find
it on the sofa in our living
room! I remember my brother
making his room
exceptionally clean which
never was when Swami was
around because you never
knew when He would come in.
And I remember hiding my
story books behind Sathya
Sai Speaks so Swami wouldn't
know what I was reading!
This is my experience that
whenever Swami would come,
suddenly the look of all the
book shelves would change.
The books whatever the
current craze was growing up
in school; I think as a
child I read Enid Blyton; as
a teenager I probably read
Barbara Cartland and Mills
and Boon - but they would
all go behind and in front
of them there would be a
second row of Sri Sathya Sai
Speaks, in the hope that
Swami would think that I was
reading that!
You Can't Trick The
Lord!
The thread that ran through
my life that whatever I did,
Swami knew everything He
was Omnipresent and you
could never really trick Him
even though, for a while
He pretended and played the
game along with us.
I remember once He came into
our room, He would actually
eat in my room because we
always had the food separate
for Swami, and then the
other devotees who came with
Him were fed, and He would
walk into the room a little
bit ahead of time while my
parents and aunts were
setting up the table. And
then He would stand in front
of the book shelf and look
at all the books.
So you know, your heart is
pounding and you hope that
He would just look at the
books in the front.
Then He would look at the
books and say: "Oh! Prema
Vahini!" Then He would look
and say: "Oh, is this the
new one that has come out at
the Sathya Sai book store
now?" And He would very
sweetly remove two books and
say: "Oh! Barbara Cartland!
Is that what you read?" and
put the Sathya Sai Speaks
back right where it was!
The Ecstasy and
Agony of Experiencing That
Omnipresence'!
So the thread of
Omnipresence ran through my
life. Sometimes as a child I
would wish that that
Omnipresence' was not
reminding me all the time
that He was with me because
I wanted to be like any
other child and read what I
wanted to read and do what I
wanted to do!
But as I grew older I
remember what a wonderful
sense of security it gave me
because wherever I went, I
knew that Swami was with me!
It was very easy for me to
say: "No" when my other
friends said "Yes" to things
- because I knew that when I
went back on the weekend,
Swami would be asking me
where I went last Wednesday
or Thursday!
I remember once when I was
in College, and I met a good
friend an old friend from
my school on the side-walk
while I was walking to the
bus-stop. We hadn't seen
each other for a while and
were very happy to see each
other it was just an
unexpected meeting. We both
were standing in front of a
sugar cane stall. So we both
were talking and decided to
buy a glass of sugar cane
juice. We brought the sugar
cane juice on the foot path
on the side walk of the
street and we drank and we
chatted there for quite a
while and we went home.
The following weekend we
were in Brindavan. And as in
the early days with no
sevadal there, we were the
sevadals, we were also the
bhajan singers, we were the
cleaners we were
everything there. So all of
us had jobs to do and when I
went to Brindavan my job was
to clean the altar where
Swami did bhajans inside in
the evening sometimes.
And there were pictures of
Swami in different poses and
Shirdi Baba and I was
cleaning that. Swami would
be walking around the
building and He came up to
me and looked at what I was
doing and then He said:
"What time did you go home
last week from College?"
I couldn't quite remember. I
said, "Swami, after college
I went home in the evening."
But He named the day
Wednesday. He said, "What
time did you go home last
week on Wednesday?" I still
couldn't remember! He said,
"You went home late because
you missed the bus!"
Then I remembered and I
said, "Yes Swami, I missed
the bus." He said, "Why did
you miss the bus?" I said,
"I met a friend of mine and
we were talking."
He said, "Three
mistakes. Missing the bus
because you were talking to
the friend on the street;
second mistake not telling
your mother that you would
be late or why you came
late; third mistake of
drinking on the street out
of a dirty glass that fellow
gave! Three mistakes in one
day!"
So this Omnipresent Swami
sometimes you wonder:
"Swami, please! Why don't
you go and get behind
somebody else's back instead
of me all the time!"
But He was the loving Mother
He reminded me that there
were certain ways that one
behaves and if you don't
follow the norms of the
society at that time, you
are bound to have problems
with it.
"Life is a Game
Play it!"
So coming back to the times
of the childhood of
sweetness though - there
were times too when He would
be in the house and we
children would be banished
to the rooms because they
didn't want us to make any
noise! They would say:
"Swami is talking in the
living room; so stay in the
room, read a book, do
something. But don't appear
here and make noise!"
So I remember my cousin and
me we were almost the same
age we were constantly
being banished to the room
to do something with
ourselves. And those were
not the days of TV's and the
X-boxes, and Play stations
and even if it was, I am
sure we wouldn't have gotten
one in our home.
And we would go there and
the game that we would
constantly play was snakes
and ladders or lido we
would constantly be playing
and I remember on one
occasion when Swami knocked
on the door and walked in
because we had closed the
door.
And I remember my cousin and
I were playing snakes and
ladders. So He came
in and said: "Oh! You both
are playing over here while
I have to go and talk to
those devotees not fair!
You guys are having fun
here! Can I please play with
you?" We said:
"No!" because we had already
had an experience of playing
with Swami and we didn't
want Him to play with us!
So we said: "No!" He said:
"Why not?" We said:
"Because, every time You
roll the dice, You always
get the number You want! So
we don't want You to play
with us!" So He said: "No!
No! I will play like you
people!"
So He sat down and sure
enough He rolled the dice
and we rolled the dice and
the game was progressing
quite nicely sometimes He
went up the ladder and came
down the snake too! So we
thought this was pretty
good. But by the time one of
us had gotten to all the way
to 98 or 99 or whatever
and by that time the snake
is waiting to bring you
down, Swami rolls
His dice and within three
moves He reaches 100 and
says: "Useless people, you
don't know how to play!" It
was not fair; you know! He
used to say: "What is this?
A game isn't it? You
shouldn't cry when you lose
a game!"
You know Swami doesn't do
anything without a reason!
And I never forgot the
lesson He taught us with
that snakes and ladder game.
He said: "Life is like a
game! As long you have Swami
as the dice of God in your
hands, it will move you
along sometimes you go up
the ladder; sometimes you
come down the snake it's
okay! But as long as you
have the dice with you, you
can keep playing and you can
keep moving forward. That's
the important thing you have
to remember what is the
use of playing this game;
reaching 100 and starting
again from number 1 day
after day!"
So He was a friend and He
played; He joked and He
looked at the books that we
were reading so He was a
wonderful Mother in many
different ways!
Swami - The
Micro-Manager'
I remember when He got me
engaged to my husband the
wedding was still a month
away it was the global
akhanda bhajan going on
in Puttaparthi. And at that
time my parents and aunts
and I had to go to
Puttaparthi because the
wedding was going to be in
Puttaparthi Swami was
going to conduct the
wedding.
He had asked us to bring all
the details of the wedding
He wanted to see the saris,
the invitations, the
guest-list, the food menu
He wanted to see everything!
If Swami is anything He is
a micro-manager! There is no
other word for it. He will
check everything 25
different times. So He
wanted to check everything.
He even wanted the paper
sketch of the rangoli
that was going to go
from Swami's building to the
wedding hall!
So, armed with all these
things, we arrived at
Puttaparthi and the bhajans
were going on it was very
crowded. At that time they
would allow you to take all
these things and, of course,
the sevadal people knew that
the wedding was coming up.
So we sat there like a store
with saris and jewelry and
everything that we had to
show Swami.
Just before going for
Darshan, I had worn a very
simple synthetic sari
because the moment everybody
in Puttaparthi saw you there
with all these things, they
knew there was a wedding and
they would ask who is the
boy?' etc. I didn't know
anything about the boy
Swami had fixed the wedding.
So I had no answers to their
questions.
I didn't want to be the
center of attention. So I
wore a very simple sari and
was sitting for Darshan. As
we left our room, my aunt
(an elderly person) said:
"You know, you are the
bride; you are getting
married in a couple of
week's time. You shouldn't
be wearing such a simple
sari. You should wear a silk
sari something festive!"
I said: "Well, the wedding
is a month away. I am not
going to start looking like
a bride for the next thirty
five days. I am certainly
not going to wear it because
all those ladies at the
Darshan keep looking at me!"
So we had a little bit of a
discussion and I still
didn't change and we went.
Sure enough, after Swami had
gone inside the bhajan Hall
and He attended the global
bhajan, He came out and
called us in. He had told us
to come that day; so we knew
He was going to come to talk
to us.
So we went loaded with all
these things and as soon as
we entered, He first looked
at the invitation the
draft and approved that.
He looked at the guest list,
added a few names, deleted a
few we don't know why! He
looked at the menu and said:
"Oh! This is not good, that
is not good!" And chose
different things.
And after all this
discussion, He said: "Why
didn't you bring the bride?
Why isn't the girl here?"
And I am sitting right there
in front of Him!
We all look at each other
thinking: "Okay. So He is
getting on with some
fifty-plus years; He is not
recognizing the bride who is
sitting right in front of
Him! He has known me since I
was born He should know
me!"
We all think He should know
us really undeserving! Why
should He know us? That's
the question to ask
ourselves. He knows us; but
why should He? Do we do
anything at all that
deserves His attention? I
leave that question to think
about!
So He said: "Where is she?"
So my aunt said: "She is
sitting right here!" So He
looked at me and said: "This
one?" You know, He can
really bring your ego down!
She said, "Yes Swami! Why
are you asking that?"
"Be Conscious of All
that You Do!"
Then He looks at me
and said, "Didn't your aunty
tell you to wear a different
sari this morning? Two
mistakes!" He is
always pointing out
mistakes! And He loves to
number them. So it is very
clear in your head.
"Two
mistakes! One you didn't
listen to an elder when she
told you something. Big
mistake! Second bigger
mistake! Because all the
people here know that you
are getting married; Swami
is getting you married;
Swami has fixed the wedding;
Swami has found the boy and
the family! And you are
sitting there looking like
you are not interested in
getting married! So
everybody is thinking that
maybe the girl doesn't want
to get married and Swami is
forcing her.
Maybe she
doesn't want to get married
and her parents are forcing
her because he is a Sai
devotee. Third; maybe the
girl wants to marry somebody
else! By your one gesture
and the way you behave, you
can create many ripples. So
always be conscious of what
you do. If you are getting
married, behave according to
the time and place. Be happy
if you are happy! If you
don't want; tell me now and
it's off! But if you're
happy and you want to get
married then behave
accordingly appropriate to
the time and place not out
of place! Don't draw
attention to yourself by
being out of place. Merge
with it!"
What a lesson He taught me!
As a mother, whatever we do,
it doesn't just reflect on
us - it reflects on our
parents, it reflects on our
families, it reflects on
Swami. So He said, "Be
conscious in your life
whatever you do! How you
stand, how you sit, what you
say, because it first
reflects on Him!"
That's why I said, the
minute we say we are Sai
devotees, our very action,
and our speech is judged by
everybody. If you are just a
regular person, nobody will
bother with what you do. But
if you start attending a Sai
center, they will say: "Oh!
you know what? Every Sunday
they go and sit for two
hours and sing some Sai
bhajan but they are worse
than us!" That will be the
remark if your behavior is
not up to date.
So that was the Mother Sai
who taught me how one has to
dress if you are at a
certain place or at a
certain occasion.
I love to share this
incident. I am sure many of
you have heard it I don't
know what I say. I was
telling my friend this
morning that whenever I have
to speak about Swami, it is
a very scary experience
because it is like I am
going to a place without a
road map I don't know
where I am going; I don't
know which road I am taking;
I don't know the exit
number!
I am just driving and I am
hoping that somehow the
place will appear before me.
So that is how it is when I
speak of Swami. I don't know
what I am going to say and
what He wants me to say.
Sometimes I repeat the same
things in four of my
different talks the same
incidents!
Once I said, "Swami! I have
been speaking the same thing
in every retreat for one and
a half years! Why don't you
make me speak something
else?" He said, "No! They
need to hear it. You have to
talk about it. When they are
ready to change, I will give
you a different story."
And then very sadly He made
this gesture: "Look
at Me! Fifty years I am
saying the same thing! Does
anybody hear? If they hear,
do they listen? And if they
listen, do they practice?
You are complaining of one
year of speaking the same
thing!"
What a statement! How we
must bend our heads in
shame. So I repeat and this
is another one that I love
to repeat because I love to
tell you about the mistakes
that Swami has caught me in!
Because like I said the
thread is His Omnipresence -
constantly showing me His
wonderful Divinity.
"I am always with
you, behind you, beside
you
"
I was speaking at a retreat
in Texas. It was in the
afternoon. I went and sat in
the morning Brother
Jagadeeshan was speaking in
the morning and I love his
talks; he is such a
wonderful narrator. Even
though they had very sweetly
offered me a seat, as a
child I dared not Swami
being much elder to me so
I sat on the floor.
In the afternoon I had gone
back to my room but I had
not changed I went for my
afternoon talk. And Swami's
picture was just the way it
is now but my podium was way
forward because the stage
was very big.
I went and stood and started
talking that was it! This
was in the month of
September. In June I went to
India. In July Swami called
me for an interview. He
asked me, "Where have you
been speaking?" I said,
"Swami, I spoke in Texas."
He said, "Yes, I know you
spoke in Texas and brother
Jagadeeshan spoke too, is it
not?"
Then suddenly out of
the blue He asked me, Don't
you pack your clothes
properly when you go on your
trips?" That was
completely unexpected it
had nothing to do with my
talks! So I said, "No Swami!
I packed my clothes well."
Then I am racking my brains
did I wear something that
was not appropriate? Did I
wear a salwaar-kameez at my
talk which I don't. I
always wear a sari. My mind
is churning: "Why did He ask
me?"
I am trying to place why
this question came because
you know, Swami does not ask
these questions for no
reason very specifically:
Do you pack your clothes
properly?' Such an
unexpected question! Again
He asked me. I said, "I
don't know Swami what have I
done?" That's the best way
ask Him a question back.
He said, "You know,
in Texas you wore that blue
sari cotton sari?"
He named that sari blue
cotton sari! He said: "All
day you sat on the floor and
then when it was your turn,
you went and stood there,
your cotton sari was all
crumpled gone a little
high. I am the one who has
to see your ankles because
I am behind you! When you go
and speak somewhere and
especially if you have to
sit for a long time, you
should wear a proper silk
sari, they don't get so
crumpled." Can you imagine?
What a lovely motherly
advice!
But remember this, in every
Discourse He says: Don't
worry! All of you go back to
your homes safely!" He says:
"I am with you, behind you,
beside you all the time,
all the way, wherever you
go!" We forget that He is
behind us, that He can see
your ankle, we forget that
He is beside us and can hear
us; we forget that He is in
front of us and He sees
which path we you are taking
we forget all these
things. A simple example of
a sari tells you that He is
there with you all the time.
"Sai, My Mother, Who
Notices Everything!"
I was in the summer course
once and suddenly out of the
blue they asked me to do the
summarization of the day's
activities. You know, in the
old days, the summer course
was for everybody from all
over India they would have
students selected and I was
in one of the summer courses
in the beginning years.
They had chosen me and one
other boy to read the
summary of what had happened
in that day's lecture. It
was a wonderful opportunity
to be chosen to come in
front of Swami - it had been
drafted, checked and
rechecked by 25 adults to
make sure that the right
things were written and I
came. Swami was sitting in a
chair and we were behind the
screen. The boy came and
read his part. And as I came
to Swami to take my
padanamaskar; He said
something and I didn't quite
catch it.
Swami very sweetly dropped
His handkerchief
deliberately on the floor!
So I bent to pick it up and
as I got closer to Him to
give Him the handkerchief,
He said: "You must put your
heels down at the back of
your sari when you stand up
to pull it down!"
Can you imagine that? The
ladies will certainly
understand it if the men
don't get it "Put your
heel down to the back layer
of your sari when you get up
to pull it down." So
obviously my sari was a
little folded in the back
and before I turned around
to face the audience and
come to the stage, He was
making sure! And the way He
said it with a smile -
Kaalu kinda pettukoni
cheera eedchuko (in
Telugu), meaning, put down
your foot and drag the sari
down'.
Everybody thought He
was giving me some beautiful
blessing with a sweet
smile. But He was pulling me
up on my bad sari-wearing
techniques!
Sai my Mother, who notices
everything! Sai my Mother,
who has taught me
everything! Sai my Mother,
who has shown me up-most
love!
I don't know what I am
saying today these are my
very personal experiences.
If they give you any lesson
out of this; I don't know!
All I can tell you is that
we are all born at this
wonderful time where we have
this wonderful Mother
pouring His love to all of
us and it is for us to
absorb it and to understand
it. And if we don't, then we
miss out on a chance. And
each of you I am sure feel
His Love in his or her own
way otherwise we wouldn't be
sitting here listening to
some unknown woman come from
Maryland.
So He has been a part of my
life with wonderful
miraculous ways He has shown
me too. To me, those
miracles are wonderful but
the little things are far
more wonderful - because I
see His love in the little
things much more than in the
big things.
Now you see His love for
humanity in a huge way. His
Motherly Love by that
wonderful Super Specialty
Hospital where thousands of
people with no money are
treated free of cost. We
have the University, we have
the Music College, we have
the water project it's in
such magnitude now.
But the little things that
happened to me were small
things but it was the same
essence of that love. But
again He reminds us how many
times - much later He said:
"Lying is not just telling a
falsehood! Keeping something
from your mother is also a
lie. She may not know, but I
know!"
Problems are
Blessings
So He has been that Mother
who constantly teaches us
that if you have decided to
take this path of
spirituality then there is
no shade of grey! It is
black or it is white. And if
you want Him, it has to be
white.
You can't try to find
loop-holes in your behavior.
You can't say: "Well this
might work for today!" There
are no loop-holes He is
going to pull you up! If He
doesn't do it physically, He
will do it in some other way
He will bring some big
problem along to remind you
that's what He said:
"Problems are there to
remind you that you are
forgetting Me!"
Swami always loves to quote
that famous prayer of Mother
Kunti, after the whole war
of Mahabharata is over, Lord
Krishna says: "Now that
everything is over and your
sons are kings, now what do
you want? Ask and I shall
give." She said, "Always
give me troubles; because
when I have troubles, You
come to me!"
Swami says: "When you have
troubles, you come to Me,
troubles remind you of Me."
So He reminds us that He is
there; and He also reminds
us that He is a good friend.
I don't want to make Him so
serious that you have to
wonder: "Oh my God! I can't
step out of this building
without worrying." He can be
fun too!
His Awesome Sense of
Humour!
I remember once in
Puttaparthi Laalgudi
Jayaraman - a famous
violinist in India was
coming to Puttaparthi to
play the violin there in
front of Swami in Prashanti
Nilayam. My father used to
always go from Bangalore to
Puttaparthi on the weekends.
And my father being a doctor
also would always want to
come back on Sunday night so
that Monday morning he could
attend to his patients.
And Swami in those days
would say: "Stay one more
day!" And my father would
say: "No Swami! I have given
appointments and my patients
will come so I have to go."
"Stay one more day Padmanabh!"
"No Swami, I have to go!" So
this was a constant thing in
our childhood.
So on one particular day
when we had gone, Swami
said: "Today in the evening,
Laalgudi Jayaraman is going
to come, why don't you all
stay for the concert and go
tomorrow morning?" - This
was in the morning Darshan
line to my mother.
My mother said: "Swami you
know my husband, he is not
going to let us stay! He
will say he has to go to see
his patients." He said: No,
He will stay!" She said: No
Swami, he won't stay."
Sure enough after the
morning Darshan my father
said: "We are packing up,
let's leave!" And in those
days we always used to leave
during daylight hours
because the roads were so
bad that in fact, Swami used
to say: "Before it gets
dark, you have to cross
those 22 miles first from
Puttaparthi." So he said:
"Pack up!" We said: "Please,
can we stay?" He said: "No!
Pack up!"
So my father got ready to
put away things in the car -
for those of you who have
been to Puttaparthi, you
know the Ganesha statue that
is there that is where we
used to park our cars in
those days. And there were
only about 10 or 15 rooms
and we stayed in those
rooms. So, my mother and I
were bringing out all the
bedding and we were rolling
it out on the sands under
the eucalyptus tree there.
Swami was in His room and
suddenly when we are rolling
the thing, my mother and I
were talking: "I wish for
once daddy would agree and
stay!" Because we were very
fond of the violinist he
was a very famous Karnatic
Music violinist and I wanted
to hear!
Suddenly, while we were
talking, we heard somebody
calling us making a sound: "Shh!
Shh!" We look around to see
who is making that sound?
This was around 12 12:30
when Swami has already
retired to His room!
Suddenly we look up
and there in His balcony
with His bedroom door open,
Swami is standing in the
balcony and gesturing to us
to not make a noise!
Because all the devotees
will come running if they
know that Swami is standing
in the balcony!
He gestured: "Don't pack!"
We said: But Swami we have
to go now!" He said: "No!
Don't pack!" And He showed
us with gestures that the
car tire has a puncture.
Flat tire! We can't go!
Because the 22 miles ride
from Puttaparthi to
Pennukonda was the worst
road. If anybody had a flat
tire, Swami had a rule you
had to get the flat tire
fixed and only then can one
leave.
Because if you put a spare
tire and are carrying the
flat tire and if you have
one more flat tire on the
way, then you were totally
stuck. There was nothing
between Puttaparthi and
Penukonda and you were stuck
with the anti-villagers who
didn't really like devotees
coming to Puttaparthi.
So we understood. We happily
put away our bedding inside
and went. My father came and
asked: Why are you people
sitting?" We said: "Yes, we
are getting ready." So he
takes another bunch of
things to the car and he
comes back and says: "You
know, there is a flat tire!
We can't leave." We said:
"Aha!" We knew about the
thing but we didn't want to
say anything!
He said: "We can't go now so
I am going to take a lorry
and go to Penukonda and get
the tire fixed, you people
be ready. If I can get it
fixed, we will go today,
otherwise we will go
tomorrow."
So my father went back and
sure enough, you can't go to
Penukonda and get the tire
fixed and come back in a few
hours it's a question of
quite a few hours. So while
my poor father was getting
the tire fixed, we were
happily listening to
Lalagudi Jayaraman's music!
After the music got over,
Swami got up from His chair
and asked: "Where is
Padmanabhan? Has he gone to
Penukonda?" We said: "Yes,
Swami! He has gone to
Penukonda." He said: "He
will come back at ten
o'clock, you go to bed!
Wasn't the music good?"
Then He smacked my
cheek and said: "See! You
wanted to listen to the
music, so I sent your father
to Penukonda!"
So He would play along with
us too, you know! You
couldn't help but love Him
so much even when He
scolded you, you enjoyed the
scolding though you knew
that you couldn't make the
same mistake twice like I
said.
So this Swami He is there
for all of us.
Sai Ram.