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A love story revealed...
Source:
Radio Sai E-Magazine,
December 1, 2003
http://www.radiosai.org/Journals/07Dec01/03_COVER_STORY_1/Related_story1.htm
Dear Reader,
In
March 2003, there was a big conference in Japan
entitled the World Water Forum.
This was a sequel to the Earth Summit that took place
earlier in August 2002, in Johannesburg. Kyoto was the
venue of the World Water Forum,
and top world leaders came to attend it. There were
also many satellite meetings, one of which was on the
theme Water and Cities.
This meeting was held at Osaka. In Kyoto, there was a
Panel Discussion, to which was invited Prof
Anantaraman , a professor in management who and CEO of
a multinational firm.
What follows is a digest of remarks made by Prof
Anantaraman about his experience in Kyoto. This digest
has been prepared by us from an interview recorded
with Prof. Anantaraman for broadcast over Radio Sai.
Some of you might have heard that interview.
SGH TEAM |
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A LOVE STORY REVEALED ……
This
panel discussion was held in Kyoto, and I went there on account of
an invitation sent to me by the UN HABITAT. The Panel Discussion
was being jointly organised by UN HABITAT and the Asian
Development Bank or ADB. They wanted me to discuss the financial
aspects of the Sri Sathya Sai Anantapur Water Project. After a lot
of hesitation I finally decided to accept the invitation.
Initially I hesitated because
after all, the basic strength of Anantapur water project is not
financing aspect. I felt that to basically talk about only the
financing of the water project was a mistake. However, there was
an invitation, and I went there eventually but with a lot of
trepidation.
On the first day, there was a
beautiful musical ballet presentation as a part of the inaugural
ceremonies. The ballet was all about water as a source coming
through time and through space. The ballet was presented by the
children from the Sai School in Japan. During the ballet, there
were references to Truth, Peace, Right Conduct, Non violence. My
ears immediately pricked up. When the ballet was over, the 1500
delegates present gave a standing ovation. I basically felt right
then that may be Swami's presence is already here. This made me
resolve that I should make my presentation to the panel fairly
forcefully.
The panel presentation was on the
next day. I was the fourth speaker in a panel of six speakers.
Most of those who spoke before me, talked about Financing Models,
Pay-back methods, Cost of Recovery, etc. I had prepared a Power
Point presentation but after seeing the children's ballet I
realised there was no point in making this presentation because
financing was not the important part of Sri Sathya Sai Water
Project. So in the last minute I decided not to do my Power Point
presentation. Instead I began by saying that I am no expert on
water, in fact, I don't even know why I am here. Therefore I am
not going to make a presentation on financing to you; instead what
I am going to offer you is a case study. It is not merely a case
study, it is also a Love Story. It is not only a story of Love but
also one of Compassion. It is the story of how one compassionate
individual found it necessary to bring water to a parched land and
quench the thirst of over a million people. That is what my story
of Compassion and Love is all about. The moment I said that there
was immediately a lot of attention and after that my presentation
went on very well. Subsequently, there was a lot of interest
concerning what the project was about, and what Swami was saying.
The press was immediately after
me and wanted to know many things like what was this project about?
Who is Sathya Sai Baba? And so on. There was also an invitation
from the Osaka Students Union asking me to come and talk to them
about the water project. Not merely that. A Minister from China
and the whole delegation from China wanted to hear my presentation.
The Minister wanted to discuss with me about this compassion that
I was talking about, and about the whole project. In short, Swami's
Love Story was a real hit!
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