New Year Evening
Saturday, January 1st, 2011
On this New Year evening, The Lord who is beyond Time, Lord of Timelessness was ushered into the Sai Kulwant Hall in a regal procession, apt for The Divinity! At the entrance gate at the rear western end, leading from Yajur Mandiram, there was a huge arch with wordings “Om Sai Kalaatheethaaya Namaha!”, hailing the attributeless, timeless Divinity! This was a session earmarked for the alumni of SSSIHL, an annual affair they eagerly await, to come back to the portal.
The New Year dawned and the waiting for the evening, for the first glance of The Lord found its fulfilment at 1910 hrs. when Bhagawan was ushered into the Sai Kulwant Hall by a host of procession by the alumni comprising of flag bearers and Vedam Boys; while Parasols and Venchamarams (yak tail fans) added on to the colour spectacle granting the procession a religious flavour, in the backdrop there were sound bytes of soulful tunes of a welcome song.
Arriving on to the Verandah and blessing the cake for the occasion by the students, Bhagawan moved on stage for a round of applause from the capacity audience. On the stage, Bhagawan lit the lamp before cutting a special cake by the Alumni. Assuming the Seat of The Divine, Bhagawan blessed the organisers for the commencement of the proceedings.
A musical offering was in the offing and announcements in Telugu and English followed. The programme got off with the Alumni Brass Band presenting an interesting musical piece, a Ganesha Stuthi, that had adaptation from one of the popular numbers.
Children of Sai they are, they would often sing Love Songs to Mother Sai during their college days. Evoking nostalgic memoirs of of those golden past, they erupted with the beauty of a song, “Oh Sai Maa…Priyamaina Maa….” so meaningful for the occasion!
The Lord who played with His students… for His students, watching them growing and glowing, came in for adoration as lavish praise was heaped unto Him when intermittent commentary pushed the session forward. Some more numbers followed including a Qawwali before they switched over to bhajans as commanded by Bhagawan. All the songs were tuned to the theme of Love, “The Bond Of Love” between Mother Sai and Her Children, “Prema Bandham!”
Bhajans continued for the next twenty minutes and the White Army took over with blessed prasadam went for distribution. At 2040 hrs. Bhagawan accepted Mangala Arathi. In between Bhagawan blessed one of the alumni with a materialised golden chain.
At 2045 hrs. Bhagawan left for Yajur Mandiram not before blessing the assembly with Abhayahastha.
Earlier, upon emerging from Yajur Mandiram at 1900 hrs., Bhagawan went into Poornachandra Auditorium granting darshan to the thousands assembled there.
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