We had Swami’s grace to be in the Prasanthi Nilayam in the month of November 2000. As we entered the place we saw a lot of activities going on in the premises and were wondering what they were. We arrived on 6th  of November, and there were many more days left for the birthday. But there was mass cooking in the premises and hundreds of buses and lorries were going out in the morning with Swami’s children (students) and volunteers. So, I inquired where they were going. I learned that they were going out daily  during this month to villages to deliver food and clothes for men. Swami wanted the volunteers to go to the villages and deliver the service at their place, rather than expecting them to come over to Prasanthi  Nilayam.

The activities can be grouped under the following topics:

1.  Narayana Seva
2.  Ahandanamam Bhajan
3.  Conference of world delegates
4.  Sri Sathya Sai Viratha Kalpam
5.  Rathotsavam
6.  Opening of the Chaitanya Jyoti  ( Museum of Swami’s life history)
 7.  The Ladies day
8.  Opening of the Music College
9.  Convocation
10.  Swami’s Birthday 
11.  New Super Speciality Hospital in Bangalore

1.  Narayana Seva: The distribution of food and clothes was a massive project undertaken to commemorate  Swami’s 75th Birthday. Food and clothes were delivered to 10 million people  in different villages during this month. Furthermore, the devotees who arrived at Prasanthi Nilayam were provided with free food for seven days  from November 18th to 24th. It is humanly impossible to perform such a big task. It was done very smoothly and orderly without any hitch because of Bhagawan’s grace. Volunteers were working all night cooking food and carrying them to villages in the early morning. The whole night you hear the Bhajans and Chorus of chanting “Om Sairam”  by the volunteers who  prepare the food. Since this chanting was coming from the hearts of the volunteers, it was very melodious to the ears and made you listen to them rather than fall asleep. During this period, Swami was actively supervising the operations, and  blessed the students before they went out to do Narayana  Seva.

2.  Ahandanamam Bhajan:  We were very fortunate to participate in the ahandanamam bhajan which was conducted in the presence of the Divine in the Saikulwant hall. The hall was overflowing with devotees. Towards the end of the bhajan, the number of devotees waiting outside the hall were more than those inside. Swami was present in the Bhajan hall most of the time and showered his grace on the devotees. Frequently Swami came out and blessed those waiting outside. The Bhajans were of a very high calibre and a strong vibration was felt. Lakhs of devotees came to participate in the occasion. The Hall was well decorated and made you feel that you were in Vaikundam or Kailasam or “Sorkam”. Different decorations were done every day from 17th to 23rd of November. 

3.  7th World Conference was inaugurated on the 20th of November by Divine Hands at the Saikulwant Hall. Swami was very kind to give a discourse on that occasion. The following day two sessions were conducted. The first covered the period from Swami’s birth to age 25. All were delighted to see some of  Swami's classmates and contemporaries who described their young days with Swami and specific Leelas of Swami they experienced. It was like a dream to hear from the real people, who were with Swami and experienced His Leelas, about what we knew only from books. The second session covered the period from age 26 to age 50. Many of the speakers were people who associated with Swami during this period. Third and Fourth sessions were conducted on 22nd of November. The third session covered the period from age 51 to age 75. More eminent speakers were there because more and more intellectuals joined the Divine Service during this period. They emphasized on the teachings of Baba and requested that we follow the Divine Teachings in our life and do service which is the greatest of all sadhanas to reach  God. 

The fourth session was about the future of  Sai activities. Jumsai the great scientist and the sponsor of  “HUMAN VALUE IN EDUCATION” gave an excellent speech and received a big ovation from the participants. He used graphs to show how the introduction of Human Values in education will spread in the near future and later. According to him , about 75% of the schools all over the world will teach human values in schools by the year 2015, and by the year 2020 most of the schools in the world will follow suit. That means the Sai message will reach almost everyone before Swami leaves this physical body. The President of the Conference requested every one to make sacrifice towards Sai Service. He also stated that a permanent place for each centre is essential to do the service effectively in this critical time when we have to accelerate our activities to reach the goal.

4.  Sri Sathya Sai Viratha Kalpam:  This is similar to Sathya Narayana Pooja. Limited number of families were allowed to participate in this event. As the registration was done on the day of our arrival, we missed the opportunity to participate. The families were allowed to sit together and perform the pooja on this occasion. Learned Brahmins were there to conduct this ceremony. The Saikulwant hall was overflowing with devotees watching the ceremony. Swami was there physically to bless the participants and other devotees.

5.  Rathotsavam held on the morning of 18th November was very beautiful. Sai Geetha was well decorated for the occasion, and was leading the procession. The Deities were taken in a well decorated Chariot (Ratham ) from Prasanthi Nilayam to Swami’s Sivan Kovil in a procession accompanied by Nathaswaram and Thavil music. Rathotsavam is an annual festival which started with Swami’s blessings. This is one of the few events where the procession passes through the Main Gopuram.

6.  Opening of CHAITANYA JYOTHI also took place on the same morning. If you attend Rathotsavam you may not be able to get a proper place in the new museum named as “Chaitanya Jyothi”. So we decided to go for the opening ceremony. As delegates for the 7th world Conference, we were invitees for the ceremony and had the Divine Grace to receive a very good spot to sit. Swami came very close to us and blessed us. To be close to Swami within few feet and receive his graceful look was exciting and blissful. The ceremony was very colourful. The next day special passes were issued by Swami’s grace to the delegates so that they could visit the Museum. As we were delegates from Canada, we got the pass. The Building was designed by a famous architect from Malaysia (Chinese by birth), and is a donation from Malaysians. It is a marvellous piece of work, and has a distinct design. The museum is dedicated to the life story of Swami. Paintings, photographs, specimens, models, video and other things depicting different incidents, miracles, and  Swami’s life were exhibited very nicely.

7.  Ladies day  was celebrated on the 19th of November. Almost all the activities were performed by ladies. Even the discourse by Swami was translated by a lady. Normally men go round the Mandir  chanting the mantras after the Suppirapatham. But on this day only the ladies were chanting the mantras and went round the Mandir. They  presented a nice cultural program. Sarees were distributed by Swami to ladies.

8.  Inauguration of the Music College took place on the 20th of November. The project was done with a donation from an Indonesian devotee. The front of the building was decorated with giant size models of different musical instruments so that there is no need to display it’s name as Music College. Recruitment of staff and other activities have already started , and classes may start in the next academic year. Classic music from different cultures all over the world may be taught there. This includes vocal and instrumental music.

9.  The Convocation of  Institute of Higher Learning took place in the afternoon of the 22nd of November. Various dignitaries and Scholars attended the occasion. One Federal Minister was the Chief Guest. Swami’s discourse on this occasion was an exemplary piece of advice to the graduates and other students to cherish it in their hearts and practice it in their life. Nowhere in the world the graduates were given such a worthy piece of advice when they go out to the society. These graduates are extremely lucky people. 

10.  75th Birthday celebrations of Swami was the climax of all events. Devotees started moving towards the Hill View Stadium as early as 1 a.m. on this day for the function to be held at 7 a.m. so that they get a suitable place to watch the ceremony. The stadium was almost full at 7 a.m. when Swami arrived in the chariot. SaiGeetha was leading the procession. She was well decorated. The crowd was spread all over such that those staying far away were not be able to see Swami clearly. To help these people,  giant size television screens were erected at different places. A very powerful audio system was installed so that everyone can  hear the bhajans and announcements clearly. Swami in white attire looked brighter than the sun and was catching the glimpses of everyone. Crackers were thundering for a long time deafening the ears. Flowers were showered from a helicopter flying in the sky. 

As the delegates for the world conference were assigned an area in the front, we were able to watch Swami at a close range, and received his blessings. Swami gave a discourse in the evening at tharsan time. The hall was looking like “ Indralokam” because of the excellent decoration. Prasadam was served to everyone. Swami was blessing everyone  with good health and success. One important incident to be mentioned is that dark clouds were fast approaching on the morning of Swami’s Birthday threatening the devotees who gathered at the stadium. They were scared that it was going to rain heavily. By Swami’s grace, the clouds disappeared in a short time. Swami will never allow his devotees to suffer. Swami was graceful to accept the popular request and gave a discourse lasting about one and a half hours. At the end  Swami blessed all and showered his grace.

11.  New Super Speciality Hospital at Bangalore was scheduled to be opened on the 28th of November, but Swami had a sangalpa to postpone it. This is built in the centre of the "Silicon Valley" of Bangalore, and is about four times bigger than the one at Puttaparthi. It has the most modern communication facility installed so that the treatment and testing facilities could be more modern and efficient. It may be opened very soon (probably in January 2001). It will happen according to Swami’s sangalpa

There were cultural programs in the evenings at Poornachandra Auditorium on many occasions. These were presented by Sri Sathya Sai Centres from different states of India. As the hall could not accommodate the massive crowd, many television screens were erected in different locations to enable the devotees to watch the events. The programs were well prepared and performed by SSE students. The high standard of these performances bears ample evidence to show how much sacrifice is made by the devotees to produce them, and the artistic talent of those involved. At the end of each performance, Swami blessed the participants and posed for photograph with them. They were even permitted to do Padanamaskaram.

There were hundreds of Brahmins Chanting Veda continuously during this season, with some interruption at Bhajan time and Tharsan time.  Priests were working on shifts to maintain continuity of the chanting. You may recall that Swami declared that part of his mission is to re-energize the Vedas. That is why Swami is called Veda Matha. As a result of the chanting of the vedas, the place was full of vibration. 

The following is from the presentation made by Sujatha Sivarajah on Ladies Day at our centre.

Swami has said “Wherever women are honored, there is prosperity and happiness. Women should never be slighted or treated with disrespect. A home in which the housewife sheds tears will be bereft of all prosperity.” 

In HIS November 96 ladies day discourse Swami said: "It is not my view that women should not get educated. They should have education. You may also take up jobs. But you should live up to the obligations and glory of womanhood."
The first title given to a woman is Grihalakshmi (the goddess of Home). A woman is expected to confer all prosperity, honor and good name on the home and the family. She is characterized as Grihalakshmi and not Office- Lakshmi. 

On another ladies day discourse, Swami said “A lady must look after the home first and then work outside, if necessary. A house without a mother is like an empty choultry. A lady should serve as an ideal to her children, look after her husband and then do outside work. She can study, get degrees, enter politics or do any other work but she should not neglect the home, which is the very foundation of her life”. 

I am here tonight representing many of my fellow sisters in this gathering – mothers, wives and working women - women who strive to make their homes the foundation of their lives, a foundation for happy living for children, husband, parents and in laws. 

I’ve been a member of this centre for more than 10 years and during that time, was a member of the center’s Sai Youth group for a few years and then became an SSE guru. Being involved this way provided me many opportunities to learn and grow stronger in my beliefs. As many of you know, learning all that Swami has to teach is not something that happens overnight – being an active member of Swami’s center is one way to cultivate these beliefs.

It is quite amazing the change that has occurred to me in the past few years as I have progressed from being a daughter and sister to being a wife and mother .Of course  I have been blessed with a supportive family and husband. I would like to spend a few minutes sharing some personal experiences and daily challenges that I know many of my fellow sai sisters can relate to.  I would also like to share with you some of my coping mechanisms and how I try to practically incorporate Swami’s teachings in my life

Faith in Swami and his grace has been the key cornerstone of how I cope and learn.  It is, however, a learning process. I am learning daily from life’s experiences. I have come to realize that while we face various challenges in life, it is within our power to fill our daily life with lot of fun.

Swami has given us the answers to all life’s issues and concerns. While all of us have heard them, we may not have really paid attention to them. Some times, it takes certain circumstances for us to appreciate their full impact.  He has provided so many simple but powerful statements – which are in effect guidelines on how to face the challenges in life without stress and frustration.

Being a mother, wife and having a full time career can be physically and mentally exhausting – not only do you have the daily household chores - cooking, cleaning, washing, caring for your children; you also have to put in 30-40 hours a week at work where you have to face work related challenges – busy schedules, and aggressive deadlines .

It can become extremely difficult to juggle all these aspects of daily life unless you have some good coping SAI skills – I have a few “Swami tips” that I use to help me cope. There is one saying of Swami that is extremely powerful – one that I learnt many years ago, but did not truly appreciate till recently – “The secret of happiness lies not in doing what one likes, but in liking what one has to do”. This is a statement on how to live our lives and it has to do with having a positive attitude. Applying this guideline has proved extremely helpful to me 

I’ll give you two small instances on how I practice this. On any given weekday, I have to drive about 45 minutes to drop my daughter and get to work. It can get tiring and stressful especially during the rush hour which I’m sure no one likes. I used to consider this routine as if I were going in for a tooth extraction – a painful experience indeed.  That’s when Swami’s statement became clear to me. I have the power to make this experience a positive one. Now, the drive is one of pleasure, I have my daughter’s full attention.  She is in the car seat and can’t do much mischief. I spend some true quality time with her in the car – we talk, sing songs, learn the alphabet, tell stories and most days, we are both laughing when the ride is over. 
The same thing applies to grocery shopping. I used to hate this chore because I considered it a chore. I would run in and out of the store as quickly as I could because I did not enjoy the experience. Now, its somewhat of a fun outing – we have fun, our daughter enjoys it as she thinks it’s a big adventure to this place that has all kinds of goodies. The shopping is done in no time and with as little stress as possible. It’s all a matter of developing a positive attitude. 

Another aspect of life that I think that we women tend to overlook most if not all the time is what I call  “taking off the hat”. What I mean by that is that we wear many hats over the course of each day – mother, wife, office worker, cook, cleaner etc. – you get the picture. Since we are so good at wearing all these hats we tend to forget to take them off once in a while and be hatless for a little while. 

Why is it important to take off the hat ?  We have a responsibility to look after ourselves - not only physically but emotionally as well. If we do not, it will adversely affect the people that we love. If we get sick – who suffers – our family. By the same token, if we are stressed and tired all the time, our family suffers too. Children are extremely intuitive human beings. They can sense their parent’s emotions very clearly – even my 2 1/2 year old knows when I am tired or unhappy. She’ll come to me and ask with a worried look – “amma happy ?”, she’ll ask. If she can figure it out at that age, any child can. 

Whenever you feel that you need a break, ask for help – that’s what husbands and family are for. It can be as short as 10 minutes – when you spend the time doing something that relaxes you – be it reading, talking to a friend or meditating. You will feel better and your family benefits from it. 
Because of the fact that working women simply do not spend as much time with their families as they would like, the key to creating and maintaining a strong foundation and sense of family is to spend as much quality time with them as possible. Because time is a precious commodity, we have to make sure that when we do spend it with our family, it is productively spent.
We should avoid getting into petty quarrels with our spouses, or children, we should strive to maintain as harmonious a home as possible keeping lines of communication open with all members of the household. Caring for our children is one of our important responsibilities.  Swami says: “Even the mother should not compel her children to accede to her wishes. Through love and sincerity she should put the children on the proper path. She should aspire that her children be good, they need not be great.” 

Work or lack of time must never be an excuse not to ensure that our children are brought up to be good adults. Coming to bhajans on a fairly regular basis is certainly one way to bring some spiritual awareness to your children – they love to hear the songs and clap hands – enrolling your children in the SSE program will bring them much needed spiritual education. 

I would like to leave you with one of Swami’s teachings that I think will serve us, women, well, in the context our tensed, hurried, lives today. “The secret of perfect health lies in keeping the mind always cheerful - never worried, never hurried, never borne down by any fear, thought or anxiety”. 
Let us continue to be Grihalakshmi’s, to be an inspiration to our children and society and continue to practically apply Swami’s teachings in our everyday life. 

The Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre of Scarborough has grown over the years due the dedicated efforts of many members. Mr Ratnam Kandiah was one of the pillars, who dedicated his time, energy & shared lavishly his abilities  & resources for the continued growth of the Sai Center.

Mr. Ratnam Kandaih gave high priority to the needs of the SSE children, the development of the youth, and  the special needs of the Seniors, the elderly and  the feeble of the community at large.

Since Mr. Ratnam took a keen interest to listen and understand the issues raised by our Centre youth members, he was able to establish  a friendly  and trusting relationship with the youth members.

He took a keen interest in promoting and running the “Sai Tutorial Program” for the School children

He practiced the creed that even if one doesn’t see eye to eye with another, one always need to respect each other; he felt that the effective way to train others is to delegate the work and not to be critical, when members make mistakes.

His strong will  enabled him to handle all the obstacles, with ease. His good sense of humour made him approachable by all. His special smile will be remembered by all.

His enthusiasm to acquire land or a permanent building for the Scarborough Sai Centre  will be greatly missed.

Mr. Ratnam, having put his best efforts, being so generous with his time and energies for SWAMI’s work, Bhagavan Baba took him to HIS abode, free of toil, free of stress, free of complaints and full of peace. GOD only takes the best, in to HIS beautiful garden.

Mr. Ratnam will be sadly missed by all at Scarborough Sai Centre.

Let us pray to Bhagavan Baba to give Mrs. Ratnam and children the strength  to face the challenges as they unfold day by day & guide them in all their endeavors.

We were saddened by the unexpected and abrupt loss of our Sai Centre President, Mr. Ratnam Kandiah, affectionately known as Ratnam Uncle. He was no stranger to the SSE students of the Scarborough Sai Centre. He was very kind, friendly and possessed a wondeful sense of humour. He was someone who always listened and made you feel special. He made sure that your voice was heard and tried his best to please everyone. He encouraged the students to involve themselves in many of the centre activities. He was an admirable leader and will be missed by all members of the centre. His dedication and commitment to the students will be remembered by all of us. 

The news of uncle Ratnam’s death came as a shock to all of us. I don’t think anyone one was ready for this real sad news.  Uncle had served the Centre for the past 14 years, but it wasn’t until recently that the youth got to know him on a personal level.  It didn’t take us long to become very fond of him as he was considered one of us.  One of the things that we really liked about him was that even when things got out of hand, he always managed to make us laugh to assure us that everything would work out in the end.  We really admired the fact that his mission was to cultivate the youth into leaders of tomorrow as per Swami’s wishes. 

Uncle was more than just a president of the Centre.  He was a friend to all the devotees; he was like a father to all the youths, always looking out for us, and a guardian to all the Balvikas Children.   He was loved and respected by all who had the honour of knowing him.  No matter how many times we called him, regardless of the hour, he was always ready to jump in and lend a helping hand.  Never once did he get frustrated or think of us as a burden. For every problem we had, he had a solution.  One thing that we regret about his leaving us, is that none of the youths really had the opportunity to say a proper goodbye and to thank him for all that he had done for us. 

Uncle Ratnam, we are fortunate to have had the chance to know you and to work with you.  We thank you for giving us the encouragement to realize that we can make a difference, and we hope that we make you proud by continuing in your footsteps.  You are dearly missed and will never be forgotten.

Scarborough Sai Centre conducts a FREE Math Tutorial Program for Grade 3 to 7  students to learn and understand various concepts of  Mathematics outlined in the Ontario curriculum developed by Ministry of Education & Training with a focus on human values. Classes are held on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 pm to 8:00pm at the Woburn Collegiate (Rooms:130, 132, 134). All students who require help are encouraged to register. For enrolment or further information, please attend sessions held at Woburn C.I. on Wednesday evenings. 

January   7 Regular Bhajan
            14 SSE Classes Re-open
            21 Youth Bhajan

February 4 Regular Bhajan
             18 Regular Bhajan

March    4 SSE Students Bhajan 
           18  Regular Bhajan 
           31 Narayana Seva