Sai Kingdom (UK) Grama Seva Group 2010
Wednesday 13/10/2010: Morning
On this auspicious day of Wednesday, the day dedicated to Lord Krishna, the UK Grama Seva Group began their day in earnest at 5:10 am with silent sitting, Aumkaar and Suprabhaatham. The group practised Thraatakam, a spiritual exercise in which one focuses on a fixed point of their chosen deity, such as the eye, forehead, lips, etc. for a period of 3-5 minutes initially. The key to this exercise is that the eyes must remain open and not blink. One of the benefits of this exercise is an increase in concentration and memory. Thereafter followed a talk about prayer and various methods of praying. The highlight of the talk was practical suggestions such as prayers should be short, simple and in your native language. Prayers should also be offered with intensity, persistency and consistency.
At 8:00 am the UK group along with Swami’s students set off for the sixth day of Grama Seva. The UK group’s responsibility was to cover a total of five villages. These were Obuladevarapalli (150 houses) and Virupapuram (40 houses), Appalavallapalli (250 houses), Narayanpuram (125 houses) and Honnurapalli (125 houses).
This was a challenging task as the nineteen group members were divided amongst the villages. However, working with Swami’s students was a great eye-opening experience for most the UK group. The humility, simplicity and honesty displayed by them was inspirational. One surprising incident is that at Apallavallapalli, we found that the villagers spoke a number of languages including Gujarati and Hindu as well as their native Telugu.
As usual, upon completion of the Grama Seva activity, at 12:30 pm, the students and the UK group partook of Swami’s Prasadam and were grateful for the opportunity to serve.
Sai Kingdom (UK) Grama Seva Group 2010
Wednesday 13/10/2010: Afternoon
Sai Kulwant Hall was looking very beautiful with all the new decorations put up for Navaratri. There was a cool breeze coming from the direction of Swami’s divine residence as Vedam started promptly at 4:30 pm. As the Vedam was being chanted, the Veda Purusha Himself entered the Darshan hall at 5:18 pm.
Swami did a full darshan round and ensured that all those who travelled to see Him got His Divine Darshan. Swami blessed all the birthday boys who were sat at the front with various sweets for Swami to bless. One of the birthday boy was from the UK Grama Seva Group who received loving blessings from our dear sweet lord. Swami spoke to a number of devotees on the veranda after which He sat in His usual place at the centre of the upper portico. Swami was looking very happy and gave the occasional smile to the boys as they sang bhajans. Some students then brought sweets for Swami to bless as prasadam. Swami blessed these and signalled for them to be distributed to all those gathered in Sai Kulwant Hall. Everyone could see Swami enjoying the bhajans, as He kept moving His hands and tapping his fingers to keep beat with the bhajans.
Swami took Aarti at 6:45 pm and then headed towards His Divine Abode.
