An ode to a wonderful devotee - Professor G Venkataraman - on his 85th Birthday

There are two ways to see the sun - directly and in a mirroring surface. Both of them give a measure of its grandeur, glory and majesty. So too, there are two ways to see God - directly and in a person who mirrors Divinity in his/her life. I know for sure that I have been lucky to see God walk on earth in the form of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. I am also lucky to have seen a person who mirrors my Swami’s divinity in his life. That person is Prof. G. Venkataraman or ‘GV sir’ as we all call him. And on the occasion of his 85th birthday today, the 6th of October 2017, I would love to share a few thoughts about this beautiful being.

A common sight in the Radiosai studios for a decade and a half - Prof GV at work. Even today, though he has
formally resigned, he continues to be an inspiration and guiding light for Radiosai which he fathered till it attained adulthood.

GV sir has tons of accolades and awards from his brilliant career as a scientist. The Government of India conferred on him the fourth highest civilian award - Padme Shri. But that will not be the subject of this article. This is about how GV sir has guided me personally to stay focussed on the path laid out by my Swami.

GV sir was directly responsible for me joining Radiosai and for that, I shall be grateful to him throughout my life. As a student in Swami’s college, I was incredibly inspired by him as he conducted our Awareness classes with the wisdom of a sage, love of a father and passion of a researcher. But it was only after joining Radiosai that I could get a glimpse of the multi-faceted diamond that GV sir is. On the day of joining, Swami called us, Dhananjay and I, to take padanamaskar. He then instructed us simply and clearly,

“If you want to make Swami happy, make Venkataraman happy.”

That command gave me an idea about the immense faith Swami had in GV sir’s abilities and commitment. When we told this to GV sir, he was frank and straight, camouflaging his humility with his humour

“Look here! I am not an easy person to please. That is why Swami warned you. You may make Him happy but I may still not be happy. I am glad that Swami told you to make me happy! Now, let’s get to work...”

Nothing could swerve his attention from working for Swami. He would often be the first person into the office and the last person out of it. Being three times our age, he also seemed to have three times our energies to do Swami’s work. I was lucky to be a part of multiple projects that GV sir took up, blessed by Bhagawan of course. From Prema Jyoti (an exhibition on Swami’s life and teachings) to Prema Pravaham (the last ever programme of the last ever Birthday Celebrations of Baba in the physical) to the Sri Sathya Sai Archives (an edifice to ensure preservation and propagation in the physical form of the eternal teachings of Swami), GV sir’s attention to detail and hard-working nature were evident.

The Prema Jyoti exhibition was the first project I worked on under his able leadership. When Swami approved his plan for the exhibition to be held during the Guru Poornima of 2007, he dived into the task right from the beginning of the year itself. Summer arrived and Swami was leaving for Kodaikanal. He summoned GV sir and told him to pack up and be ready to leave on the divine odyssey. GV sir requested Swami whether he could stay back and work in Puttaparthi. Swami insisted that he should accompany Him and so, the professor carried all his notes, papers and preparatory ideas along to Kodaikanal. I had seen hundreds who craved to travel with Swami but GV sir was among a rare few whom Swami craved for travelling with Him! On this visit to Kodaikanal, he worked on the exhibition and the next time Swami took him in 2009, he recorded a very detailed and enlightening account of the Kodai festival for all of humanity to enjoy.

Swami honored and blessed GV sir with a car. But that is among the smallest of blessings he has received from God -
the greatest and biggest being his large heart and razor-sharp mind. 

But it was not as if GV sir was a Karma Yogi exclusively. As he brilliantly presented in one of the Awareness classes, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Jnana Yoga are three wheels of the tricycle called life. You cannot travel even if one of them is missing. You just have the choice and freedom to determine which should be your front wheel. Karma Yoga was definitely GV sir’s front wheel but it was backed and balanced by the wheels of Bhakti and Jnana.

GV sir believed that any good work is God’s work when done without any selfish interest. Swami, in fact, had told him on one occasion,

“Any good work you wish to do, you have my bountiful blessings.”

That is why, he never went back repeatedly to Swami to get approvals for each and every aspect. Once he got the signal from Swami, he would work from the first brick till the edifice was complete. And every time Swami has been there to appreciate the edifice built by hard work on the foundation of selflessness. The Prema Jyoti exhibition was no exception. As the deadline drew near, plans for a World Youth Conference at Prasanthi Nilayam during Guru Poornima were also drawn up. Swami had sanctioned the Poornachandra Auditorium for conducting the conference proceedings. That seemed to put all of the Prema Jyoti plans in quandary because the same auditorium was to serve as the venue! That was when GV sir said that he would pray to Swami.

GV sir would have his dinner with Swami everyday. We assumed that he meant he would ask Swami during a dining session. We were mistaken! One day, GV sir called my colleague, Sai Prakash, and told him,

“Swami has blessed our exhibition.”

Prakash was thrilled. He wanted to know how the topic came up during the dinner session.

“No! Not during dinner session. I kept praying to Swami in my heart. Today morning, when I made the prayer, the flower atop his picture fell down! That is the sign of His blessing. Now I am sure that God will make a way where there seems to be no way.”

That is exactly what happened. On the 13th of July, a Friday which was supposed to be an unlucky day (it was the popularly dreaded Friday the 13th), Swami changed all fortunes. He saw a few exhibits of one section of the exhibition and said that the Poornachandra Auditorium must host it. The Conference venue was shifted and a separate structure was erected to conduct it. Prema Jyoti, needless to say, was a huge success and the exhibition also went around India, being hosted in multiple cities and towns. That incident touched me to the core of my being. Swami always says that dearness is more important than nearness. GV sir was blessed to never take the proximity he enjoyed with Swami for granted. He enjoyed the rare combination of nearness and dearness.

The 13th of July 2007 - luckiest day for team Radiosai thanks to the Karma and Bhakti of GV sir.

And why not? His heart seemed to be made of pure gold. He always had noble thoughts and conveyed the same in his words and actions. One could possibly doubt the style and manner in which he communicated but nobody ever could doubt his noble intentions. Of course you would have disagreements and arguments with him. But you could rest assured that his face and expression was an index of what he felt within. He was never a person to play with diplomacy and politics - telling one thing in front of you and another behind. As a boss, he was always direct and you could always be direct with him. He would fault the failings and never the person. In case he had a grudge against you, he would call and tell you why and, if you rectified it, he would forgive and forget everything to start afresh. It felt so similar to dealing with Swami Himself!

There were many spontaneous acts of love too - again like Swami. Raghuram Bhat, an alumnus of Swami’s college was involved in an unfortunate swimming accident that rendered him a quadriplegic. His voice was a deep baritone and he was advised that Radiosai could make use of his voice. So, everyday, after the mandir sessions, he would be wheeled to the studio where he would put his 100% efforts to serve Swami to his best. GV sir saw this one day and made enquiries into who the lad was. When he got to know that Raghuram was making efforts for Radiosai, he said,

“It is not right to exploit him like this. We should employ him.”

As is the case with GV sir always, it did not stop with mere lip service. Within a few weeks, with Swami’s blessings, Raghuram Bhat was an employee at Radiosai where he continues to serve Swami at the time of publishing of this piece. He is possibly the only physically challenged person who is an employee (and not a part-time volunteer) in the ashram. GV sir’s spontaneous heart was definitely instrumental in this.

Personally, I have learned so much from GV sir about effective communication - writing and speaking. He always held the attention of the listeners even without narrating any experiences or stories. He would speak on the most scholarly aspects of Swami’s teachings in a manner understood by all. He would do this by linking every teaching to real problems faced by real people in the real world of the present! That was probably why he was called upon by Swami to deliver an extemporaneous public talk on dozens of occasions. And on such occasions, he would deliver a masterful and meaningful speech that many orators would find difficult to do even after hours of preparation!

Another extremely rare trait in GV sir - to stay in the background and always encourage Swami's students to take up
responsibilities and get opportunities. All whom have worked under him grew in every sense - in physical proximity to
Swami as well. (Pic taken in Yajur Mandir on August 9 2008).

That ability was not confined to just speaking; his writing was equally, if not more, masterful. His books have been sought after because each one is a masterpiece. Right now, one can access any of his multiple writings on the Radiosai site and realize what a prolific, wise and wonderful writer he is - be it his 30-part Quest for Infinity series, the 6-part musings on the Dharma Vahini, the 8-part Musings on Avatars and hundreds of other one-off articles that have flowed from the Divine through his pen or rather, his industrious fingers on the keyboard. Is it any wonder that any visiting dignitary, "VIP" or guest visiting Swami would be given a book authored by him as a take-away gift?

I must confess that it is his style of integrating the world with spirituality that I try to imbibe in everything I speak, write or communicate. That has been Swami’s teaching as well - never separate things based on the terms ‘worldly’ and ‘spiritual’.

Swami taught this lesson to GV sir in a sweet manner. Swami saw that the professor carried a pen that He had gifted in his pocket always. When asked about it, GV sir replied,

“Swami, I use this pen only for Swami’s tasks. Otherwise, I use a normal pen.”

Swami instantly reprimanded him and said,

“Why do you separate things as Swami’s and not Swami’s? Every work is Swami’s work.”

GV sir probably took that advice very seriously because that is evident in everything he takes up. It might be the ‘smallest’ of tasks but he does it as if Swami has asked him to do it. That is another trait I wish to imbibe from him in my life.

During the visit to Kodaikanal in 2009, Swami presented the professor with a sketch of his that a student lovingly
and respectfully made. 

As GV sir turns 85 today, I am filled with so many lessons and memories with him which are golden because they have been gilded with Swami’s teachings in many ways. I am grateful to Swami for having given me the opportunity to work under him, learn from him and get inspired by him. I pray that he leads a long and healthy life doing all work in the only way he knows to do it - as Swami’s work!

(Dear reader, you can convey your wishes to GV sir either in the comments below or by mailing him via listener@radiosai.org. )