Showing posts with label Bettino Craxi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bettino Craxi. Show all posts

Wednesday 19 November 2014

What makes the Sri Sathya Sai institute of Higher Learning so special?

An attraction like never before

Navaneeth Kumar* hails from the Indian state of Kerala. (*All the names used here are original and refer to actual individuals. This has been done to lend authenticity.) In the early 2000’s, he completed high schooling and reached that point in life when he had to decide the college he would attend and, in turn, the career that he would choose. Not a student with excellent academic credentials, Navaneeth decided to pursue a course in nursing in the city of Bangalore. He got admitted in a college there and, though his heart was not in it, began a new phase of his academic life.

The motto of the University is "Speak Truth; Follow Dharma".
Navaneeth’s heart was in Cricket and that was the primary reason why he had picked a college in Bangalore - so that he could attend matches whenever possible and also try his hand at some bowling if circumstances favoured. Cricket was the only love of his life and it seemed as though it would be the only love of his life.

That was when the Sri Sathya Sai Institute ofHigher Learning (SSSIHL) came into his life and changed it forever. Navaneeth actually discontinued his nursing course midway to enrol in the SSSIHL. He did this knowing mighty well that the 1.5 lakh rupees his father had invested for his nursing education would go down the drain. And he did this without even informing his father! How could he have because fate struck a fatal blow that took his father away from his life forever? Navaneeth did this because he found the true love of his life at the SSSIHL.

What was it that he studied there? What drew him so powerfully that he was ready to make several sacrifices without a second thought?

Navaneeth graduated with a diploma degree in the Mrindangam (an Indian percussion instrument) from the Sri Sathya Sai Mirpuri College of Music affiliated to the SSSIHL. Before the reader concludes that music is Navaneeth’s love of life, let me state music and Navaneeth are now worlds apart and he works as a cameraman and video editor at the Prasanthi Digital Studios in Prasanthi Nilayam.

Navaneeth’s story is a very detailed and lengthy one but it is sure to make one draw breaths of awe and wonder. However, his story is not unique in that sense because thousands of students have passed through the portals of the SSSIHL, having found the love of their lives here. And like every other student, the love of his life that Navaneeth found at the Institute in Puttaparthi is Swami, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. It was not as if Navaneeth gave his Swami a special place in his heart - he gave Him his entire heart.

Everything about the University Administrative block is symbolic. It is located on top to signify 'Higher Learning'. It sits beside the museum of Sanathana Samskruti (Eternal culture and heritage). It sits amidst nature and overlooks the stadium which is symbolic of Life being a Game which needs to be played... 

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