A ‘hot’ surprise
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| Planning afoot for the evening programme in the premises of the Indian Parliament. |
We walked into the lunch hall via the auditorium. As we were making our entry, Swami seemed to have decided to bless the Delhi State President of the Sri Sathya Sai Organization with His love and grace. He called Cheema and asked him when should He visit his home! Cheema was absolutely delighted (who would not be?). He immediately said that the 13th of April was Baisakhi and it would become infinitely blessed with Swami’s visit to his home. As Swami seemed to mull over it, Satyajit said that it was a festival day for the people of Punjab. Nodding to that, Swami told us to take our seats and begin the prayer. The lunch session began silently. As I put the first morsel into my mouth, I realized that the food was really spicy! Instantly I remembered Swami’s chiding to Cheema. That must have been passed on to the cook who had taken the feedback very seriously. That feedback had resulted in making the ‘feed-front’ in our plates so hot that it was nearly unpalatable.
I knew that CG had the least tolerance to spicy food. Sure enough, when I looked at him across the table, he was in tears and gulping down many mouthfuls of water! Only a pure Andhraite (person of Andhra origin) can relish that spice and Swami seemed to be perfectly at home with the food. In this Avatar, He has come as an Andhraite isn’t it? Another person who seemed to be relishing the food was Anil Kumar sir, also a pure Andhraite! The entire lunch session progressed silently. Nobody spoke possibly because all the tongues were on fire!
It was no surprise that everybody quickly finished the lunch. Swami said,
“Ah! Today the food was good. It had adequate salt and spice.”
He looked at Giri sir and GV sir. They nodded in agreement. What else could they do?
“Abba! Finally, the food managed to tickle our palates Swami”, said Anil Kumar sir and there was laughter all around. That laughter broke the silence and got Swami speaking. He began talking about Justice P.N. Bhagawati.
“His house is on top. I said I cannot come there.” Since Srinivasan sir and Giri sir could not hear that, they went closer to Swami. Then, they said that his daughter’s home was on the ground floor of the same residence and Swami could easily go there. The topic then shifted to the evening programme in the premises of the Indian Parliament. Swami asked Giri sir how long he would be speaking. He said twelve minutes and then the same question was put to GV sir. GV sir said that together, he and Giri sir would take thirty minutes together. Srinivasan sir added that the boys could sing the composition Aha Raha Tava in the end.
God in one instant, human the next...
Swami said that was not needed because nobody would understand the language. (This was fantastic for Swami knew exactly what would happen in the auditorium. When living all the while in the physical proximity, it becomes tough to remember always that we are in God’s presence!)
Swami then called out, “Ashwatha!”
Ashwath went to Swami and Swami called for his partner too and so PS (P.Sreenivasan) too followed suit. Ashwath asked Swami whether they needed to be ready with songs for the evening and Swami said that there was no need for it. Swami asked Ravi bhaiya who his partner was. Srinivasulu sir (or Lu sir as we call him) stood up and Swami nodded. Swami told the elders to go wash their hands. We continued to sit on.
Now another interesting thing happened which showed us the Avatar’s omniscience.
{This is the 6th part of an ongoing series. You can read the previous part at this link:
Or you can read from the beginning. The link to Part 1 is here:
Swami called out for Lu sir and asked him whether he had buttermilk. Lu sir was not able to hear Swami for the first two times because he was a good five metres away. The message was quickly transmitted to him and somehow, Lu sir seemed transfixed. Swami again asked,
“Did you have buttermilk?”
The response was only a hesitant nod! Swami looked at him deeply and left it at that. There was definitely something special about this interaction and I thought I would ask Lu sir later.What I found out simply thrilled me. Lu sir had decided not to drink buttermilk fearing that it might trouble his throat and make it tough for him to sing. Even as he thought that, Swami had asked him whether he had buttermilk! Instantly, he was reminded of his mother at home who would always insist that he should drink buttermilk after meals! He was overwhelmed and touched. (In fact, after the whole lunch session, he went to the kitchen, asked for buttermilk and had it with gratitude and love for Swami.)
Presently, the divine child came to the fore again. A plate of cut fruits was brought to Swami. The Kiwi fruit was there again but it had been presented in a nearly seedless form. Swami called and asked Srinivasan sir what the fruit was. “Swami it’s called Kiwi.”
Swami then suddenly seemed to remember,
“Ah! Purugulu! (insects)”
Then, He refused to eat it! Satyajit came and tried telling Swami that He should at least taste and see for Himself but Swami was simply adamant. Satyajit even took up a fruit piece on the fork and gave Him but He did not taste it. He gave up and placed the fork back in the bowl. He stepped aside and walked out of the door to fetch something.
Swami called Balaram sir and asked him about the fruits. He also tried to tell Swami that it was very nutritious and offered Him a piece on a fork. Swami told him,
“You eat it if you want!” He offered Balaram sir a piece on His fork. Ah! How beautiful it was - reminiscent of what happens in temples everywhere! Food is placed before God for a while (Naivedyam) and then partaken as Prasadam. Balaram sir ate the Prasadam joyfully and radiated a smile. Swami told us to wash our hands and leave.
