Shraddha and Saburi - Ganesh's experience about the prerequisites for devotion

The first step

Eighteen year old Ganesh enrolled into the Brindavan campus of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning for the Bachelors course in Chemistry. Little did he realize that his pursuit for higher learning would transform into a pursuit for the highest yearning and would lead him to learn the highest pursuit in life. He did not imagine that along with a 3-year Bachelors course, he was also being enrolled for a lifelong internship in internalizing Divine love.

The Summer Course in Indian Culture and Spirituality was beginning and every student joining the hallowed portals of the University had to compulsorily attend it. Thus, for the first two weeks, of his life as Swami’s student, Ganesh was showered with daily discourses of Bhagawan Baba. Apart from those, he was also blessed to hear many talks and satsangs by scholars, devotees, people of eminence, teachers and senior students of the University. What he heard enthralled and excited him. He kept awake late in the night replaying to himself all the wonderful things he was listening to.

But grasping God, Swami, by listening to narratives about Him is like trying to understand the magnificent oceanic depths by standing on the shore. While one gets a sweeping view of the immensity, to truly understand the beauty, grandeur and tranquility of the ocean, one has to dive deep into it. However, listening to a devotee extol the Lord is also akin to listening to a restaurant waiter passionately describe a delicacy. It prods the listener to quickly seek that, which is being described! That is exactly what happened to Ganesh.

The more he listened to the leelas, mahimas and experiences divine, the more he thirsted to experience Swami directly and His Divine Love. It was not a passing desire or a comparison-game where he wanted to be in the position of others. It was a genuine urge to experience the Divine acknowledgement that his Swami was omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. And so, Ganesh began to silently yet intensely pray to Bhagwaan. Several days passed in this manner but no experience seemed to be forthcoming. One day, Ganesh just happened to come across a quote by Baba,

“Take one step towards Me and I will take a hundred towards you.”

He instantly knew what the problem was - he had not taken the first step. He prayed to Swami and immediately took a sankalpam (resolution),

“Swami, I will read the fifty chapters of the Shirdi Sai Satcharitra (the holy story of Shirdi Sai) over the next 50 days, one chapter daily. It is said that when one completed the reading of the Satcharitra, one’s prayer is answered.  All I pray to You is this - bless me with the gift of a Divine experience. I have heard several experiences from students, teachers and devotees but if you grant me one personal experience then my Faith will become firm forever!”

Ganesh wanted to give his heart entirely to Swami and wanted Swami to extend to him the same deal!!

He knew what Swami had once told a devotee in this regard. In spirit it went like this,

“If you are praying with the objective of developing faith, you are allowed to put conditions and test Me. I will satisfy all your conditions and grant you that faith in Me. But after I have satisfied all your conditions, if you put one more condition, then you will become a ‘Doubting Thomas’ for life and suffer in your self-created ignorance.”

However, Ganesh had not made a prayer with this intention to test Swami, challenge Him or sign a contract with Him. It was simply a humble plea of a boy who was thirsting to taste the nectar of His Divine Love and was ready to do anything for that sake.

The passport to God - recognizing His omnipresence in our lives

An intellectually invigorating ‘awareness’ class

I vividly remember a discussion during the “Awareness” class of my MSc days at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. The teacher present was Prof.G.Venkataraman, a highly reputed and accomplished man of science in India. The professor had his unique style of conducting awareness classes. He would force us to think deeply to arrive at answers to profound question. He would stitch together deep spirituality with the practical problems the world faces. He always looked forward to questions because he believed that life is not about getting the correct answers but about asking the right questions.  (In fact, I remembered his inspiring presence in the classroom with excitement when my Master, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba told me to join Radiosai as my place of work. GV as he is popularly called was the director under whom I had to report.)

The discussion in class that day was about the omnipresence of God. It started with a question from the professor.

“What is God?” he asked the whole class.

Among the plethora of answers that came was one which said,

“God is the omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient one.”

“Okay”, challenged GV sir, “what do you mean by omnipresent? How is it that God is omnipresent?”

There were no satisfactory answers in the beginning but soon, one boy stood up and answered,

“Sir. God is energy. Energy is God. Since every atom is a storehouse of energy, God is everywhere.”

“Very good”, GV sir was happy, “that is something that everyone recognizes - energy in all matter. In fact, the great Albert Einstein even equated mass with energy with his famous equation. And since everything in the universe has some mass, everything has energy. But that is only one level of God’s omnipresence. He is present in a subtler plane as well. What is that?”

Again, a lot of discussion and thought resulted in the next answer,

“God is life. Life is God. Life is subtler than energy and that is probably why nobody has been able to define what exactly life is. But everyone recognizes life - and when it leaves.”

“Beautiful!” exclaimed the professor, “That is precisely why a son or daughter kneels before the body of the father crying - Father! Why did you leave me? - The body is still there and yet the child knows that the father is gone. Life is sacred. Life is God. Good. But then, there is the subtlest way in which God is present. Do you know that?”

Since there was a muted silence now, the professor threw a hint.

“Everything in the universe is made up of atoms and thus contains energy. However, plants and animals are considered special because they have ‘life’ which the other things of the universe don’t have. Man is considered even more special because he exhibits God present in yet another level. What is that?”

There were no answers and GV sir answered,

“God is present in man as the conscience. No doubt God is present in us as the life force or praana but that alone too would not help to develop awareness; if that was the case, then donkeys and camels would have turned spiritual long ago. Humans alone have that ability because God is present in humans at a third and higher level, as the conscience or the divine voice in our spiritual heart. However, though each human is gifted with the conscience, it is so subtle that one can often get disconnected from it. It is the birthplace of all goodness and nobility in man. Just ensure that you experience God’s omnipresence at all these three levels and you are good to go. That is true awareness - to recognise God’s omnipresence at all these three levels.”

Credit: Musings on Awareness

With that, we can move on to an experience at the passport office that gave me an insight or two about God’s presence in our lives.

Sai Bin Raha Na Jaaye - I have no life without Sai (experiences of S.Ravikumar) Part 2

In Kodaikanal with Swami, 1992. 

Change of worlds

As Ravi completed his 5th grade at Ooty, his father received the shocking news. There was no way Ravi could continue his schooling in Ooty any more. The administration had started the school with grades 1, 2 and 3. Progressively, every year, they had added one more class. In 1981 however, they felt that it would not be feasible to add 6th grade to the school. Having enjoyed the beautiful proximity of Swami for 3 years, Ravi was now facing prospects of not being a ‘Sai-student’ any more.

{This is actually part 2 of Ravi's story. To appreciate it better, it is highly recommended to read Part 1 from the link below and then continue with this.

Sai Bin Raha Na Jaaye - I have no life without Sai (experiences of S.Ravikumar) Part 1 }

Well, that had his father restless and worried more than him. What was to be done next? Instinctively and intuitively, they went to Puttaparthi. Hope dawned there as it always does to those who look towards Puttaparthi as their first and last recourse. The Smt. Easwaramma High School had been inaugurated and running well and Ravi’s father decided to enrol his son there. There was one problem however - the school had the Telugu language as its medium of instruction and Ravi knew as much Telugu as he knew Mandarin or Hebrew!

A special exception was made for these children who had arrived from Ooty and the teachers explained in English as well. Also, the subject Telugu was replaced with another language, Hindi. So, Ravi's (and the others') academic difficulties were greatly reduced. On the whole, Ravi was happy in school because he saw many of his Ooty classmates there. (Apparently, many other parents too had turned to Puttaparthi as their recourse like Ravi’s father!) Ravi’s mother had mixed feelings - her little boy would be still staying away from her but now, he was much ‘closer’ to Swami since he was in Puttaparthi itself. Ravi had no idea about the difficulty that he was about to go through.

There was no Sri Sathya Sai Primary School or the Sri Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School in Puttaparthi then. And so, all these children who enrolled into the Easwaramma School were accommodated in the college hostel itself. These were going to be the most challenging 2 years of Ravi’s life as he moved from a hostel where everything was done for him into one where he had to fend for himself completely! Forget the chores of washing his own clothes, Ravi had not got accustomed to even washing his plate and tumbler after meals. Fending for himself put tremendous pressure on him and that was when he began to get worried and restless. He began to lose weight and wonder how his little shoulders would bear so many responsibilities. Today, he realizes that it is only the searing heat and tremendous pressure that turns a piece of carbon into a diamond. Back then, he only felt the heat and pressure. Wilting under it, he felt weak and finally fell sick. For some strange reason, he had got severely asthmatic in hot Puttaparthi having flourished without any medical problems in cold Ooty. Asthma brought him down on his knees and confined him to his bed.

He wondered why he was doing all that he was doing? Why couldn’t he just go back home to his parents? He could not because

Sai Bin Raha Na Jaaye -

He could not stay without his Sai. He thought of his beautiful days at Ooty - days when Swami was just meters away from his room door. How he missed those days!

Chain Na Aaye Mohe Chain Na Aaye

He was so restless without Sai.

Even as he felt thus, he could hear a rush of excitement from the room windows. Getting up from the bed, he went to the door. He could not imagine that his imagination of a few minutes back would transform into concrete reality. A few meters away from him was his Swami!

Swami came to him and enquired about his health. How did He know? Ah! What is it that He does not know? Just because Swami does not show that He knows on every occasion does not mean that He does not know. And yet, he was asked and so Ravi answered that he was not feeling well. The divine right palm went a-circling and lo, there was fragrant vibhuti in an instant. The vibhuti was bitter to taste but Ravi was all smiles. When it is the Lord who is gifting, what does it matter if it is bitter or sweet?

On several occasions, Swami blessed Ravi and gave him vibhuti but the episode in the hostel was like
a life-changer!

That was another lesson for life that made Ravi the epitome of calm and composure that he is today. If he could take everything in life as a gift from Swami, he would always be able to smile irrespective of whether it was bitter or sweet. It didn’t matter where he was - Ooty or Puttaparthi because Swami was with him in all places, in all worlds!

Living for God is true devotion

Ravi continued to sing in the bhajan hall, not opening his eyes even for a moment. He did not want to see the prostrate form of his Swami before him. Instead, he chose to ‘see’ Swami with his eyes closed. And that was when he realized that whenever he had sung the qawwali, he had always kept his eyes closed - even when Swami was physically present in front of him. He had done that so naturally till then and today he understood the divine wisdom behind his seemingly unconscious action. Swami wanted him to always search for Him within. Is that not what SAI stands for - See Always Inside?

But he wanted to see Sai outside too! Though his eyes were closed today, he could not help ‘knowing’ that Swami was not sitting on the chair in front of him. He might never hear Swami speak to him the way He had done always.

Why Swami? Are you upset with me? Are you ignoring me? Won’t you speak to me? I am ready to die for you if need be but please be with me always...

Mith Mar Jaye Tujhpe Hamse Na Roothe Tu

Zindagi Saump De Ham Charanon Mein Tere Yun

( Sai, please do not be upset with me for I am ready to die, to lose my existence, for you. I(we) offer my(our) life at your lotus feet.)

Memories galore flooded his heart. Memories in which Swami had asked him to sing on numerous occasions. One memory stood out vividly.

He was in grade 8 now and had got enrolled in the newly inaugurated Sri Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School after 2 years in the Smt.Easwaramma High School. Swami regularly made him sit in the front lines and asked for him to sing a bhajan now and then. During the Dusshera festival of 1984, Ravi got a chance of his life.

He had picked up a new bhajan, “Brahmanda Nayaka Baba, Parthi Purishwara Baba.” When he had sung it in the hostel, everyone had got thrilled at the melody in the voice and the soul in the song. Ravi also thoroughly enjoyed singing that bhajan. But he never imagined what would happen next.

A live bhajan recording of Ravikumar rendering Brahmanda Nayaka Baba

The Dusshera Yajnam is conducted every year for the peace and good of the whole Universe (Brahmanda). And the deity receiving the prayers is the Brahmanda Nayaka (Master of the Universe) himself. That year, in 1984, as Ravi sat with his classmates in the Poornachandra auditorium, he got an excited summon. Looking up, he realized that Swami was calling him on to the stage. Trembling with excitement and with adrenaline rushing, he went up the stage to Swami. Swami asked for a mike to be brought. There was a rush on the stage and one of the college students requested a Veda pundit to lend the microphone in front of him. The mike was placed before the 13-year old. Swami told him to sing the bhajan,

“Brahmanda Nayaka Baba.”

Standing beside Swami, closing his eyes and praying for His grace, Ravi began the bhajan. The whole hall got enveloped in raptures of devotion. The following was simply terrific. But even then, the little boy did not get excited. He just wanted to make his Swami happy. He completed the bhajan and looked at Swami. He had definitely achieved what he had sought to do - Swami was so happy - and proud. Well, the ‘proud’ part is what I am inserting for Ravi never said that. He never accepts that Swami is ‘proud’ of him and it is my emotion that makes me use that word.

As he mentally leafed through that memory, one thing became very clear for Ravi. Swami had always wanted him to sing for Him - even at times when He seemed ‘upset'. He never wanted him to be silent. That was another powerful message for Ravi - never cease doing what you do for the Lord, even if the Lord seems upset or silent. He felt that even as he told Swami that he was ready to die for Him, Swami was gently reminding him that He wanted him to live for Him! Dying for God is relatively easy because it is a one time thing. Living for God, on the other hand, is a lifelong commitment and that is what Swami expects from each of us. We have to continue our ‘singing for him’ throughout life, irrespective of what happens. That is why Swami tells us,

“Living for God (and not dying for God) is true devotion.”

The qawwali comes alive

The qawwali of Ravi’s life - Sai Bin Raha Na Jaaye - came into existence in 1988. Ravi had completed his schooling then and was in the 1st year of his undergraduate studies at Brindavan, Bangalore. A group of students wrote the lyrics for a qawwali and composed a tune for it. They wanted this qawwali to be offered to Swami during a music programme. Two singers were chosen to sing it in the Divine Presence. One was a 3rd year undergrad student, Rajendra Kumar and the other was Ravi.

They did sing it together. Swami seemed to like it too. That became evident when, months later, Swami again asked for that qawwali to be sung. This time however, it was during the summer vacations and Rajendra had gone home. Swami asked Ravi to sing it alone. The rest, they say, is history.

Ravi actually has no count of the number of times he has been asked by Swami to sing the qawwali. But he surely knows that Swami made several changes to the length of the song. It went through several iterations of ‘Divine editing’ before being accepted in its current concise avatar.

Ravikumar singing and dancing as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. During that drama, Swami asked Ravi to sing the 
same qawwali! Just imagine Chaitanya Mahaprabhu singing a qawwali! The qawwali was modified as
"Shyam Bina Raha Na Jaaye" and Ravi indeed sang it as a grand finale! 

After playing the role of Krishna's gopika, Yamuna.

Slowly, Ravi began to get opportunities to act in many dramas in Swami’s presence. Needless to say, his roles in the dramas, like in the drama of life, were inextricably intertwined with music. Those were days when there was no pre-recording of dramas and both, the dialogues and songs, were delivered live. Thus, most of the lead actors (who had to do singing) were all good singers. That was how Ravi got the chance to play the role of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, a role that he performed with great devotion and elan.

I feel that the Chaitanya Mahaprabhu role was symbolic of the role Swami envisaged for His Ravi. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is considered as one of the main pillars of the Bhakti movement (Devotion revolution) and a pioneer of the Bhajan Sampradaya (tradition of singing bhajans as a means to achieve God). Ravi being given that role in the drama was also being given a hint about the role that he had to play in his life too - to become a pillar of the Bhakti Movement via the Bhajan Sampradaya. Ravi, as always, shrugs it away and says,

“Swami gives us the opportunity to play such roles so that we are inspired by such pure lives.”

Did I not say the same thing?

Ravi continued to sing the qawwali and it now progressed towards a change in tempo. From now on, it would move towards it’s climax. A thousand feelings coursed through Ravi’s heart and many in’sai’ghts began to dawn...

to be concluded in the next part

Sai Bin Raha Na Jaaye - I have no life without Sai (experiences of S.Ravikumar) Part 3

For all readers:

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Vibhuti manifestations: Sathya Sai keeps up His word and His divine pranks too

The promise kept

I have always worked on the hypothesis that the more I give, the more I shall receive. And every time that I have tried it out, I have seen it to be true. Each successful trial strengthened my faith in the statement and, therefore, I try to give as much as I can, of all that I can. You can call this selfish selflessness if you wish but that is the truth as the Dalai Lama put it - “Be selfish. Be generous.” In that sense, there is no difference between selfishness and selflessness. When one is ‘wisely selfish’ one is automatically selfless because one realizes that the greatest good comes out of being selfless.

Forgive that little detour of mine. What I intended to say was that, even when it came to the matter of me sharing my experiences with my Master and God, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, I followed the same hypothesis. I felt that the more I shared my experiences, the more I would receive experiences. That is one of the reasons why I believe in sharing my spiritual experiences. Briefly, I did see this happening - the more I shared what Swami gave me or spoke to me, the more Swami, as Baba is lovingly called, seemed to give me and speak to me.

(Disclaimer: On the spiritual path, it is each man for himself; or a woman for herself. This is not a general rule but my observations in my experiences.)

Thrilled by this, I began to speak and share more. I received more. And then, all of a sudden, on the 24th of April, 2011, He left the physical. I was devastated. Among the several things that I asked Him and prayed, was this question.

“Swami, now, I shall share even more. I shall do so via the internet on a much larger scale. How will you keep your end of the promise and give me more? Is this the end?”

Today, I place my hand on my heart and say that Swami has kept His end of the promise. Hey! Wait a minute! He never made that promise in the first place. I just thrust my hypothesis on Him. But loving that He is and knowing how much my hypothesis means for me, He chose to make it ‘His promise’ and also ‘keep it up’ without fail.

Several instances after the ‘Mahasamadhi’ (That word refers to Baba’s leaving of the physical. It also represents the space where His earthly remains have been enshrined. come to mind. There are the vibhuti manifestation miracles, the miracles at the Mahasamadhi and so on. Each instance shows a different facet of my beloved Swami. Here, I would like to recount a couple of instances where His beautiful playfulness is seen, even today.

Sankaranthi leela - His divine mischief

The 14th of January every year is celebrated as Sankranthi - a harvest festival which also coincides with the transmigration of the sun from one zodiac to the other. It is the day of the prize distribution for the students of the Sri Sathya Sai institutions. In the evening, the students put up a cultural programme. So, on 14/01/2013, when the prize distribution programme was on, I was in the Sai Kulwant hall in Prasanthi Nilayam, covering the event as a photographer. My cell phone vibrated and I saw that my father was trying to contact me. Since, it is not allowed to use cellphones in the premises (we are allowed to carry them for emergencies, just like the FBI is allowed guns even aboard aircraft!), I walked into a room. My father’s voice was very excited,

”Aravind! Vibhuti (holy ash) has appeared at home!”

“Where?” I asked.

“On the silver Ganesha pendant. It has formed as a small heap on it. The best thing is that the vibhuti is sweet in taste. Both me and Pooja (my wife) tasted it.”

“Wow! Let it be that way. I will come home and have a look at it.”

Needless to say, I rushed home even as the programme concluded. I went straight to the altar, to that little silver plate in which the silver pendant of Ganesha rested. There was not a pinch of vibhuti there. I was disappointed with my father. What was his hurry in clearing up the vibhuti?

“Dad! Why did you clear the vibhuti into a box. I told you to leave it as it is.”

“I did not clear it. Nor did Pooja. It should be there.”

It wasn’t there definitely. Pooja and dad came into the room. They swore that they had tasted it. As proof, my dad also showed me the picture taken a few hours before. Indeed there was vibhuti. 

This was what my dad and my wife saw at 10:30am on the 14th of January 2013.

This is what I saw at 11:30 am on the 14th of January, 2013. 

As it became clear that the vibhuti had disappeared as mysteriously as it appeared, my father rejoiced. For him, this was like two miracles on the same day. I was not happy. I would have been happier with only one miracle instead of two! I kept pouting and complaining to everyone at home for the rest of the day about how unfair Swami had been towards me. The sense of injustice was magnified by the fact that I was doing my duty in the temple while people who sat at home enjoyed a sweet snack!

Even as I went to bed, I kept complaining. The last thought before I slept was,

“Swami, you have been unfair to me.”

The next morning, my first thought too was the same! I continued to grumble and complain. I wanted Swami to feel guilty and so, I did all the morning worship - placing flowers in the altar, lighting lamps and the incense sticks. Having done that, I told a bye to Swami and was leaving for office. As I reached the main door, something stopped me. I felt an irresistible urge to go back to the altar. And as I reached the altar, the sight simply stunned me.

The vibhuti heap that appeared on the morning on the 15th of January, 2013, was similar to the
one on the previous day - only that it had cardamom flavoring!

EXACTLY LIKE THE PREVIOUS DAY (the way I had seen in the photo), there was a little heap of vibhuti on the Ganesha pendant! I quickly took a pinch of it and put it on my tongue. Not only was it sweet, it also had an elaichi (cardamom) flavor! I immediately summoned everyone. As he put the vibhuti on his tongue, dad remarked,

“Swami forgot the elaichi flavoring yesterday. That is why He withdrew the stocks and sent us fresh stock today morning!” We all laughed out aloud. I was simply happy and thrilled.

As I looked into His eyes in the picture, did I see a gleam of mischief in them?

Telegram mischief

Swami, on several occasions has done such mischief - taking away something and then returning it again. One interesting episode was what I read in a Radiosai article about Mr. Joga Rao. It brought out exactly this kind of leela of Swami.

When the document of the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust was to be registered at Hyderabad in 1972, Baba asked Joga Rao to coordinate all the related work apart from organising Swami’s visit to the city. It was obligatory that the members of the Trust be present at the time of registration. Therefore Joga Rao called up the Rajamata (Queen Mother) of Nawanagar (a princely state in India) who was at Bombay, to come to Hyderabad along with Sri Nani Palkhiwala (the renowned jurist and economist) and Sri Indulal Shah.

The Rajamata conveyed to Joga Rao the same evening by telephone that she would be coming to Hyderabad with Sri Indulal Shah. She also informed him that Palkhiwala who had gone out of station would not be able to make it to Hyderabad. Since Bhagavan had had already retired by that time, Joga Rao could not convey the message to Him.

Col.Joga Rao with Bhagawan Baba. Photo courtesy - www.radiosai.org

When Joga Rao went to the post office next morning along with Sri Prasada Rao, then the State President of Sri Sathya Sai Organisations of Andhra Pradesh, he found a telegram sent by the Rajamata to Bhagavan confirming her arrival. When they met Swami and handed over the telegram to Him, He read it and said,

“Joga Rao, they are not coming!”

Puzzled and bewildered, Joga Rao read the telegram again and again. According to the telegram, what Baba had said was perfectly right! Joga Rao showed the telegram to Prasada Rao. They looked at each other in wonder and could not believe how they had bothe mistaken the telegram when they read it at the post office.

During their lunch with Swami, He laughed and gave them the telegram again. This time, it bore the same words they had read at the post office!

So, the disappearing and appearing is a common leela - done sometimes to words; sometimes to vibhuti!

Vibhuti manifestation in phases

I cannot help but recollect the most recent vibhuti prank, if I may call it so.  During my student days, I got several opportunities to witness the handkerchief mischief of my sweet Lord. And now, vibhuti pranks seem to be the new genre! This happened on the morning of the 24th of July, 2013.

As is my practice, I woke up at 6am and put on the lights in the altar. I wished my Swami a ‘Good Morning’ and I then moved into the bathroom for my morning ablutions. I came to the computer to do some typing when my wife, Pooja, called out to me.

“Come here fast....”

I did go there ‘fast’.

“I just bent down to clear these flowers. When I stood up, this had happened!”

The ‘this’ in her statement referred to the copious amounts of vibhuti that had appeared from two photographs of Swami. I was happy.

As we called my dad to the altar, in the few moments we were not at the altar, a fresh vibhuti shower had taken place! We were simply thrilled.

In joy, we called out to our dear neighbors, the Deshpandes. (Amey, about whom i have written several articles, is the son of Deshpande uncle.) By the time uncle came to the altar, some more vibhuti had manifested. This was simply getting thrilling. I just tapped on a silver container up front (which contains a Shiva linga) and said,

“This is the only container that has not been touched by the vibhuti.”

Even as I said that and all of us walked with uncle to the door, vibhuti had manifested on that silver box too.

I once again looked at Swami’s eyes in the main picture. There was so much of mischief in them. But there was so much of love too pouring from them. I just closed my eyes in gratitude and told Him,

“Swami, you continue to keep your promise! I shall keep up my end of the deal too! I will share this with all.”

For all readers:

(If you enjoyed this and wish to subscribe to this blog, please go to the right hand side and choose the last 'box' which says subscribe. Another blog which I maintain with more than 200 articles on it is at http://aravindb1982.hubpages.com. If you wish to be added to my mailing list, please email me via this page with the subject "ADD ME TO MAILING LIST".

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