Sri Sathya Sai Baba - III
M.Srikanth
about things in which I had a first-hand experience and the second part
about things in which I do not have first-hand experience. But the first part
got so big that I decided to post it in two parts. So this is the part about
which I do not have any personal experience (thank holy heavens for that!)
This article is more sensitive than the previous two. I would advise extreme
reader discretion before proceeding ahead. Do not read ahead if you have
anything to do with Sathya Sai Baba.
DO NOT FLAME ME.
You have been warned.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba: The ugly.
-----------------------------
Yes, I do not have personal experiences in these. But I know what I am going to
write is 100% true because I have heard first-hand accounts of these bizarre
things. I have looked at enough circumstantial evidences along with these
witness' accounts that I have no hesitation in telling that the following is
true.
How do I start telling this to you, gentle reader?
In my very first few days in our hostel, I had the distinct impression that
something ugly was going on in the hostel about which everone knew but no one
wanted to talk. Whenever Swami came to Bangalore, there always used to be a
few students who got interviews every other day. These students were often
referred to as those who are 'in form'(a cricket analogy) with Swami. These
students were among the most privileged in the hostel. They could go outside
the hostel(a student is allowed to go outside the hostel only during vacations)
as and when they like and behave specially. The wardens and the lecturers used
to consult them before anything significant was done in the hostel. These
students kept within themselves for most of the time.
I was preoccupied with my own troubles and did not keep any close look at
these, though I was curious. When I got to know about Swami from my
seniors, they asked me if I noticed anything strange about the hostel. I told
them. They smiled and asked me to keep an open eye, promising that they would
tell me all about it soon.
It did not take me very long to find out what was different about these
students. They were all gay. Now, kindly bring down those raised eyebrows, my
dear reader. All the indications, body languages, special jokes about husband
and wives etc were there and it did not take a sleuth's effort to divine what
was going on. I told about this to my seniors and the fact they told me was
startling to say the least.
Many of these students were made gay ('sodomized' would be an unrefined word)
by Swami, who himself is a gay.
I did not believe it when they told me this. But not long after, I heard the
experiences as narrated by the students who had undergone the trauma
themselves. Now, it so happened that a couple of these students were Tamils
with whom I became friendly quite soon. One of them used to tell me
harrowing stories. When Swami was in Brindavan, he used to get the call for
interview atleast once in three days. Whereas a student when he gets an
interview is usually so elated and pleased that Swami has recognized his
devotion etc. this boy, lets call him Nandan, always have a grim face as he
walked into the bungalow. He never attended classes those days in which he
got an interview. I have often seen him show marks in his chest and chin
and say things like, "innikku kadichtaarudaa!", followed by a flow of choice
words of slang. Nandan often used to get covers from Swami in public and
sometimes he would be asked to open it. It would contain crisp hundred rupee
notes. There is another word for giving money for such acts.
Nandan was helpless. He could not go home and complain. His family and
parents were devotees for 30 years and their very lives have been defined
around Baba. Nandan since he knew the world has been knowing Swami and none
else as god. He was first initiated into doing this by Swami when he was in
school. Swami told him that he(Swami) was the only purusha in the world and
the whole world was his wife. Nandan was asked to think of himself as Radha
devoted to the Krishna. Nandan's whole attitude towards life is now
irrevocably changed.
There was this another guy, Kumar(say), who was called for interview for the
first time. He was so elated. That afternoon, a bunch of us went up to him
(he was our junior) and asked him what happened. He had a blissful look in
his face when he said this. "Swami asked me if I had Stomach ache. I said
that by Swami's grace I don't. Swami laughed and said 'why do you have to hide
it from me? tell me do you have a stomach ache?'. I don't know why but I said
yes. Swami said he will cure it and produced Sandalwood oil from thin air and
rubbed it on my stomach and below. I will never forget the experience".
We did not need such proofs, however. It was always obvious. Jokes with
double meaning(yes!), pattings on the cheek, pinching students(He had the
horrible habit of putting the hand inside the shirt pocket and pinching
the chest) and such crap. Students who entered this quicksand of
destruction, whether willingly or otherwise, lead an unspeakable life.
Devoted students held them in awe and the students who knew the 'stuff'
either despised them or pitied them. And they had no recourse.
There were students who went dangerously close to such a fate and escaped.
My friend, Ramanan(say), was high in the hit list when, he smartly
realised this and moved out of sight by not attending Bhajans or hiding
in the back rows etc. That was a time when I was in the hit list too, but
our guardian angels intervened in the form of a summer vacation.
Towards the end of my stay in the place, the disease was only spreading.
I was in Bangalore. In Puttaparthi (where we used to go some 5 times a year)
things were far worse in numbers. I have heard that one out of every 10
students are gay either directly by the big man or transitively. The
atmosphere, an all-boys place with zero outer-world exposure for a
prolonged period during adolescence is only conducive to such a thing.
This, in my opinion, is the ugliest part of Swami. We used to divulge
the information about Swami to our juniors('baptisation') and many
times have had, among ourselves, whether it is advisable or not. I had
always said that it should be done if only to make them realise about
this ugly part.
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Epilogue : Writing this whole series, even the last part, was incredibly
easy since all the incidents are so indelibly impressed in my mind. Not
that I want to look back to it. Apart from this aspect we had a great
time, great fun in Bangalore. More the restrictions, more the fun in
breaking them :-). I made some of my best friends in Bangalore.
Suffice to say, it was an experience of a lifetime.
--
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M.Srikanth (ka...@cse.ogi.edu)
18361, NW Heritage Pkwy #1, Aloha, OR 97006. (503) 690 9520.
---------------------------------------------------------------
R.M.Viknarasah
>
A remarkable effort. Although I like to remain neutral till my
life decides otherwise ;-). But I greatly appreciate yor efforts to share
the (1st/2nd hand) experiences.
raj
Satish Subramanian
>In article <55...@ogicse.ogi.edu> ka...@cse.ogi.edu (M.Srikanth) writes:
> A remarkable effort. Although I like to remain neutral till my
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yes! Thanks for sharing the experiences and also for the time
and effort. But still I doubt if these articles will make any
difference for the 'devotees', they will still remain in their
blissful world of ignorance. As Srikanth himself wrote "it is
easy to become devoted but very difficult to come out of it".
God-men! ha!
> raj
bye
satish
"paLLam silar uLLam ena yen padaithaan aandavan?
pattam thara tEduginRen engey andha naayagan?"
S. Sankarapandi
In article <subraman.739979045@deca> subr...@deca.cs.umn.edu (Satish Subramani
> and effort. But still I doubt if these articles will make any
> difference for the 'devotees', they will still remain in their
> blissful world of ignorance. As Srikanth himself wrote "it is
> easy to become devoted but very difficult to come out of it".
>
> God-men! ha!
>
I too applaude Srikanth for courageously letting us know what he knew.
I dont want to remain neutral. I always believe in telling the truth (atleast
if I feel it as truth) even if it is unpleasant according to the popular
belief. I liked the way Srikanth put the facts in an unbiased way (unlike the
athiest-extremists who despise the innocent beleivers also along with the
fake-godmen.)
There is also another fake-godman, `paraacakthi-amma' pankaaru adikaL who
cheats the innocent and gullible masses of the lower castes (also some middle
castes). DK magazines like `uNmai' etc write the bad-part (sometimes tells
lies for their argument) of Saibaba and Sankaraacharya but keep silent
regarding the non-upper caste Bankaru sami. Similarly the magazines like
Junior Vikatan (and one time Thuqluq too) ridicule Pankaru in their interviews
and articles but keep Saibaba, Sankarachaarya et al in `His-holiness' status.
It is high time the God-beleivers realize that there is no need for God-men,
priests, religions and idols for displaying their faith in God. If people
believe in God, let them keep it as their personal faith and the moment they
want to display it, then arises all the problems.
It is another `IMO', flames will be ignored.
--
S. Sankarapandi
ssan...@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Shyamala Parameswaran
I was associated with a welfare organization in Bombay in the
early eighties. The organization received some troubled
letters from people located abroad, seeking help in India.
One distressing series of letters came from a well-educated
South Indian settled in England. He wrote to us asking if
there was any way we could track down his wife and daughter
who had left him and were "missing". A local representative
in AP tracked them down and found they were living in
a little self-contained cabin like many devotees did in
Putabarthi (I think) (apparently there are no. of colony-like
places where people rent small homes on six-month, year long
leases). This mother and daughter had brought their savings
from England and were living in or around Putabarthi for
nearly ten years, all in waiting to receive a personal
darshan and interview. They were continually told, it
seems (when renewing their lease) that they were getting
closer to Baba's heart but that it still needed time for
his full attention. And if they continued their simple
life of prayer and bhajan, the reward would come.
The daughter was into her thirties since many years had
passed after their arrival and had sworn not to marry
until she had consulted baba and received his
personal approval. The mother, of course, to all purposes
had abandoned her husband (he was now thinking of getting
a divorce with great sadness) and would send an occasional
card to her husband in England saying they were well or
when they needed money. The poor man sent them money
each time since he was promised they would now be
returning home soon and needed to pay air-fare.
We were told by the local representative that the
mother-daughter address changed each time so it was
difficult to track them. All mail/money from England
were to be sent c/o someplace or the other and went
unanswered except once in a while to indicate
they were well and were in a money-crunch.
He had sent us copies of his earlier letters where he
tried to appeal to reason. He also told us they didn't
write back because they scoffed at his lack of faith.
It was a real mess, in all.
I think the poor man went through some sort of divorce,
was very broken-hearted, missed his daughter whom he
had loved very much...
Shyamala
K.V.N.Gopal
>>In article <55...@ogicse.ogi.edu> ka...@cse.ogi.edu (M.Srikanth) writes:
>
>> A remarkable effort. Although I like to remain neutral till my
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> Yes! Thanks for sharing the experiences and also for the time
> and effort. But still I doubt if these articles will make any
> difference for the 'devotees', they will still remain in their
> blissful world of ignorance. As Srikanth himself wrote "it is
> easy to become devoted but very difficult to come out of it".
>
When I went to India(Hyderabad) last December and was going through some
old issues of a local newspaper(Deccan Chronicle) I came across an article on
Sai Baba in the front page. It was on some 'miracle' he had performed and how
he did it(sort of expose of his tricks) at a function. It seems that the
Doordarshan Kendra, Hyderabad which was covering the function had captured this
act on video. It was reported in the paper(front page) that this was suppresed.
I have no idea what happened to the recording and what was the followup.
(obviously, nothing seem to have happened.)
Gopal