Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s 88th Birthday Celebrated with Grandeur

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HOUSTON: The Sathya Sai Centers of Houston celebrated Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s 88th Birthday at The Durga Bari’s Sur Auditorium on Saturday November 23. Over 400 guests graced the occasion in spite of the inclement weather. The South Houston Sai Center President, Sondip Mathur opened the program by extending a warm welcome to the guests. Three inspiring plays carrying messages of surrendering to God through detachment, humility, faith and devotion presented by the Sai Spiritual Education Children (SSE) were the highlight of the evening.

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The first play, ‘Secret to My Success’ opened with a Breaking News clip, in which volunteers were shown helping a town devastated by a hurricane.  The first amongst the volunteers was a doctor. Upon being asked by the reporter about the secret to his success, he goes into a flashback about his school days. He is tempted by his friends to cheat on an exam, but at the final hour he remembers that before Jesus Christ was crucified, He was going through a mental turmoil as well. Peace bestows upon Him, as soon as He prays to God to use Him as His instrument. Thereafter the young medical student resolves to do the right thing in life, by keeping in the forefront Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s message to act righteously.

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The second play ‘Gajendra Moksham’ depicts the mental and physical turmoil of the king of elephants, being trapped in a lake by the king of the crocodiles due to his ego and lack of faith in God. Only after he completely surrenders to God and crushes his ego, God appears to set him free from the clutches of the king of crocodiles. A graceful dance showing Lord Vishnu dancing amongst his devotees enhanced the beauty of the play.

The third play shows the indomitable devotion of saint Thyagaraja towards Lord Rama. The play depicted the path to eternal joy through a glimpse of the saint’s life, which gave a message of humility, faith, and devotion.

Carlene Womack, the community relations representative from Amerigroup, gave a heartwarming presentation. She has organized several Medical Camps and Food Drives in the impoverished East Texas area with the Sathya Sai Organization since 2005.  She informed the audience that recently when the food banks in East Texas area were running low on food supplies, she contacted the Sathya Sai Organization and food supplies were replenished immediately. She gave several examples of when recipients of service activities expressed their heartfelt thanks for the wonderful work that the Sai organization has done in their area.

During the closing address, the President of the North Houston Sai Center, Sanjay Gupta, thanked everyone on behalf of the Sai Centers of Houston for their participation and expressed his heartfelt gratitude to all the children who participated in the plays and the volunteers who worked diligently in making the program successful. He advised that all programs of the Sathya Sai organization are designed to bring internal change in the individuals. Be it service activities, teaching, spiritual education to children, or participating in study circles or devotional activities. He made an appeal to the audience to commit to dedicate all actions to God and participate in service activities on a regular basis.

‘Melodious devotional bhajans that followed the plays took everyone to a new high’. The program ended with touching birthday cake cutting by young children followed by a sumptuous Mahaprasad (dinner) served by Udipi Restaurant.

Houston area Sai devotees meet at two locations in the North and South parts of town on Sundays from 3:00pm – 5:30pm.  They engage in weekly activities that include community service, Sai Spiritual Education classes for children, meditation, study circle, and devotional group singing.

For further information visit www.sairegion10.org.