Beautiful reply:
Below is the reply given by Prof.A. Anantharaman, Media Coordinator, Sri Sathya
Sai Central Trust to the Times of India, Hyderbad for an Article which
appeared in the Newspaper that this year's Birthday Celebrations of our Divine
Lord were Lack lustre...
Dear Sir,
I write this with reference to your report published under the headline ”Sai
Anniversary without pomp” in your edition dated 24th November 2011. Unlike
other editions of Times of India, your edition has several inaccuracies.
Everyone is welcome to perceptions, even reporters. But when these are at
variance with facts they need to be pointed out and corrected. That is normal
journalistic ethics.
1. You say that the celebrations were a lack lustre affair with hardly 10,000
in attendance.
We are not in the game of numbers here. And we do not count the number of
people who come to Prasanthi Nilayam. It does not make any difference to us
whether there is a solitary devotee or a million people. But on this Birthday,
the main Sai Kulwant Hall was full and overflowing,with the disappointed
devotees who could not find place inside spilling onto sidewalks and the
adjoining halls. Our best estimate is about 90,000 people were in attendance.
For a non-decennial Birthday, in the opinion of several others who have been
attending birthday celebrations for the past thirty years, this was a record.
We enclose some photographs taken that morning for your reporter probably an
absentee that day, to see for himself.
2. Your reporter says that last year the President and the Prime Minister had
come, thereby implying that this year no President or Prime Minister came here.
To the best of our knowledge, the same President and Prime Minister are in
office this year and surely he does not expect the Head of the country and the
Head of the Government to visit us on consecutive years.
3. Your reporter says that there were no “bigwigs” in attendance.
We are not in the habit of soliciting the presence of prominent people in
particular.They arrive here on their own. For Bhagawan Baba then, and for us
now, it does not make any difference whether the visitor to Prasanthi Nilayam
is a prince or a plebian. But if your reporter considers a State Governor, an
Ex Chief Minister, several State Ministers and other prominent public men who
were among those present as “nobodies”, perhaps he needs to restudy the
constitution of India
4. Your reporter says that the cultural fete “was a lackluster event”!
Internationally famous Blues singer Dana Gillespie, Mandolin prodigy Srinivas,
spiritual music maestro Anup Jalota, the Hindustani music virtuoso Sumitra Guha
and Carnatic music exponents Malladi Brothers performed during the
celebrations.
Shall we send the recorded CDs from these world renowned artistes to your
absentee reporter for his listening?
We have experienced irresponsible journalism from some papers. We have been
victims of this phenomenon for the past six months.
But from the Times Group?
I believe we deserve both an apology and a retraction.
Yours Sincerely,
Prof A. Anantharaman
(Media Coordinator, Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust)
Prasanthi Nilayam, Puttaparthi,
Anantapur, AP - 515134
Telephone-08555-287369
