During the ONAM celebrations on 27th Aug, 2007, G.K. Raman, a long standing devotee of Swami, collapsed in his place. G. K. Raman, was Chairman of Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Co. and former Managing Director of Sundaram Finance Ltd (SFL). He was the convener and treasurer of Sri Sathya Sai Trust, Tamil Nadu.
He had suffered a massive heart attack and the heart had stopped as he glimpsed Swami. Swami immediately enquired as to what had happened and came close to where he lay prostrate on the floor. Mr. Raman had arrived at the Mandir in the morning looking very tired. He had not had a proper sleep in the night. When asked as to why he should not take some rest in the morning, He had said, "I must have Swami's darshan. Then I will go. Swami will come at 8:30. Till then I will sit." Doctors from the Super Specialty Hospital came there immediately. They tried very hard, pumping at his heart and giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Swami sat watching the whole seen quite steadily. The Veda chanting continued, the mandir was agog with devotees and yet the portico was in a state of freeze. The next 10 minutes saw the doctors try everything they could. The pulse would return weakly and at one point, Mr. Raman also weakly moved the eyelids and possibly saw Swami. Swami then asked for a glass of water to be brought. He gave it to Mr. Raman's son to offer to his father. Then Swami went into the interview room. While he was shifted to the General Hospital, Swami asked the students to start bhajans. It was during the bhajans that Swami was 'informed' that he had passed away. Truly blessed indeed is Mr. Raman that on the holy Onam day, as the Vedas were being chanted, he breathed his last in the presence of Swami. And it happened so quickly.. As it is said, a person's death is an indicator of the kind of life he lived. Blessed indeed was Mr. Raman that he had such a holy end.. Death is such an awe-inspiring phenomenon. It is a powerful reminder of the temporary nature of everything that we see around. In its wake, the problems that seem to torment us, differences that we promote, negative feelings that we harbor, the worries, the frustrations - all just melt away into relative insignificance. The importance of just thinking of the Lord and doing His work alone hits very hard into our innermost being. All else but the Love of God, that we achieve in life, are just absolutely worthless. - taken from : http://media.radiosai.org/Journals/Vol_05/01SEP07/11-prasanthi-diary.htm Sai Ram
