CHRISTMAS 2013, NEWS FROM PUTTAPARTHI Om Sairam dearest Sai Family What a beautiful Christmas it was!!!! Just as it used to be during the days of Swami's physical presence. The numbers of overseas devotees has been ten times bigger in number this year, in spite of soaring ticket prices and bearish stock markets around the world. Of course each and every devotee who could make it to Prashanthi were handpicked by Him failing which they wouldn't have made it to Prasanthi. This year's Christmas decoration was done by the Australians. About 350 of them mostly youths (which is a very good sign for the future of the organisation) were camping here working tirelessly day in and day out preparing the decorations. Decorating such a huge ashram is not a small thing and the preparations are made at least 9 months ahead of Christmas starting with measurements and theme designs. This year's theme was " Joy to the World" which definitely gave tons of joy to all of us who witnessed this Christmas. South Africa devotees once again showed their devotion to Swami by coming in large numbers and they did a fantastic job by illuminating the whole ashram which brought a complete change in the Christmas celebrations in Parthi since 2010.
The Christmas Choir on Christmas eve was just fantastic. the choir practice which started on December 13th had quite a few who joined later and with less than a week of practice, its only the love for Swami which will make any one sing like professionals and with utmost devotion. The whole atmosphere was simply divine as we all watched those noble souls representing more than 40 countries sing in unison, in praise of our Lord. The choir director Ms Gisela Sebastian from Germany did a fantastic job in selecting the best of the songs and the content was also excellent with some audio clippings from divine discourses. Just a small suggestion for future participants be it in choir, drama or singing should make sure they don't look at the big screens but concentrate on our Lord. As the programme was played live on the big screens put in the Sai Kulwanth hall, we could see few people in the choir getting excited when they were shown on the big screen. CHRISTMAS 25, 2013. As is the tradition, this time it was the turn of Australia to start the beautiful day with carols and it was very nice. The highlight of this morning's programme was the violin played by the Primary school children and it was a hair raising moment when the children played "Love is My form" number. Later the university brass band took over which was followed by songs and bhajans by the students as the Santa ran into the crowd with goodies to make the whole atmosphere lively and lovely. The evening programme had a drama titled " The four wise men" which was about an Iranian boy who comes to Puttaparthi only to know that Swami had left His body. The story later is narrated by Francis who speaks about the Fourth wise man during Christ's birth. There were also two speakers who addressed the august gathering and the first one was Mrs.Rita Daniel a long time devotee of Bhagawan who spoke in length about her journey with Swami.. The second speaker was Mr. Tom from Australia who gave a perfect balance between the teachings of Christ and Swami. This evening in particular, The audio quality in the hall was of very poor standards as the speakers were not audible at all. It was very hard to understand what they were talking and this needs to be rectified keeping in mind the elderly devotees who find it hard to hear. Over all it was a fantastic Christmas which brought back the fond memories of very very special Christmas during the days of Swami's physical presence. it was also a beautiful occasion to show the unity among the devotees and the omnipresent, unseen hand of our Lord who made sure every thing was in the right place.. May the year 2014 bring tons of happiness, joy, peace and prosperity to all of us.. With Pranams at the Lotus feet of our beloved Lord, R.Satish Naik -- --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "saimsg" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
