SRI N. KASTURI WRITES
I was born in an obscure village in North Travancore when the nineteenth century had still three years and a few days to run. I had my schooling in the Cochin State under a great Headmaster who had met Swami Vivekananda and who lit in our little lamps the flame of prayer and contrition. I attended College at Trivandrum and, after finishing my M.A. and B.L., I secured a job as Lecturer in History at a college in Mysore.
The country boat in which I, my wife and my mother journeyed along the canals and backwaters of the West Coast on the first lap of the trip to catch the train at Ernakulam, was halted past midnight in the middle of a dark backwater by a Coast Guard, who shouted orders from the shore. He called out in the black night, "Where are you going?" and waited for an answer. My boatman had a fine sense of humor. He shouted back, "We are going to Mysore!" (We all knew Mysore was inland!) The Coast Guard did not reprimand him for his impertinence, for he, too, was in a humorous mood. He laughed and asked, "Why do you say Mysore? Don't you know a place beyond Mysore?"
Little did we know then, that there was a place beyond Mysore, a couple of hundred miles to the north of that City, a place called Puttaparthi which was to provide us harborage from the turbulent storms of the sea. There I was to get the Teacher I wanted, when my career as a university teacher and principal was about to come to a close.
Yogi Suddhananda Bharathi, the famous mystic poet of Tamilnad, said, in April 1959 when addressing a religious conference at Venkatagiri Town over which Sri Sathya Sai Baba presided, "I have practiced Yoga for over 50 years; I once observed the vow of silence continuously for over 20 years; I have come in contact with Sri Shirdi Baba, Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Aurobindo, Sri Meher Baba and others; now, as a result of all this discipline, I have met Sri Sathya Sai Baba."
I served as the Secretary of the Sri Ramakrishna Mission at Mysore for over seventeen years; I came in contact with Sri Siddharooda Swami, Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Meher Baba and Sri Narayana Guru; I was initiated into Japam, the recitation of the Name of the Lord, by Mahapurushji, the direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, and President of the Mission; and I am now convinced that, as a result of all this, I sat at the Feet of Sri Sathya Sai Baba in 1948.
After I retired from the service of the University of Mysore, I have since rejoiced in Baba's Presence, except for a short period when I worked with All India Radio as a producer. I have had the good fortune of mingling with many of His devotees who have had longer and closer associations with Him. I have availed myself of every opportunity of witnessing events illustrating His Divine Power and listening to His discourses. I trust this book will reveal to the reader some of the reasons for the extraordinarily intimate loyalty that binds me and others to Him. Baba is an open book, with no mystery or pomp or abstruseness about Him. Everyone can approach Him and secure His Grace.
I have great sympathy for those who are unaware of Baba's stature, for I, too, demurred, doubted, and disbelieved Baba's validity with all the sarcasm and satire found in the novels, dramas, and essays which I wrote and published on various subjects. For many years I, too, in my stupid pride, did not make any effort to meet Him. I invite everyone now, to come and share His Grace and Mercy and stand witness to the Divine Power that He personifies.
- N. Kasturi
- taken from :
http://vahini.org/sss/i/theauthorwrites.html
Sai Ram..
