Originally posted on 3rd May 2011 :

Call me crazy if you like, but the fact is that I do not trust my eyes and ears to always tell me the truth. There have been instances when what I saw and heard was at crass variance with what I have been taught and what I have learnt from the books. We were told in school that ‘matter cannot be created or destroyed’ but in Puttaparthy I saw Sathya Sai Baba ‘materialize’ a watch and a gold chain to give to his devotees. ‘Bibhuthi’ emerged from his fore finger at will, whenever he needed it.

There were just about six of us in his private chamber on that pleasant early morning of 13th December 1999, and I was sitting the closest to him. I did what I could to understand the process, but my eyes let me down. His detractors say that these trinkets came out of his sleeve, and so I worked extra hard to see if there was any ripple in his robe before the gold emerged in his palm. The only other scientific explanation is that we were hypnotized. But, how? No one is willing to tell.

After the morning meditation session, I went around Puttaparthi and saw for myself, the metamorphosis in that place. A sleepy little village of just a few mud houses in 1940 has emerged as a significant town on the Indian map. At the Sai Institute of Higher learning (which is a deemed university) I met the professors who taught Management. The Professor whom I met asked me if their students could visit Ashok Leyland where I was working then. A few months later, they came, and I got an opportunity to interact with the students. Believe you me, there was a difference between them and the students who came from the other colleges who came for their ‘industry visits’ The ‘Sai students’ were polite and very restrained when making even the slightest demand. There was a contented look on their faces. The teachers worked for a pittance and as is well known, education is completely free in all institutions run by the Baba.

In the industry, everything revolves around finances, and here was a B-school which laid greater emphasis on ethics than the bottom line!

As I saw it, the ‘miracle’ which I saw in the transformation of human attitude was far more significant than the gimmick of ‘materializing’ those gifts. I became a regular visitor to Baba’s ashrams.

The death of the Baba has raised a lot of questions. In addition to all that has been reported in the media, my mind has thrown up some questions:

• If Baba was a mortal like the rest of us, then the supernatural prowess could be passed on to a few selected disciples; or a least his successor, so that his mission can continue beyond his life.

• If he was an Incarnation of God, then why did his mortal body need ‘medical’ assistance. In fact he was put on a ventilator like anyone else.

• Baba had predicted that he would live to be 94 years old. But now, as we all know, he passed away at 84, after having been on a wheel chair for a long time.

• If the real message of Baba was spiritual, then what was the need to perform those ‘miracles’ even if had the prowess?

A picture taken during my first visit to the Ashram is attached. The touch of his hand is still fresh in my memory. At the extreme right is my wife, who does not worry her head over all that I keep trying to analyze. She has complete faith in her senses and she blows all my questions away with the whiff of her hand. She says, “Why ask all these questions? Baba is what he is. You are what you are. If he wishes to keep his gifts ‘up his sleeve’ how does it affect you?”

And then I think of the Sanskrit word, ‘Maya’ It has at least three meanings : wealth, illusion and falsehood (dhan, mithya and bhram) My research tells me that ‘maya’ is a combination of ‘ma’ which means ‘not’ and ‘ya’ which means that. Therefore the ‘sansar’ or the world is ‘not what it seems’

Baba was also a part of that Maya, and so if he has left some questions unanswered, so be it. If his death has raised some more complex issues, the Lord will provide the solutions in due course of time.

As far as I am concerned, my faith in my senses is shaken. But I live in the company of a person, who is in full command of her faculties. The logical solution to my dilemma is “Trust her and follow the path shown by her!”