THE CHILD IS THE FATHER OF THE MAN
by Dr. Hira Malini Seshadri
It is this visual posted above, a product of youthful imagination and AI, that has triggered this write up. All followers of Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai were thrilled to see the charming picture of the little Madhusudan juxtaposed with the picture of Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai! Just HOW did the child, Madhusudan Rao Naidu, metamorphose into Sadguru Sai?
All of us know that Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba was the prime mover who effected that transformation; but it was only at age 17, that Madhusudan came into Baba’s orbit, as an undergraduate student in Baba’s college in Whitefield. But what/who shaped the child in him, into such a worthy teenager and seeker? For, the child, as the saying goes, is the father of man!
That takes us back to his school days; to the Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV for short), in the little town of Balco Nagar in present day Chhattisgarh. This scribe was delighted to find that Sadguru Sai was a KV alumnus; as both she and hubby were KV alumni, Dr Seshadri having studied in the very first KV established in RK Puram Delhi, in the early sixties.
KV alumni always rate KVs as the BEST schools in India. KVs combined unequalled patriotism, traditional Indian culture, values and the teaching of Sanskrit with the best of academics offered by the CBSE system, so that the kids of government employees, primarily, army folks who get tossed around all over the country thanks to frequent transfers, could get a seamless continuity in school education. Indeed, we got the best of education of our times.
All KV teachers those days, were highly qualified, trained teachers with a passion to teach; and that trend continues to this day. Life in KV was never just studies all the time. We had drawing and painting and music and games aplenty. Even in class eleven, which was board exam year in our times, every day, we had a games period!
Co-Curricular Activities (CCA), had pride of place. Elocution, debating, recitation, essay writing, group singing and dancing- all that happened every week. And all this, virtually for free. This scribe remembers that for such a well-rounded education, for years, we paid but two rupees a month, towards the ‘Pupil’s Fund’ Above all patriotism was a badge we all wore proudly.
Patriotism, did you ask rather quizzically? Yes! Children with parents in the armed forces were invariably a big chunk of KV students; and naturally, love of flag and country was paramount. Everyday we took the pledge to love and serve the motherland. ‘Saare Jahaan Se Achha’ coursed through our veins; and ‘Ae Mere Vathan Ke Logon, Zara Aankh Mein Bhar Lo Paani Jo Shaheed Huey Hain Uski Zara Yaad Karo Kurbani’ (a song to martyred braves), was seared in our hearts. We KV-ites, truly grew up as Bharateeyas.
By the early nineteen nineties Balco Nagar too had a KV; and that is where little Madhusudan joined as a five-year-old; and stayed on, till he finished class twelve in 1996. Those twelve years planted in him a love of country and Indian culture; he would write poetry in Hindi and English.
That Sanskrit was the third language taught in KVs, was really a master stroke of the Divine, who was scripting Madhusudan’s role in the world; for in the years to come he would teach the whole planet, in the world language, English, the all-inclusive wisdom of the Upanishads, all of which was in Sanskrit.
Sadguru Sai, once, during a discourse, reminisced about his school days. He mentioned how, he was to participate in a ‘Recitation Competition’. He had mentally decided on Wordsworth’s ‘Daffodils’. But as luck would have it, the English teacher, a Bengali lady, commanded that he should learn Gurudev Tagore’s poem. ’Where The Mind Is Without fear’, by-heart; and recite it for the competition. In fact, she took the trouble to personally teach him that poem.
At that point in time, he had been rather irritated; for his heart had been set on the nice, rhyming ‘Daffodils’; while this poem, a translation into English from the Bengali Gitanjali, seemed to have no metre; no rhyme! But then, it was teacher’s word; and implicit obedience to the teacher, was a quality that he had even then; as many of his teachers would vouch for.
Sadguru Sai, however, shared that in later life, he was so very grateful to that English teacher; for Gurudev Tagore’s words shaped his thinking more than anything else. Indeed, it can be stated that Sadguru Sai is one who LIVES the words of Gurudev Tagore’s ‘Where the mind is without fear…’, in letter and spirit; and what’s more, passes on that same uplifting philosophy to his students.
In fact, an exquisite, calligraphically written copy of those immortal lines by Gurudev Tagore, finds pride of place in the medical college in Sathya Sai Grama; in the imposing central library of the Sri Madhusudan Sai Institute of Medical Sciences & Research (SMSIMSR)
Thanks to intersecting WhatsApp groups, this scribe could connect with KV Balco Nagar teachers; and teacher Shikha Roy, the Bengali teacher who taught little Madhusudan that poem was moved to tears to learn about ‘Sadguru Sai’ that he had now become. She was touched that the poem she taught him, had shaped his philosophy so; that he literally lived that poem!
Teacher Shikha Roy remembered him as a kind, gentle, cheerful boy; brilliant and gifted in both the arts and academics; but most of all, ‘as a most obedient child’. Now, long retired and settled in Nagpur, she prayerfully looks forward to connecting with Sadguru Sai.
Indeed, so do other teachers of KV Balco Nagar, like teacher Rukmani Thothathri ji, teacher Usha Bhardwaj ji, Master Madhuresh Chandra ji, Meera Singh ji, and so on. They all remember all three of them- Madhusudan and his younger siblings, Hanumanth and Bharathi; lovely, talented, good children whom they were privileged to teach.
They had heard that both Madhusudan and Hanumanth had been selected to the prestigious bastions of higher education established by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba; and that Madhusudan had been the recipient of Gold Medals for both undergrad and postgrad studies; but had not heard much thereafter.
They were all simply astounded to hear about the amazing global mission of love and service that their Madhusudan- Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai to the world- was spearheading! They are all so proud of him; and look forward to meeting him sometime, somewhere.
Sadguru Sai quotes instances from his own school days often; as that helps the school students relate to him better. He rues, that unlike his brother Hanumanth who was a sports buff as well, he would shy away from sports. Today, he encourages all his students to participate in some game or sport.
You don’t have to win; but you need to be there; out in the field, participating, Sadguru Sai urges his students. Sports and games are great confidence builders; great fear busters; especially, as you are bound to do badly once in a way; and that’s when you learn to get up, dust yourself, and run again, all in the public glare! You learn by experience, to take both winning and losing, in your stride. You imbibe the virtue of equanimity!
Music- something that he enthusiastically participated in, as a student, is another area that he urges every child to be part of; and not to shy away from. Even if one does not become a singer, one will at least end up cultivating an ear for music. All his students in the mission’s schools, get to learn at least Bhajan singing. Recently, a group of Italian devotees were over the moon, when Sadguru Sai strummed a guitar and sang along with them!
Sadguru Sai also shares often with students, how he always took studies seriously. He shares from his own experience, the value of concentrating in class; and the value of getting up extra early in the morning, during exams, and studying, with a fresh, rested mind. That is so much better than trying to keep awake at the fag end of the day and flogging a tired brain.
Growing up in central India and schooling in a KV has made Sadguru Sai a fluent speaker in Hindi. He is also an eloquent speaker in English, Telugu and lately, in Kannada; for Sathya Sai Grama in Karnataka seems destined to be his ‘Karma Bhumi’. He is also a learned Sanskrit Scholar.
Sadguru Sai dons so many hats- social entrepreneur, educationist, healthcare disruptor, economist, management expert, spiritual leader, and so on; that people wonder WHAT he really is. Sadguru Sai’s teachers will be delighted to know, that above all, he considers himself a teacher; a teacher of Truth- ‘Sathya Bodhaka’.
Significantly, his teaching is no theory. He LIVES the Truth he teaches; which fact makes him a Sadguru. Curiously, his Master, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, was also a ‘Sathya Bodhaka’.
With followers in hundred plus countries, as former Minister and senior legislator, Sri TB Jayachandra says, he is a ‘Jagad Guru’. In the words of Narasimha Murthy Sir, Chief Mentor of the Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Gurukulam, Sadguru Sai fits the bill of Vishwa Guru and Vishwa Manava (Universal Man), that Poet Laureate, Kuvempu sang about. Indeed, at 46, he is a young Guru, increasingly surrounded by learned, highly educated, elder leaders of our beleaguered planet; who flock to him for wisdom. Literally, a modern ‘Dakshinamoorthy’, so to speak!
His main teaching is- ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (One World, One Family), which he and his fiercely loyal, dedicated, youthful team live out. ‘Love and Service & Leaving None Behind’ are the watch words; and Divinity is defined as Absolute Selfless Love, of which, he is the best example. Like the renunciates of yore, he too is a ‘Parivrajaka’; who travels all around the world. As this gets typed, Sadguru Sai has just headed east from Fiji, to reach the west coast of the USA!
KV Balco Nagar can indeed take pride in the child, whom she was privileged to mould!
By Dr Hiramalini Seshadri MD
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