Happy Birthday to God!

By Vijay Kumar

What do you call a person who provides solace and mental peace to millions of people, has provided drinking water to a waterless district, provides world class medical care free, runs a top class university and has Presidents and Prime Ministers and IT giants visiting him? God, of course!

It was God’s birthday yesterday and President Kalam was there! The rationalists are aghast when Sai Baba says, “I am God”, but they don’t wait for the catch. “so are you; the only difference is I know and you don’t know”.

A Sai devotee once asked me the procedure to get excise exemption for his water project. I told him it was almost impossible to get an excise exemption for a private project. He told me, “you tell me the procedure and we will get it”. And he got it!

25 years ago I met an American girl in Bangalore who was doing research on Sai Baba. She promised to take me to Sai Baba. I refused, as I did not like the prospect of waking up at four in the morning to do Saibhajans as I have seen the devotees do.

For nearly half a century there have been intelligent people like R K Karanjia, Abraham Kovoor, Premanand who had challenged the power of Sai Baba, but people hardly remember them, but here is Sai Baba going strong on his 81^st birthday.

Dr. Suri Bhagavantam, the former Scientific Adviser to the Government of India spent his last days in the blissful company of the Baba and yesterday another scientist who is President of India was with the Baba.

I, like many rationalists, don’t believe in Sai Baba and his magic, which any street corner magician can perform better, but providing water, world class education and health in which governments have failed can be done only by someone who is close to God.

Above all lakhs of devotees experience bliss in his presence or thought. The Government should be grateful to him for the social peace he is promoting. If all these devotees were not in a trance chanting Sai mantra they could have been potential offenders in society – tax evaders, rapists, murderers, tricksters, etc,. sai Baba has diverted them all to a peaceful way. And he has provided water.; God doesn’t need a better CV. Happy Birthday GOD!