Replies to comments of Shri P. Rao

P. Rao said... I share much of your skepticism. But please consider the following: We do not beat on the person who is down with a medical emergency. Particularly a grand old man with international celebrity. I am glad he and the people around him have some sense left that the Baba is taking medical help which he difinitely needs now. Also, I make the following analogy: A well known cardiac specialist might have saved a lot of patients. But if he gets a heart condition, he is not expected to operate on himself. I am talking about common courtesy.

Thank you very much. I didn't care to post anything about Baba during the last nearly three years, though politicians were wasting public money for chartering planes and helicopters to reach his place and fall down at his feet. I may not have bothered about it even now. But suddenly, we find that all the t.v. channels are blaring 24/7 health bulletains about baba and people are lamenting before channel mikes that the world would suffer a great loss, if Baba passes away. Actually, it is the other-way around. Baba had been misleading the citizens of the world that he was 'bhagwan' and that he had curative abilities. By hearsay, foreigners believe this, visit his place, fall down at his feet, donate some thousands of dollars and leave in hope that everything would be alright. 50% of people may get cured owing to application of the theory of probability and they go on spreading the hearsay news that Baba is bhagawan. You might have seen the fate of Kamavadhani of Sakhinetipalli, East Godavari who neglected his family and spent his whole life at Baba's feet. The object of my post : To highlight the fact that Baba is only a human being. He has of course good oratorial capabilities developed over six decades. He has a mellifluous voice. Anybody, who hears his singing and speeches will fall in a trap. He has a knack of winning over people, who in his opinion serve his interests. I gain nothing by insulting Baba at a time when he is bed-ridden. This is the time when we can get some proof that he is only a human. As pointed out by you, he deserves some common courtesy. But this minimum courtesy he did not show to Mr. Narasimhaiah, Former Vice Chancellor of Bangalore University, and a Nuclear Scientist. Baba preferred to compare his critics to pigs, as if he himself was some holy cow. You can see Mr. Narasimhaiah's profile at Wikipedia. We cannot apply the analogy of a cardiologist not performing surgery on himself to Baba. Reason: Baba is not a cardiologist. He is worse than a quack. A quack will at least give some herbs to his patients. Some of the herbs may work. Exceptions: about ten herbs like naabhi, jiid`i gimjalu, vishamusht`hi, bhallataki, others will be harmless. The quack also, by experience gains some expert knowledge of the herbs, their dosage, the cause and effect relationship between their consumtion and human body. A bhagawan , on the other-hand does nothing except tapping on the stomach. He gets credit for 50% of the cases handled by him owing to the application of the theory of probability. (A coin tossed into the sky will usually show a result of 50% heads and 50% tails, with some tolerance of error, say 10%). He gets large donations, as people have some gratitude. You can, of course, say that Baba is applying faith cure. But faith cure should not be so expensive. Faith Cure should not be by misleading people. Once a retired Commercial Taxes Officer, took me to a house in Brodipet/Pattabhipuram, Guntur. The house had nearly 100 frames of Baba. Some of the glass-surfaces on the photo frames of Baba were showing ashes. The Retired R.T.O. and the householder asked me how the ashes have come onto the glass. They expected that I shall convert into the Sathya Sai Cult. My enquiries with some physics and chemistry lecturers have given me an indication that some glass surfaces have a chemical characteristic of oozing out powdery substances like ash, which may be mistaken as ash. The glass photo frames in that particular house may have been made of that type of glass. Some devotees might have brought to Baba's notice that his photo frames at some places were oozing out powders resembling ashes. Baba should have enlightened them about the peculiar chemical characteristics of some glasses. He, instead, allowed the rumor to spread that it was a miracle of Baba. My mind frequently wonders: Does the world really gain by the so-called spiritual persons, who mix up charity with their funds mobilisation drives. We can have two scenarios: Scenario 1. Baba impressing foreigners that he is a God and mobilising funds: The funds mobilised may be split into three lots 1. first part to a Trust 2. second part to the personal account of Baba 3. third part to State and Central Governments for schemes like Water Supply. Assuming that shares are equal, Indian people as a society/nation will get something like 33% of the booty. Against this, they have to accept VIPs building airports at Puttaparti, laying Railway Lines, treating Baba as a person beyond law etc. This type of national prosperity, we can compare to the prosperity of Britain earned by swindling its colonies, and the prosperity of U.S. developed through slave labor. Summary of this: One Nation plundering another Nation showing 'spirituality and magic cures' as bait. Scenario 2 : Only intra-India transactions. Indian politicians and bureaucrats, industrialists and liquor merchants patronising Baba probably because he cures their diseases, because he gives them good advice on how to make more money, probably because he acts as an intermediary between one class and another class. Here also, we have to make three shares: 1. personal 2. trust 3. donations to Govt. scheme. People will benefit something like 33%. The relations between Baba and his politician-industrialist-bureaucrat relationship may not just be a doctor-patient relationship. There must have been something extra-ordinary. Otherwise why should a President or a Prime Minister fall down at his feet. Precisely, that is to be investigated by a person like Sherlock Holmes. All these investigations are important because other Babas like Kalki Bhagavan, Bala Sai, Penugonda man, Visakha Swaroopaananda, Prakasam man etc. have sprang up and everybody is doing hectic business. The Oil for all these businesses is supplied by the Real Estate Companies.

Anonymous said... Not sure .. if the world gained anything by Baba's presence. Just that some few hundreds of poor students got a good higher education with moral values. Just that thousands have people got relieved of their heart throving pain by being treated by baba's free of charge super speciality Hospitals.. Just that people from chennai got fresh drinking water that flows from AP.. Just that People in Million are spending their time in social service, discipline .. just that people have gained peace in the transient world .. just that innocent poor are now staying under roof donated by him...the list goes on and on... That's all leaving apart the spiritual aspect, and his miracles.. which I also never admired. By the way.. Does the world gain anything by the presence of people like you and me.????? I think .. probably you might have done this big gigantic Super-speciality Hospitals .. and would not have charged (am I kidding :) no money only free service ...:)).. I will not have done.. What about you ??? Cheers BM A persona Like you...but witnessed the tears of joy from people getting healed by HIM or His presence.

REPLY We have a proverb in Telugu language : 'duurapu kond`alu nunupu'. This proverb, when approximately translated to English, works out as : "Distant hills appear smooth(er)." The implication is: Hills which appear very smooth when we view them from a distance, will be found to be full of boulders, cliffs and valleys. I am not writing this from a habitual scepticism but from observation of the world while living through it. few hundred poor students getting good higher education with moral values We have 1.2 billion people in India out of whom at least a billion cannot afford higher or even elementary education. The fees in many private elementary schools have gone beyond the reach of the poor and lower middle classes. What difference few hundreds will make in a mass of billions? My enquiries suggest that Baba's University does not take really poor students. I met some parents. Parents are filtered. Parents are to be stooges (if this word offends you we can use the phrase "fanatic devotee") of Baba, continuously engaged in spreading a message that Baba is a God on this Earth, keep and distribute photo frames of Baba oozing out ashes, organise bhajans of Baba, establish a Baba's Centre in the native town or work as a Baba's volunteer. He should become a slave of the Baba Network. It is Okay, if the parent pays the indirect/hidden price for the child's education. But the student of the Baba University is also brainwashed into becoming a Baba fanatic, out of sheer gratitude. A student who at any time inadvertantly leaks out any doubts about the genuineness of Baba's bhagawan-hood, he will be driven of the College/University. Out of fear of expulsion, the student will continue to exhibit himself/herself as a Baba devotee and in course of repeated brainwashes he/she will become a regular Baba devotee. What type of moral education, a brainwashed student gets, is a question to be studied by social scientists. 90% of the burden of elementary, secondary and higher education of the "poor" in this country is shouldered by the Government -- Municipal Schools, Zilla Parishad Schools, Government Junior Colleges, Government Degree Colleges, Government Polytechnics, Engineering and Medical Colleges. Andhra Pradesh Government is implementing fees reimbursement scheme to help the poorer sections. Other State Governments in India too have numerous scholarship and fees reimbursement schemes. The Government of India runs "Kendriya Vidyaalayas" etc. I do not say that there are no defects in the education provided by the Government. I wish to stress that 95% burden is shouldered by Government from Public Funds, a sort of welfare economics and practical socialism. All this without forcing the student to chant the bhajans of Baba and keep his photos everywhere on the body. Hence, we should not allow ourselves to be swept by propaganda of the Baba Network. For enforcing the servitude and spreading their cult, The Baba's Educational Institutions receive UGC Grants, numerous tax concessions and exemption from various laws. If some Enquiry Commission carries out an independent unbiased cost-benefit analysis of the Satya Sai Trust and its affiliates, truth will come out. Dear friend: Nothing comes in this Capitalist pett`ubad`idaari world free! Even liers, sometimes, tell truth. The Prime Minister of India once said: "Free lunches are over!". How can the Satya Sai Lunch be free? The charges are paid by the Government. I shall answer your other comments also in additional posts here, as this post is becoming lengthy. Thank you very much for your frankness. I may not be able to satisfy you 100%. But I shall try to reply to each item.