Integral Education

The S G Sundaraswamy Memorial Lecture is an annual endowment lecture at Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning (SSSIHL) instituted in honour of late Sri S G Sundaraswamy—a doyen of the legal profession in Bengaluru and an ardent devotee of Bhagawan Baba—by his son, Sri S S Naganand, Trustee, Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning (Public Charitable Trust), Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust and Sri Sathya Sai Media Foundation.

The 2020 (online) lecture on 22 September, on the topic, Inspiring Innovation, was delivered by Lieutenant General (Dr.) Madhuri Kanitkar, AVSM, VSM, a highly decorated serving General Officer in the Indian Army.

She is only the third woman in the Indian Armed Forces to be promoted to a Three-star rank, and currently serves as the Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Medical) under the Chief of Defence Staff. The Gen. Officer has been nominated to the PM-Science and Technology Innovation Advisory Committee and Board of Governors of the Medical Council of India in October 2018 and July 2019.

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Amidst the COVID-19 lockdown, students of the Brindavan campus, with the help of alumni served prasadam (in the form of food packets) to 900 people in Kadugodi village. Cooking commenced at 3 a.m. followed by packing, transportation and organized distribution. In addition to this, ashram workers and their families were given new clothes.

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Transforming Self to Transform the World

Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations (SSSSO), India in association with Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning (SSSIHL) kicked off the Sri Sathya Sai National Leadership Programme (SSSNLP) on 13 March 2020 at SSSIHL.

The 26 weeks long programme, for 200 participants from 25 states of India (both Sai youth and others), is a certified leadership programme which aims to bring a specific set of leadership skills. Some of these include Communications, Goal Setting, Change Management, National Building, Managing Relationships, Stress Management, Presentation Skills and Corporate Culture. Participants will be tutored online every Saturday for the duration of the programme.

On 13 March, at the launch of the programme at SSSIHL, Sri Gopi Krishna P, Convener and Master of Ceremonies, SSSNLP introduced a panel of introductory speakers. These included Sri K Chakravarthi, IAS (Retd.), Chancellor, SSSIHL, Sri R J Rathnakar, Managing Trustee, SSSCT, Prof. (Dr.) C B Sanjeevi, Vice Chancellor, SSSIHL, Prof. B Sai Giridhar, Registrar, SSSIHL and Sri Nimish Pandya, All India President, SSSSO, India.

They focused their talks on the four component of the SSSNLP Programme: Values and Ethics, Individual Skills, Group Skills and Self-Mastery. Prof. B Sai Giridhar, in his introduction, stressed on Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s example of leadership to humanity which encompasses everything the participants will come to learn from various experts during the course of the programme.

Sri K Chakravarthi express his happiness on such a programme and said he would meet the youth in smaller groups and share his experiences with them.

Sri R J Rathnakar stressed on the importance of Group Skills. He gave an example of how during the Rama avatar, Sri Rama didn’t just give a directive, but instead chose to consults the group of seniors before allowing the pure-hearted Vibhīṣaṇa, the brother of Ravana (the King of Lanka) to take refuge at His lotus feet.

Prof. (Dr.) C B Sanjeevi said that leadership from the perspective of Sri Sathya Sai includes the immeasurable devotional component, as it is priceless. If one leads with the undercurrents of devotion and Human values, anything is achievable.

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The International Women’s Day, an annual worldwide focal point in the movement for women’s rights, was celebrated by students of Anantapur Campus (the women’s only campus at SSSIHL), Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning.

The programme (highlighting the 2020 theme of Each for Equal) commenced with the description of the history of International Women’s Day followed by a role play, where students presented the lives and contribution of iconic women of Vedic, medieval and modern ages. The roles played included Gargi, Draupadi, Savithri, Jhansi Rani, Wangari Mathai, Kiron Bedi, Ophra Winfrey, Muniba Mazari, Malala and Kalpana Chawla.

They highlighted the struggles, turmoil, pain and sleepless nights these women had on their path to glory, which were overcome by their indomitable spirit, resolute courage and determined willpower.

A video presentation on Hellen Keller and Marie Curie was followed by Bhagawan Baba’s Discourse on ‘Women in Society’.

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The students and staff of the Anantapur Campus hostel have adopted a leper colony situated in the outskirts of the town of Anantapur since 1986, with the objective of making the inmates of the colony as self-sufficient as possible.

Project Love Stream is a long-standing example of service in action and how a little love and care has the power to create long lasting benefits to generations of families. It has helped transform the lives of twenty-five socially marginalized families.

The colony that consisted of 10-12 huts in 1986 now has twenty neat little houses. The creatively raised capital has funded water pumps, stationery items, food supplies and even fifty trees so that they can sell their own fruits and earn an income. As a result, almost every family now has its own bank account.

Practicing human values, bhajan singing, educating the inhabitants in various ways- these are some of the ways that the warden and students have taken time out to help the lepers with.

The long-term objective is to make the families as self-sufficient as possible.

As part of the project, each year, the students of the Campus made a variety of handicrafts like cards, bookmarks, rakhis and friendship bands. These are then sold to the inmates of the hostel and the amount thus raised is utilized to buy provisions for the residents of the leper colony on a monthly basis. They also help with their basic requirements like provision of water connections, bathroom doors and fodder for the cows maintained by them.

Each academic year, the staff and students do service activities such as distributing blankets to the residents, getting them provisions, etc.

The project has had a long-lasting impact on generations of students for over thirty years now.

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By the Grace and Blessings of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba and the active support of the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, starting early 2019, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning Alumni have initiated several Seva activities in and around Prasanthi Nilayam. The frequency of the activities has increased from two weekends a month to every weekend starting November 2019.

This has allowed hundreds of alumni (over the past year) to come to Prasanthi Nilayam and participate in these service activities whenever their schedule allows.

The activities — in the areas of Sanitation, Maintenance, Medical and Grama Seva (village service) — are conducted in close collaborations with officials in the ashram and the hospitals.

In addition to their regular ashram seva activities, on 25 and 26 January 2020, 45 members, including alumni and doctors, participated in service that included health camps for two villages near Penukonda.

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On 21 January 2020, the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Anantapur Campus, organized a special programme (in continuation of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations) to posthumously felicitate Late Ms. Anima Mukherjee madam, the second Principal of the erstwhile Sri Sathya Sai Arts and Science College for women, Anantapur.

Dr. Dipankar Banerjee, the nephew of Late Ms. Anima Mukherjee madam, received a plaque and a shawl from Prof. (Dr.) C B Sanjeevi, Vice-Chancellor, SSSIHL. Prof. V. Sakuntala, who represented the members of the Core Committee of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations at the Campus in 2018, along with Prof. B Sai Giridhar, Registrar, SSSIHL and Sri Sanjay Sahni, Controller of Examinations, SSSIHL, were also present at this special occasion.

A new Health Care Centre at the Anantapur Campus, SSSIHL which will cater to sick students of the Campus, is now operational. It consists of regular beds, hospital-type beds, a doctor’s examination room and a dispensary with basic medicines

Created in the loving memory of the Late Ms. Anima Mukherjee madam (the second Principal of the erstwhile Sri Sathya Sai Arts and Science College for women, Anantapur) from the funds donated by her family, the Centre was inaugurated on 21 January, 2020, by Prof. (Dr.) C B Sanjeevi, Vice-Chancellor, SSSIHL, and Dr. Dipankar Banerjee, nephew of Late Ms. Anima Mukherjee.

The event was attended by Prof. B Sai Giridhar, Registrar, SSSIHL and Sri Sanjay Sahni, Controller of Examinations, SSSIHL. Dr. Narasimhan, Superintendent, Sri Sathya Sai General Hospital, and Director, Sri Sathya Sai Mobile Hospital, Dr. Swetha, Visiting Doctor, Amaravathi Multispecialty Hospital, and Dr. Harshitha, an alumnus who is practicing in Anantapur, were also present on the occasion.

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