Inauguration of "Sai Vidya Jyothi" - an exhibition on Educare

Exhibiting the Sai Effect on Education

July 20, 2008

It was a wonderful and exciting feeling to have Bhagawan amidst us blessing the International Exhibition, said Sri Vijay Desai, Head of the Media Wing of Sri Sathya Sai World Foundation running the affairs of International Sai Organisation.  The greater co-operation and co-ordination between the Indian and International Panel, working for a united cause was indeed practicing the precept of Bhagawan’s dictum, Unity in Diversity. Youth and devotees from so many countries including India have been on the task for more than two months that finally fructified in the form of Sai Vidya Jyothi, a massive exhibition on Education organized on the sidelines of Sri Sathya Sai World Conference on Education. Here is an eye witness account from Prof. David Gries, a renowned computer scientist and a long time devotee of Bhagawan who has been actively involved in setting up the exhibition.

11 a.m. on Sunday, 20 July, the first day of the Sri Sathya Sai World Education Conference, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba inaugurated the Exhibition in the Poornachandra Auditorium.
Bhagawan came in, on either side a row of about 15 children, one side with candles. The entrance floor was artfully decorated with flower petals, in designs as only Indian women could do. In the middle of the exhibit, was a beautifully decorated rotating display, with four life-size photos of Bhagawan, with more flower-petal designs.

Bhagawan visited almost every part of the magnificent massive exhibition of Sathya Sai Education in Human Values. He first spent time on the All-India part of the exhibition, looking at panels that depicted the Institute for Sathya Sai Education in Mumbai and all the Sathya Sai Schools in India. After that was a wonderful display of information about the Sri Sathya Sai University.

A highlight of the exhibition and the Inauguration was a brand new 20-minute film on Educare: the Essence of Sathya Sai Education, byt Gene Massey. This film showed clips of Sathya Sai Schools and Institutes as well as various Sai educational programs throughout the world —from Asia to Australia to Africa, from Europe to North America to South America. Bhagawan Baba watched the complete film.

Then it was on to Pavilions created by the Sathya Sai International Organization, starting with the Pavilion for the Sri Sathya Sai Institutes and Schools. Bhagawan listened as narrators described just a little bit of the influence on children’s lives that the 24 Institutes of Sathya Sai Education (in 24 countries) and almost150 Sathya Sai Schools (99 of them in India) have had. It is truly remarkable how much transformation has gone on through Sathya Sai Education - well it isn’t remarkable, if one considers that the whole program is divinely inspired and is developed and operated by people who love Bhagawan so much.

Bhagawan then had introductions to the Pavilions for the five continents: North America and West Indies; Europe (including Russia), South America; Asia and Australia; and Africa. At each Pavilion, Bhagawan stopped and listened, and twice He stopped to watch a short video on a computer monitor.
The final Pavilion was showed information about the pre-conferences that took place, to prepare devotees and to plan for the World Education Conference. Near this Pavilion were panels and tables containing art work done by students from around the world, and Bhagawan took a real interest in them.

Bhagawan’s visit to commemorate the opening for the Exhibition closed with Arathi.

There were other tables in the Exhibition, displaying EHV books and manuals as well as various arts and craft done by children in Sai Schools and EHV programs throughout the world. This massive exhibition fills almost the whole of the Poornachandra Auditorium. As mind-boggling as this Exhibition is, one is even more overwhelmed when one contemplates on the transformation that is happening throughout the world in the children, their parents, and also their teachers, because of the Sai Education programs depicted in this Exhibition. It is truly amazing, and we all thank Bhagawan for the inspiration for Sai Educare and for allowing us to be part of it.