The main person who gave shape to the Old Mandir was Smt. Subbamma,
who belonged to the big Karnam family of wealth and power in the village. By
the time we could go there, we could see only Smt. Kamalamma of that family,
and we were not fortunate to see Smt. Subamma. When the crowd stared flowing
in, there was no sufficient place for accommodation in the village. Many were
seated near the village Deity Sathyamma's temple for Swami's Darshan. Thus,
right in front of that temple Smt. Subbamma built the Old Mandir. Once this was
complete, Swami started living there only, and some devotees started rendering
their service. In those days, Bala Sai was the most beloved child of the
village, yet He would not take any advantage of any household unnecessarily. He
would visit many houses in the village frequently, but we could never guess to
whose house He went. Where He went, He alone knew!
In those days food for Bala Sai was taken care of
by Smt. Sakamma to start with, and then by His sister Smt. Venkamm-akka[1],
with great care. Thereafter He accepted some of the devotee's offerings, also.
During festival days, all were given an opportunity to place their preparations
before Him. All the devotees would join together in the Old Mandir to prepare food
on a large scale, in order to cope with the festival crowd. On such occasions,
Smt. Sakamma, Smt. Konamma, and others would take the lead and render much
help. Because the Old Mandir was small, we had the privilege of seeing Swami moving
around, supervising the preparations all the while.
Before we could enter the Old Mandir, many great
heads of spiritual instructions had already visited Puttaparthi. That was the
main reason for me to comment that all though the Old Mandir was small, it was
really great! Many great heads, of famous institutions that were much larger
than the Old Mandir, had already visited young Sai with many of their
followers. Their huge followership was entirely centred for the welfare of
their institution. But the modality of the Old Mandir was entirely different,
because it was centred on everyone's welfare. There was no need for the inmates
to guard their own welfare, with any selfish interest! It was one single family
for the welfare of the whole world that brought many families together.
Residents of the Old Mandir had their own
freedom, though they came from different traditions. Such an abode that was
self-emulating, and self-sufficient, without any outside support, would not be
found anywhere. The other great thing about this was that Swami was everyone's
favourite, and young Sai was considered as their own child. In the Dwapara
era, the residents of Brindavan, never recognized young Krishna as the
Almighty. They treated Him as their· friend Who would save their life, and they
were ready to surrender their life for Him. We also experienced the same
feeling with our Sai Krishna. The Gopikas had many sweet thoughts about Bala Gopala
and we also had several sweet feelings for our Sai Gopala. The Govinda of
Brinda van protected the people there, as the hen would guard its chicks, and
like the eyelids for the eyes. If their dark-hued Krishna was not to be seen
even for a while, they would restlessly go in search of Him. We also faced the
same plight at Puttaparthi, as our only goal was to keep an eye on Bala Sai and
never to miss Him, even for a while. We can surely conclude that the naughty
Bala Krishna of those days was our Bala Sai of Puttaparthi, beyond any refute
and beyond any doubt. We had the great pleasure of keeping Bala Sai in our view
for all the twenty-four hours of the day. But one thing is for sure, even this
day; though His family has grown in leaps and bounds, we could hardly see any
change in Him! That Bala Sai of those days remains to be the same Sai Maharaj
of these days! Though He has been keeping pace with time, we are stuck with our
own convictions. Though our Sai Prabhu looked small, His capacity was beyond
imagination since those days. The small One we saw in the Old Mandir days was
verily the all-pervading Lord. Though He is like the Sun, He shall never bum
us, because the magnificence of His love is beyond human perception. He shines
in all directions like the Sunrays and penetrates everything.
[1]Venkamm-akka: her name
was Venkamma and we used to lovingly add the suffix 'akka' -elder sister.
