April 2012: My appreciation for Prof. Anantharaman's wonderful Sai service as Media Co-ordinator
Last updated on 2nd June 2016
I felt it appropriate to reproduce the following email of mine dated April 17th 2012 to Prof. Anantharaman, then Media-Coordinator, Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust. The text of the email(s) is reproduced below:
from: Ravi Iyer <ravi@raviiyer.org>
to: Media Co-ordinator <media@sssct.org>
date: Tue, Apr 17, 2012 at 1:48 PM
subject: Fwd: My appreciation for Prof. Anantharaman's wonderful Sai service as Media Co-ordinator
Dear Prof. Anantharaman,
Sai Ram sir!
I felt it appropriate to "go public" with my appreciation for your wonderful services, sir, within a small (BCC) email community that I write to. It includes some faculty of SSSIHL and some other Puttaparthi Sai institution members.
The concerned mail is forwarded below. It has a slightly edited version of my previous mail to you, sir.
Regards
Ravi
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ravi Iyer <ravi@raviiyer.org>
Date: Tue, Apr 17, 2012 at 1:40 PM
Subject: My appreciation for Prof. Anantharaman's wonderful Sai service as Media Co-ordinator
To:
Dear all,
Sai Ram!
I thought it appropriate to share a slightly edited version of a mail I wrote today to Prof. Anantharaman, Media Co-ordinator, Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust (email: "Media Co-ordinator" <media@sssct.org>).
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Sir, I would also like to express in writing my appreciation for the wonderful service you have done by, I believe, founding the Media Co-ordinator post in SSSCT and then doing a FANTASTIC job.
As a Sai devotee I too was in a state of PROLONGED SHOCK when the Shiva Shakti Swarupa, Kali Yuga Avatar, Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba Garu decided it was time to give up His physical body. Like so many others in the Sai devotee community and almost everybody in Puttaparthi, the ashramites and the villagers/townsmen living outside the ashram, I had taken for granted that Bhagavan would be in His physical body amongst us till he became 96 years of age according to the regular calendar we use (Gregorian calendar/Solar calendar).
To the extent I could, I closely followed the reactions of Puttaparthi folks, Sai devotees in general, the media, the Internet and the impact that media coverage had on people at large. The deluge of attack that Sai institutions in general, some persons close to Bhagavan at physical level in particular and Sai devotees in general came under was horrifying! Any yellow media outlet which wanted to grab eyeballs used to cook up nasty stories based on utterly flimsy ground or no ground whatsoever! And there were enough eyeballs who loved the sensationalist mud-slinging stuff and so it perhaps became a self-perpetuating and money-spinning mini-industry!
While Bhagavan was in His physical body these stupid fellows would not have had the GUTS to write the tripe that they wrote. But now they were having a field day. Sai institutions and Sai devotees had become a butt of ridicule. Outside Puttaparthi, noticing a Sai ring on a devotee's finger was enough for a stranger to launch a diatribe against Sai institutions and Puttaparthi, and enjoy embarrassing the poor Sai devotee!
In politics, they say, perception becomes reality. So the political masters of the state and country too were getting impacted by the sensationalist gossip that had become mainstream media NEWS and was appearing to be the truth!
Then you perhaps felt that enough was enough, and volunteered to take up the very challenging position of media co-ordinator. I was watching the media like a hawk during that period :). As soon as you started putting out the factual position of SSSCT on the various sensationalist tabloid-type stories current in the media the wind started going out of the sails of these yellow rag fellows. Of course, the interactions of the trustees and senior functionaries of the Sai institutions with the media in Puttaparthi and on national television also made a significant difference.
With the media co-ordinator very quickly putting out factual corrections of distortions that appeared in the media, the money-making Sai-institution-baiting industry collapsed. Our country's motto is Satyameva Jayate. And that is what happened. The Truth was Victorious. A lot of the credit for the truth prevailing so quickly has to be given to you, sir. Thank you so much for the wonderful and signal service you have done for the Puttaparthi Sai institutions, the Puttaparthi community and Sai devotees in general.
I pray to Bhagavan to shower His Grace on Sai institutions in their service to humanity in His Mission and protect Sai institutions from the vile effects of calumny.
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Regards
Ravi
----- end text of email ---
Given below is a pic of that mail (right-click to open image in new tab to view in higher resolution):
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