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Journalism of Courage
Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s 100th birthday on November 23, 2025, marks a milestone for millions who consider him a guide, a guardian, and a living reminder of the transformative power of love. His birth in the small hamlet of Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, was wrapped in stories of wonder: musical instruments said to have played on their own, and a child who amazed friends by plucking sweets and fruits from a hilltop tree. He sang bhajans from an early age and urged people to “be good, do good, and see good”, calling it the simplest path to God.
As his name travelled far beyond Puttaparthi, crowds arrived to have his darshan. His mother asked him to build what the village lacked, a school for children, a dispensary, and access to safe drinking water. What followed was far beyond anyone’s expectation. Baba established the Sri Sathya Sai educational institutions, including a university; set up a super-speciality hospital that provides free advanced medical care; and initiated the Sri Sathya Sai Water Project, which supplies potable water not only to Puttaparthi but across the drought-prone Rayalaseema region.
Over the decades, his discourses filled volumes, yet he distilled their core into a single teaching etched on his Mahasamadhi: Love All, Serve All. He described it as the essence of Vedanta, the understanding that the self is not separate from others. When one loves and serves all beings, one is in fact loving and serving God.
For Baba, the role of a Guru was to awaken the inner quest. He framed it as four questions: deham? (Am I this body?); nahām (No, I am not); koham? (Then who am I?) The seeker, he said, eventually reaches the realisation of soham (I am He; a spark of the divine). In earlier yugas, he taught, moksha required severe austerities. In Kali Yuga, the path is simpler: sincere remembrance of God through namasmarana. Bhajan singing and vedam chanting.
For our family, the connection is personal. Our sons studied in Grade 11 and 12 at the Sri Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School in Puttaparthi. They still say those two years shaped them for life. Baba repeatedly told students, “Education is for life, not merely for a living. The end of education is character.” Degrees on a CV mean little, he reminded us, if they are not supported by values such as honesty, integrity, hard work, responsibility, respect, and empathy. These values, he said, are what make us truly human.
When Baba left his mortal body in 2011, the grief felt overwhelming. But over time, that loss settled into something steadier, an inner presence that felt stronger than before. His devotees often speak of the silent conversations they continue to have with him, and of memories that now feel like blessings in retrospect.
“My life is my message,” he once said. Later, he added, “Your life is my message.” Those words now serve as a daily compass. As his centenary celebrations unfold at Prashanti Nilayam in Puttaparthi and in Sai Centres across the world, the most meaningful tribute we can offer is to live in a way that would make him proud.
For many, this centenary year is not just a commemoration, but an invitation to rediscover the joy of love, service, and inner stillness.
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