G. Sai Prasanna Kumar (India)
“Amma treated us not like the chairperson of our institution, but like our mother,” he said. “She came down to our level, and we felt no generation gap.” —Sai Prasanna Kumar
An overview of the Bangalore engineering student’s Amritavarsham50 Youth Meet speech on Amma’s impact on his life.
In his speech, G. Sai Prasanna Kumar explained how his relationship with Amma blossomed after he enrolled in Her AITEC engineering college in Bangalore. Through seeing Amma’s photographs, hearing Her satsangs and singing Her bhajans, he soon found himself feeling the sense of security that comes from living under Her protection and guidance. He referred to the college as Amma’s “Gurukula,” or the place where a young student goes to live and learn under a Guru.
Sai said that his relationship with Amma really grew after he and other AITEC students had the opportunity to spend an evening with Amma, asking Her questions during a group visit to the Amritapuri Ashram.
“Amma treated us not like the chairperson of our institution, but like our mother,” he said. “She came down to our level, and we felt no generation gap. She was, perhaps, even more playful than we were!
“Amma said that youth are full of energy and that they always want to celebrate life to its fullest. While She was supportive of the freedom that youth demanded, Amma cautioned us to be on guard, at all times, from the distractions that take us away from the efforts to reach the primary goals in life. She said, ‘Things go wrong when we fail to say an emphatic “No,” when we ought to say it.’ She advised us to be masters of our decisions.”
Sai concluded by saying, “My experiences with Amma have shown me that those who come under Her influence gradually become more compassionate, with greater empathy and respect for others. There is no strain of conscious effort involved. There is a subtle and imperceptible transformation, a kind of spiritual alchemy, that takes place in our being, eventually helping us to attain a profound peace and a sense of harmony with the whole of existence.”