Sarayu & Kunja in Parthi - 12 Nov 10

Sarayu & Kunja (Latha's Chithis) were here in Parthi with us on 12 Nov 10 at 8 am. They came by bus from Chennai .Picked them up from the Bus Stand which is barely a 5 minute drive away from our home . They were pleasantly surprised to see how comfortable we were in our spacious new house. Went with them in the morning for seeing Sarayu's son Anand 's flat close by . Also drove down with them and Latha to a new multi storeyed complex being built near Gokulam - a 5 minute drive from Ganesh gate.

The 4 storeyed Complex was unbelievably beautiful -with standby generator, lift, intercom system, swimming pool 24 hour security , car parking etc!! Just couldn't imagine that such flats could come up in a a small town like Puttaparthi. 2BHK flats as shown in the photographs below costs Rs 25 Lakhs .Smaller size flats are also available - cost Rs 2150 per sq feet. The Complex is being built by Sai Leela Developers based in Bangalore (www.saileeladevelopers.com).

The Drawing Room

The Kitchen

Bed Room No 1

Closets in Bed Room No 1

Bathroom attached to Bed Room No 1

Verandah

Exactly same set up for Bed room No 2

Left to right Sarayu,Latha & Kunja

Diwali in Puttaparthi - 05 Nov 10

Barely a few days after our arrival in Parthi we celebrated Diwali, on 05 Nov 10. Sundarambal , Bhopal Patti's very dear friend went to the North Indian and South Indian Canteen in Prasanthi Nilayam and brought Coconut Burfi, Jalebis,Mysore pak and Laddus ! We all got up early in the morning ,got ready and wore our new clothes as is customary.I also strung our "ladis" ( serial lights) across the entrance.

In the night we had very few crackers but plenty of "Jameen Chakras" ,which performed well.

Latha and Bhopal Patti enjoying "sparklers"

Unpacking the luggage & setting up our house 25 to 27 Oct 10

Our truck arrived early in the morning on 25 Oct 10 as per schedule.And the unpacking and setting up of the house began in right earnest .Sai & Ranju were of immense help .They set up the 2 BHK house in just two days - what would have taken us two months to do ! They were working till the last minute on 27 Oct afternoon when we had to leave - to drive down to Bangalore Airport 135 kms and two hours away- 90 kms on the Hyderabad Bangalore Highway on which we had driven just a few days back.While the unpacking was on ,we did not miss Swami - who gave the entire family excellent Darshan for one to one and a half hours each day.

The new Bangalore Airport was very good but I thought that the Hyderabad Airport was more elegant.Sai left us for Hyderabad en route to San Francisco at 6.10 pm and Ranju at 7.30 pm.We had such a lovely time together - thanks to Stephanie and Bharath who ensured that their spouses were available to us for the shifting .Moist eyes but what wonderful happy memories !Latha and myself drove down to Puttaparthi in silence - during the night - the car really empty and our minds blank. But that is what life is all about and as Sai says if we do not depart how do we meet again ?!

At Prasanthi Nilayam - 24 Oct 10

We parked our car in front of the Accommodation office .I got down and met Shri Unnikrishnan the Accommodation in charge.As I had already informed him about our arrival I had no problem in getting a room in Prasanthi Nilayam - South Block 6. While I was at the Accommodation office, Ranju located Kousalya (my sister in law) in the Ladies Canteen Q .She had come to drop my mother in Parthi ,from Chennai.

We all got ready.While Ranju & Sai went for Swami's evening Darshan I went to drop Kousalya at The Prasanthi Nilayam Railway station .Just couldn't believe that I was in Prasanthi Nilayam !The children had excellent close Darshan of Bhagawan, after which we had our dinner at the North Indian Canteen .Slept peacefully in the night .Our truck is scheduled to arrive in the morning tomorrow 25 Oct 10.

Packing and moving to Puttaparthi - 22, 23 Oct 2010

So we are finally at Puttaparthi - the Earthly Abode of the Lord and Master of the Universe - Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba - after an unbelievable series of events brought us finally to His Lotus Feet. We packed up our entire household on 22 and 23 Oct 10.

Thanks to Sai who extended his stay in India by another week and Ranju who flew in from Kolkata, and Agarwal Packers & Movers, the truck loaded with our luggage left for Puttaparthi on 23 Oct evening.And we shifted to MES Inspection Bungalow (a Govt Guest House) on 22nd Oct evening itself.

Very comfortable two nights stay .We finally started our drive from Hyderabad to Puttaparthi in our Maruti Zen Car at 6.30 am on 24 Oct 10 .Reminded us all about our drive from New Delhi to Hyderabad ,when Latha ,myself Ranju & Sai had driven to Hyderabad on 31 Dec 1991 from Delhi in our Maruti Van .And now we were moving away from Hyderabad towards another phase of our exciting journey called Life - with an additional passenger - my 3 year old grandson Achyut .

We travelled on the Hyderabad Bangalore newly constructed Expressway - unbelievably great - I just could not believe that I was driving in India at 120 to 130 kmph on a 6 lane highway.Thoroughly enjoyed the drive. Highlight of the drive was Ranju also driving without even a Learner's driving license (!) which was a reminder that we were still in India only! Covered the 490 km drive in 9 hours including a one hour lunch halt in a dhaba in which the lunch was very tasty indeed.