"Dear Students, come what may, let anyone laugh or criticize you - love God. Life is useless without love for God. Despite difficulties, sorrows, etc., don't give up on God. Love is God, God is Love. It will sustain you always and be with you."

Swami said this during the 1990 Summer course in one of His many discourses to the students. It is His love that is the crux of everything. We come to Him to experience His love. We try to stay 'near' Him physically to see Him, talk to Him, touch Him and feel that Divine love radiating from Him. We yearn for Him across the oceans to feel His love in our hearts and in our lives in some form or other. It is to experience this Divine love that we try to undertake various sadhanas (spiritual disciplines). And it is to inspire us to transform our love into selfless love to all, that the Lord of the Universe has taken human form.

When Swami started the first Ladies' Day on November 19th, He mentioned that one of the great qualities of a woman is her selfless love. He always compares Divine love to the love of a thousand mothers. As children we tend to take our mothers for granted and it is only after leaving the home that we appreciate their love to a much greater extent. I found this especially true after leaving my parents home to finish high school and college in Puttaparthi and Anantapur. My friends and I were away from home for the first time and all of us were very attached to our parents. We did miss them at times but we learnt to value them much more. Swami always told us to listen to our parents and make them happy with our good behavior and by studying well. However, the real inspiration in trying to be good was to get His grace and feel His love!

Swami used to come to Anantapur at least once or twice a semester when I was a student. When the Principal was informed of His coming (usually a day or two ahead of time), the entire campus would be a buzz of activity. We would clean, decorate, practice how we would be seated in the dining hall, what bhajans we would sing, who would chant the vedas (sacred texts) when He came, and what programs we would have. Then we would form groups depending on our preferences and all our classes would be rescheduled to prepare for the big event. Swami would first come to our college and meet the Principal and Warden. Then He would talk to our teachers for a few minutes before coming into the auditorium where we would all be seated. He would then walk down the main aisle and come up on stage to the podium. There would be Vedic chanting followed by a few words by our Principal expressing our heartfelt gratitude and joy at having our Divine Chancellor visiting us. This was followed by the Divine discourse.

We especially looked forward to the Divine discourse, because Swami addressed them specifically to us girls. He told us how to sweep and mop our rooms, to hang our clothes up instead of throwing them around, and that we should study well. Once He even distinctly told us that the sacred purpose of being born as a woman was to become a mother! He used to say that it is hard for girls to stay away from their parents, but that the purpose of our stay should be to develop our character and become ideal women.

After the Discourse, we would all walk with Swami to our dining hall. He would go down each aisle and check everyone's plate to make sure every single item that had been prepared was served. Then we said the food prayer (with our eyes open of course) while He stood in front of us. Swami would sit down at the small table arranged for Him and after checking if all the guests whom He had brought were comfortable, He would quickly take a few bites. Sometimes He had time to spend and would come to our prayer hall where we would sing a few bhajans and then He would ask us questions or make some jokes. Those sessions were very informal and sweet.

On one particular occasion, the Principal received a phone call from Prashanti Nilayam saying that Swami would be coming to Anantapur the following day. The good news spread like wildfire and the feverish hustle and bustle started in order to get ready in time for the Divine Presence. Then early in the evening, a rumor spread that Swami had cancelled His Anantapur trip and would not be coming after all. Unfortunately the rumor proved to be true and we were devastated. Most of us didn't feel like eating dinner and we all sat in the prayer hall and sang bhajans through the night while crying to our Lord. What did we do wrong that He didn't want to see us? The next morning we ended the bhajans, sang the Suprabhatam (morning prayer) and walked out of the prayer hall in total silence. Just then the phone rang and after a few minutes the Warden excitedly said that they received a call from Puttaparthi. Swami had just left for Anantapur and would arrive in less than two hours! Oh how our tears turned into smiles! Swami showed us that morning that He really does listen to heartfelt prayer and can be moved by love alone.

The Anantapur college had a major water shortage and it was a daily challenge to get enough water to have a bath and wash our clothes. In addition, the number of students had increased so that our dining hall could not accommodate everyone at the same time and our hostel needed to be extended. Swami graciously told our Principal and Warden to extend both the dining hall and the hostel and also to build a new water tank and a new science college for the 11th and 12th grade girls. He even told us that He would come and inaugurate all the buildings at the same time. As promised, He came and walked all over the campus cutting the ribbons tied in front of each new building. We put on a play for Him in our auditorium and a group of girls did a Punjabi dance in the dining hall. He liked both the play and the dance very much and asked us to perform them again in Parthi.

We used to go to Puttaparthi for every festival or at least once a month. Getting there was an adventure in itself because we had to travel by bus for two hours. We climbed on the buses and loaded our suitcases ourselves onto the top. We were also encouraged to participate in every sport possible along with gardening, elocution and quiz competitions; and yoga and jogging. Our entire syllabus and curriculum was exactly the same as our male contemporaries in the Prashanti Nilayam and Brindavan Campuses.

When the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning has its annual Sports and Cultural Meet in Prashanti Nilayam, the goal is to please Swami and do our very best in every way possible. In this regard we have done a variety of challenging activities from shooting to archery, from karate to dance to hoola-hooping, and from stunts on bikes to yoga postures 50 feet up in the air! Swami has never ever discouraged any activity, physical or academic, because we are girls. We are encouraged to participate in everything but to be modest and completely disciplined while doing so.

In our last interview before graduating, He told us to always remember that wherever we may be or whatever we may do, He is always there. We sang for Him with tears in our eyes with tremendous gratitude and love for all that He had done for us. The years spent in His school and college were not easy ones, but they were replete with golden memories and lessons to last a lifetime. Most of my classmates and friends including myself are now married and mothers. Our roles in life have changed in accordance with the demands of society and our individual families. But with Swami's grace and love, He has helped and guided all of us to be strong women on the inside and to be true to our conscience.

In the end, it does not matter how many years we have known Swami or how many experiences we have had. It doesn't even matter if you are a man or a woman. The entire Universe is His and every single person is a child of God and is equally loved by Him. What matters is how we show that love in our daily lives by helping people as much as possible and bringing smiles on other's faces.