The Annual Sports and Cultural Meet of the Sri Sathya Sai Educational Institutions is one of landmark events in the calendar for students and devotees of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. The Meet is as much a testimonial to the integral system of education established by Bhagawan in His educational institutions as it is to the spirit of devotion and dedication that He inspires in His students and teachers. Bhagawan has always stressed that equal attention must be paid to developing all aspects of a student’s personality – physical, mental and spiritual. Hence, this event has been marked out as a day when the students from Sri Sathya Sai University and from Sri Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School exhibit their skill and prowess on the field as a prelude the sports and cultural events of the year.

This year, the Annual Sports and Cultural Meet was held on 12th January in the picturesque environs of Sri Sathya Sai Hill View Stadium at Prasanthi Nilayam. The crowds were swelling up days ahead in eager anticipation of the event. On 12th morning, Bhagawan was welcomed in to the stadium at 7.20 a.m. escorted by students on motorbikes holding flags and banners. Bhagawan then lit the ceremonial lamp and inaugurated the event.

The first item was the march past. All the students of men and women campuses of the University, Junior College of Anantapur and the tiny tots of the school, turned out in smart and bright apparels marching in step with the beats and rhythms of the University Brass Band. They then assembled in the grounds to take the oath to participate in the events in the “proper spirit of sportsmanship for the greater glory of sport, and for the honour of the country and our beloved Mother Sai”. Bhagawan then lit the ceremonial torch which was then carried by runners up to the mascot, a dove. The mascot glided up the guide-wires to the light the ceremonial altar near the foot of the Hanuman statue signalling the beginning of the day’s proceedings.

The Brindavan campus of the University began their presentation with a display of paragliding. The students, after taking off from Sri Sathya Sai Airport, made a flawless landing in the grounds of the Hill View Stadium. After touching ground, the students went up to the dais to receive Bhagawan blessings and mementoes from His Hand and a well earned pat on the cheek for their courageous efforts. Next came the ‘Trail Blazers’, the team of gymnasts and acrobats, who displayed their balance, skill and control while performing various thrilling feats on motorcycles like handstand, pyramids, lotus formation, ramp jump and jumping through a ring of fire. Some of them also played on accordion and kettle drums while standing, their hands off the steering! Then followed a cricket drill where the boys dressed up in the colours of the cricket teams of various nations displayed various batting strokes and bowling action in perfect coordination and symmetry. Thereafter, all the students assembled in front of the stage and offered their salutations to Bhagawan before bowing out.

The Prasanthi Nilayam campus of the University and the Higher Secondary School students came on to the ground to offer their programme at the Lotus Feet. The first item was a invocatory dance to Lord Ganesha. Following this was a series of items which mesmerized the audience with the confidence, courage, physical endurance and suppleness of the students - gymnastics, pyramid formations, Chinese martial arts display using swords and spears, a basketball display called ‘Chasing Champions’, Jeep stunts and carabining. Among all the events, the last three events stole the show. In ‘Chasing Champions’, small school boys performed various stunts and tricks with the basketball. They used a trampoline and dunked the ball in to the net in various ways that were quite amusing to watch, but really difficult to perform. One of the stunts involved jumping over a car before dunking the ball into the basket, all of which was flawlessly executed.

Then followed carabining by a team of bravehearts who called themselves ‘Hawks’. They performed many stunts mid-air as they came dangerously sliding down the rope from the top of the hillock to the ground. In the Jeep stunts item, while some boys performed pyramids on moving jeeps, two boys were tied to another jeep’s rear and were dragged on the ground as the jeeps sped all over the ground in a fury. The jeeps also performed the scissor-cross where they crossed each other within a hair’s breadth of each other at terrifying speeds. The programme concluded with a song expressing their love and gratitude to their Divine Chancellor. The background had the words “Sai, We love You”, aptly crystallizing the thoughts of each and every student and teacher who toiled day and night just to see a sweet smile playing on their Lord’s lips.

The afternoon session saw Bhagawan being welcomed by the students of the Sri Sathya Sai Primary School in caterpillar formation. The girl students exhibited a number of dance formations. Their colourful costumes and the imaginatively arranged sequences made for a pleasing sight, which were greatly appreciated by the audience. A team of acrobats from the school put up a fantastic display of their skills performing gymnastics not only on the ground but also on poles. There was also a daring display on a grid about 40 feet high. All this made for a highly entertaining programme as always from the children of the Sri Sathya Sai Primary School. They concluded by serenading their Lord with the song “Madhura Mohana Ghanashyama”

The presentation by the Anantapur campus of Sri Sathya Sai University began with an innovative item with the girls performing stunts on roller-skates and skateboards atop a moving platform about 10 feet above the ground. Next was a dance drill depicting the daily schedule of the students which combines academics with games and sports with spirituality as the underlying basis - all contributing to the wholesome development of the student’s personality. The students returned to the moving platform, this time with a steel grid mounted atop the platform performing a variety of yogic postures. At the end of the presentation, the students gathered in front of the dais to express their gratitude to Bhagawan for His love and grace combined with the students’ toil and efforts that made the presentation a thumping success.

At the end of the programme Arati was offered to Bhagawan and He was ceremonially escorted out of the Hill View Stadium to His residence by the cavalcade of students at 5.45 p.m. thereby bringing the day’s events to a close.