Anantapur, April 07: Things are distinctly listless in the ashram town of Puttaparthi ever since Satya Sai Baba was hospitalised on March 28. With the 36 doctors treating him alternately appearing grave and reassuring, and the bureaucracy of the Satya Sai Trust barring entry into the hospital to even his kin, rumours are rife.
Many people of Puttaparthi have turned up at the gates of Sri Satya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences where the spiritual leader is in the ICU, apparently fighting pneumonia and complications of the heart and kidneys. Followers from various parts of the country and abroad are pouring into Puttaparthi. Most of them congregate at the hospital although there is little news trickling out from within.
The Telugu new year, Ugadi, which used to be celebrated in a grand manner in the town, was not celebrated this time. All commercial establishments have voluntarily downed shutters. “He had once said he would live to be 96 years. We believe him. Our only complaint is the lack of transparent information from the authorities on his health status,’’ said C R Rao, who is here from Gajuluru in East Godavari. Former Sri Satya Sai Urban Development Authority (SUDA) chairman K Satyanarayana found fault with the trust for withholding information on Baba’s health and barring even the close relatives from visiting him. Puttaparthi is not exactly a tinder box town but security personnel are ubiquitous, with Sec 144 in force. This has led to raised eyebrows.
Vehicles are not being allowed into town, so the faithful walk to Puttaparthi. Food and water are not easy to find, except in the Sai ashram. Nevertheless, people keep vigil at the hospital, giving themselves a break to go and pray for his recovery.
Sai Baba’s illness is bad for business in Puttaparthi. Realtors for instance have taken a hit. For the past eight days, there has not been a single real estate transaction in Puttaparthi. The town’s sub-registrar’s office used to see an average of 40-50 realty registrations every day. In the absence of clear information, the followers look to signals. Foreheads creased in anxiety the day they erected barricades at the Hill View Stadium and the hospital. And flowers arrived by the truckload.
When the inevitable questions were aired, the authorities explained that the barricades were only meant to manage the crowd what with VIPs coming to town to see Saibaba. And the flowers? Those were for the Mruthyunjaya Homam that was preformed for the good health of Baba.
–Agencies