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| True beauty of 'Aishwarya', according to Sai Baba |
| Bhakti V Hegde, Mangalore, April 24, DH News Service: |
Puttaparthi Sathya Sai's devotees are spread across the world. Among them is Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. |
| The famed actress and her family bore great love and affection towards the spiritual leader and revered him. Baba's demise has left the Rai household with a deep sense of loss. It was on November 1, 1971 that Krishnaraj Rai-Vrinda Rai couple gave birth to a blue-eyed baby girl. Since the family members were Baba devotees, the parents decided to take the baby to Puttaparthi to seek the godman's blessings. The Rai couple had named the baby 'Aishwarya' by this time and Sathya Sai Baba, on taking the baby in his arms, asked them about the name. Charmed by the name 'Aishwarya,' Baba uttered the name softly into the baby's ears and blessed her. However, the spiritual prodigy then clarified to the parents that the word 'Aishwarya' might mean 'wealth' for the ignorant world but its true meaning was 'Eshwarapriya' (the one beloved to almighty). He went on to say that the little baby would grow up to be an embodiment of all true virtues. Aishwarya Rai, now the 'bahu' of Bollywood's first family has been a pious devotee of Sathya Sai right from her childhood. Ash's eldest cousin Suchetha Shetty said that as a child, Ash used to be a regular at the Bal Vikas centres in Mumbai to sing bhajans in praise of Sathya Sai. "She has grown by leaps and bounds in her career but she is so faithful to her culture and traditions of the family that even today she sings bhajans for Sathya Sai and takes part in daily prayers at home whenever she is in town," Suchetha says. She recalls that during one of Sathya Sai's visits to Mumbai, little Ash was chosen to garland him. "As a child, she used to look angelic. Hence, she was the obvious choice of the committee which had organised Sathya Sai's visit there. We as a family were overwhelmed that Ash was made to garland the Guru," Suchetha recalls. It was her maternal aunt Anasuya Alva, a Sai devotee, who induced the entire family to turn into 'Sai Bhakthas.' Since then the family has always sought solace in Sathya Sai during all highs and lows. |
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