I. WIRELESS SHACK :

In life , it is easy to tread a beaten path than venture into an uncharted road , because there is no risk of thorns or unknown danger on the way. This quality in men is popularly known as "herd mentality".In short , do what the next door guy does and one is safe ! We bhanaps are a typical example of followers of "herd mentality". It is perhaps in this context that our Parijnanashram Swamiji when talking about the Guru & laity relationship had said that , " Our people feel quite contented in having "dhoolbhet" and/or "phalamantrakshat" whenever they come to us. arring a few , they have no concept that Guru is meant to give "margadarshan" and even "Mukti" if one so desires. If at all they come to us , it is to seek solace regarding someone"s job or promotion or alliance or health etc.".

Swamiji"s vision was broad and all encompassing. In that sense , He was not a Guru of a particular community , but a "Jagatguru". He could not withstand human suffering and misery. Once , when He had gone to Panchavati at Shirali one evening , the weather was cyclonic and He saw a small boat with two fishermen struggling to remain afloat in vain and they drowned in the Arabian sea. He though to Himself, "If I could not save these two helpless fishermen , how can I save a "samaj" for which I have been ordained ?" Thus was born the idea of the Wireless shack. On a war-footing He enlisted the help of stalwarts like Shri Badakere Dutt , Shri Kallianpur Ramanand , Shri D.P.Row and Shri Dattu Sharma and set up a Wireless Receiver cum Transmitter. He scored a first grade and obtained a licence to operate as a Ham within 3 months , something which other people would have taken years to accomplish. His vision was to equip Shirali with a communication tool that could quickly call for help from anywhere in any emergency.

II REVIVAL OF RATHOTSAV (1973) :

While going through some old Math correspondence, Swamiji had come across a letter written by His Guru H.H.Anandashram Swamiji that He had to stop celebrating the annual Rathotsav festival at Shirali because the meagre finances of the Math would not permit its continuance. Parijnanashram Swamiji took it upon Himself to revive Rathotsav , which he achieved in 1973. The idea was not of pomp and enjoyment. Revival of Rathotsav was to fulfil the promise He had made to His Guru and to give an opportunity to the young and old to congregate at Shirali and keep up the old tradition. Swamiji , with the help of a band of selfless workers made all out efforts to collect the corpus of Rathotsav Fund the annual interest of which would suffice to meet the expenses of the festival every year. He announced that as long as there is the Sun and the Moon , this festival should go on !. People will long remember His noble contribution to not only the Saraswat community but also to people of other communities in and around Shirali.

III STRENGTHENING MATH FINANCES :

a) Though the Math had sufficient farm lands and fields , everything was not well in their management. Supply fell well short of needs. Swamiji saw a good scope in the running of the farms for better yeild. As the first step , He ensured stoppage of part of farm produce getting diverted to private homes. He trained the labour in intensive cultivation and in the use of manure and other allied things.With His close contact with the menial labour as well as the honest and sincere supervisors ,self-sufficiency in cocoanuts, vegetables and paddy was achieved from the farms at Kembre and Bengre.

b) A large piece of land lying vacant in the Bangalore Math compound was the next resource He put to useful purpose. With the active support of the office bearers of the Standing Committee, He initiated development of the vacant land into a large Residential and Commercial complex , keeping the Math precincts undisturbed. With the completion of the scheme, the Math stood to earn about Rs.8.0 lakhs per annum. He did not want compulsion on the devotees to pay vantiga and also wished to relieve the volunteers from running after vantiga payers.

IV ANANDASHRAY :

After the revival of the Rathotsav festival in 1973, the Swamiji diverted His attention to fulfil His one more and very important assurance He had given to His Guruswami - the construction of a "Home" for the aged and the forsaken Saraswats. Swamiji had once said, "The condition of our old people is simply pitiable. They are regarded as burden by their own children and have no place to go , no place where they can live in honour and self respect. Some of them write to Us also,asking if they can come and stay here permanently.What reply can We give them ? "But Swamiji"s mind was even then busy finding a way to bring such people together. Thus came the birth of "Anandashray", one of the finest monuments to Poojya Anandashram Swamiji , the Home for the aged that came into being just before Swamiji left the peetha. He rightly named the Home "Anandashray" which aimed at bringing "Anand" among the distressed and the forsaken or uncared for Saraswats. Initially, Swamiji contributed sizeable personal funds for the venture. Later He was able to collect requisite funds from the philanthropic public. His own compassionate urge coupled with the inspiration from His Guruswami to give the much needed relief to the aged, ultimately saw its successful establishment. Many aged and uncared for Saraswats have taken advantage of this Home. A unique feature of this Home is that the inmates are able to attend the daily poojas at the Math in addition to bhajans and keertans in the evening and satisfy their spiritual urge.

(to be continued...)