At 108 years old, a kindred spirit by the name of Sree Sree Dr. Shivakumara Swami, spends 18 hours/day in prayer and devotion to his 10,000 students at Sre Siddaganga Mutt. He has been educating hundreds of thousands of poor children that come from all over India to receive excellent, free education for over 80 years. Many of these children, who regardless of caste, religion or family background, will go on to become teachers, doctors, lawyers, etc. working all over the world.
Through connections with Rudresh (his relatives worked at this boarding school), we were able to explore the grounds and meet with some of the students last week. Dr. Swami, who many Hindus consider to be a ‘walking god’, is still in relatively good health and has people constantly wanting to receive a blessing from him. We were ushered into his office where a line of people were waiting to give an offering and touch his feet. We were a bit entertained by the fact that he just silently sat and read the newspaper as hundreds filtered in to receive his blessing. I mean really, the man is 108. The fact that he still wakes up at 4am for daily prayer and is still teaching these students is remarkable, even if he does read the paper and seems completely unaware of the people milling about him, desperate for his attention.
There are about 10,000 boys that live at this boarding school. I can’t explain the sight that it was to see thousands of boys, sitting on the ground, participating in prayers and songs for an hour, pure dedication and discipline. It was impressive to say the least. Several came up to Bo and me afterwards to find out where we hailed from. They were loads of fun and bursting with energy.
Through connections with Rudresh (his relatives worked at this boarding school), we were able to explore the grounds and meet with some of the students last week. Dr. Swami, who many Hindus consider to be a ‘walking god’, is still in relatively good health and has people constantly wanting to receive a blessing from him. We were ushered into his office where a line of people were waiting to give an offering and touch his feet. We were a bit entertained by the fact that he just silently sat and read the newspaper as hundreds filtered in to receive his blessing. I mean really, the man is 108. The fact that he still wakes up at 4am for daily prayer and is still teaching these students is remarkable, even if he does read the paper and seems completely unaware of the people milling about him, desperate for his attention.
There are about 10,000 boys that live at this boarding school. I can’t explain the sight that it was to see thousands of boys, sitting on the ground, participating in prayers and songs for an hour, pure dedication and discipline. It was impressive to say the least. Several came up to Bo and me afterwards to find out where we hailed from. They were loads of fun and bursting with energy.