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The scene is a classroom in the Bukkapatnam High School. The Telugu teacher is conducting the class. He is asking questions, and the students are giving the answers.

TEACHER: Yesterday, I asked you to write the notes for the lesson I taught you. Have you brought the notes?

CHORUS: Yes sir, we did.

TEACHER: Good  ……Sathyam let me see Your notes.

SATHYA: I did not write them.

TEACHER: What? Did not write? …. Why?

SATHYA: Because I already know the lesson, that’s why.

TEACHER: It is immaterial whether You know the lesson or not. When you are told to write the lesson, you must. Haven’t all the other boys done so?

SATHYA: Sir, all of them could not answer you, whereas I did.

TEACHER: So! You are proud, are You? Pride is not a qualification for students. I am certainly happy that You know the lesson. But, because You failed to write it down, You will have to stand up on the bench till the end of the class hour.

The class period is over. The bell rings. It is time for the Telugu teacher to leave and make way for the teacher who would handle the next period. That teacher is Mehboob Khan. Khan loves Sathya. He is aware of the innate Divinity in Sathya. It is to Khan that Sathya gave Vibhuti earlier. The Telugu teacher is unable to get off the chair. When he gets up, the chair also rises – he is stuck to the chair! This causes amusement to the students, all of whom except Sathya, roar with laughter.

ONE BOY: Sir, what are you doing?

TEACHER: Can’t you see? I’m doing the chair dance!

Mehboob Khan enters at this stage.

KHAN: [to the Telugu teacher] What happened to you? You seem to be stuck to the chair! Do you like the chair so much? Or, is it that the chair likes you very much?

TEACHER: Do you think it is funny? I don’t know why this chair has got stuck to me. But for you, it seems to be great fun!

KHAN: There is no surprise in this. Why did you punish Sathya? Ask Sathya to get down and you will be released form the chair.

TEACHER: Khan sir, is there any connection between Sathya standing up on the bench and my getting stuck to the chair?

KHAN: Yes, ask Sathya to step down, and you will know!

TEACHER: Sathya, sit down.

KHAN: [to the Telugu teacher] Now you get up from the chair!

The teacher becomes unstuck.

KHAN: [to the Telugu teacher] Now do you see the connection?…. Sathya may appear to be a student but He has Divine Power in Him. To demonstrate that, Sathya enacted this little drama when you punished Him. Understand?

TEACHER: Sathyam all along I thought of You as a mere student. Only now do I understand that a Divine Child is my student! You are the one Who teaches the master! ….. [to Khan] You take over the class now!

KHAN: Thank you teacher!

SCENE 2

Sathya is sitting all alone. His classmates come there to talk to Him about the strange incident – the teacher getting stuck.

BOY: Raju, You taught a lesson to the Master!

BOY 2: Not an ordinary lesson but one on behaviour!

SATHYA: You are wrong! Guru or teacher is like God, and it is from him that the student receives instruction. It is such teaching that eventually leads the student to the Knowledge of the Self or God. And it is that Knowledge of the Self that in turn leads to Liberation.

BOY: Raju, I don’t understand what you are saying!

SATHYA: Maybe, but that’s the way it is.

BOY: Why did You get the chair stuck to the teacher?

SATHYA: You don’t know? God loves the unusual. From time to time, He does such things for His pleasure! When He was a young boy, Krishna stole the dresses of the Gopis; that was a naughty prank. But that same Krishna, when He grew older, protected, in a moment of great crisis, the honour of Draupadhi by giving her an endless supply of clothes.

BOY: Yes, my mother also told me that story.

BOY 2: You seem to know everything! Why then are You studying in school?

SATHYA: God has been a student before when He incarnated. Sri Rama was a disciple of Sage Vishwamitra. Sri Krishna similarly was a student of Sandipani. This is the way incarnations receive instruction. The scriptures extol the Guru as God. They say: Mother is God, Father is God, and the Guru also is God.

BOY: That’s fine Raju. Now You created Vibhuti by waving Your hand. Was it magic or a trick?

SATHYA: Neither. Divine Power is infused wherever God directs His Vision. If the hand is charged with Divinity, then Creation automatically follows. That’s all!

BOY: Raju, are You saying You are God?

SATHYA: The Sun is referred to as the Sun, Rama is called Rama, and God is called God. God never tells anyone that He is God and that He has great powers! He does not open His lips! Only the one with deep faith knows who God is!

BOY: Raju, can You explain that in more detail?

SATHYA: When the time comes, I shall. Meanwhile, you think deeply about what you have been told. Then you will understand by yourself! It’s getting dark. Come, let’s go.

(To be continued)

- Heart2Heart Team