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Posted on : Oct 8, 2011

BABA'S FANTASTIC FLUTE

- A tribute to the elevating life of late Dr. Victor 'Krishna' Kanu

Part 3

Victor's first darshan of Baba actually happened in Puttaparthi, an experience that he could never forget.

Victor's First Darshan: “I simply believed Him Straight Away”

“In Puttaparthi, we sat on the sands. And when He came out my eyes fell on Him; it’s difficult to describe because I had never seen someone like this on earth. I was filled with joy; I was very, very happy within. All of a sudden, all my fears disappeared. And I just loved Him; I simply believed straight away that indeed this man is God.

“And when He came and said 'Go!' we went to the interview room, and I saw the first miracle. I saw Him waving and producing rings and several other things. Then He said something about my wife which none of the members who were with us knew about. He disclosed so many details to us, and then suggested that we should follow Him and go to Whitefield where He would perform a spiritual marriage.

"I had never seen someone like this on earth" - Dr. Kanu

“We went to Whitefield. There Baba called us into His house; it was a small place. Outside this building, we saw an Italian cripple; this woman could not walk. One boy had to lead her into the interview room. She sat there waiting for Baba.

“Once Baba came, He called my wife and me, and recited some shloka’s (hymns) or whatever that was and then produced plums, saris, and several things for the wedding ceremony. When He was through, He looked at this woman seated in the corner there and said: 'Lady, get up and walk!'

“All of us turned to her. She hesitated but Baba said: 'Come to Me'. Then this woman got up and really walked towards Him! Baba then took her into the inner interview room and gave her a sari. When we came out of His building, this woman raised her hands in praise of God.

“When I saw this, I was reminded of Jesus Christ making the lame walk. Here was Baba doing this without even praying to anybody; just simply by a command. I witnessed this with my own eyes.”

During this same first trip in February 1980, Baba asked Victor and his wife to follow Him to Ooty. Victor narrated that memorable experience too:

“He asked us to accompany Him to Ooty. We were so immersed with just seeing Him; we had never seen a human being like Him on this planet. We would just follow Him everyday; Baba was our lead. We came to realize we had found something which the world had never given us – something which was far greater than what we had been taught in our Christian religion.”

That's how powerful and profound was Victor's first experience in Baba's presence. He just fell in love with Baba, the place, the people and the ambience around. And since 1980, Victor came to Puttaparthi every year, sometimes twice or even three times. He just adored Baba and just as he had thought, He did take care of his mother's problem. Someone in his home country offered her the required money. For 25 years from then, Victor never went to Seirra Leone; his only destination was Puttaparthi and His only goal – Baba. 

Unravelling the 'Lion and Joy' Experience   

Actually the puzzle of the vision of the 'lion and joy' too was solved, even before he reached Puttaparthi that year.

Kirit Patel took Victor to the office of the Sri Sathya Sai Organisation in Mumbai and introduced him to Indulal Shah, the then International Chairman of Sri Sathya Sai Organisations. Shah greeted Victor warmly and in turn introduced him to Mr. Java, who was the owner of Joy Ice-creams. The Sai Organisation was at that time operating out of the premises of the Joy corporate building.

It was only then that Victor figured that the vision of ‘Joy’ was perhaps Baba's way of indicating to him that he was soon to be drawn to the Sai Organisation. And slowly, the vision of the lion too became clear. Lion is the king of animals and at the time when Victor had the vision he was seeking to know what kind of God Baba was. Baba was indeed the King among Gods. “This is what the vision was telling me,” Victor said to himself later. So through the vision of the lion and joy, Baba was saying to Victor: “Yes! You will belong to My organisation which has its headquarters in the 'Joy building'.”

While this was how Victor understood the visions, it could also be interpreted in another way. Probably Baba was indicating that Victor was to be a lion in His organisation as that was what he shaped up to be. Ms. Carole Alderman, the former director of the British Institute of Sathya Sai Education, says: “Victor was a lion of a man with a huge heart... He served others and was cheerful till the end... What an amazing man! He did so much to get SSEHV (Sathya Sai Education in Human Values) started and known in his area of South London where he taught in a large secondary school.”

EHV Captures Kanu's Heart

After Victor saw Baba in 1980, he returned to Prasanthi Nilayam in 1981 for a Bal Vikas Conference organised by the International Sai Organisation. It was on this occasion that he was exposed to the five human values of Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Love and Non-Violence. So impressed and moved was Victor when he heard about the Education in Human Values program that as soon as he returned to London he set up a Sai Centre at his home in Longley Road, Tooting, to create awareness about Baba and His SSE values.

Students from the primary sections of the Sathya Sai school of Zambia

Shortly thereafter, he became involved with the Inner London Education Authority and was successful in introducing these ideas in some of the schools in London. As Mr. Isver Patel, the former chairperson of Sai Organisation in UK says: “Victor and His wife Genevieve were the pioneers of the EHV movement in UK.”

Victor - God's Instrument to Start the Sai Movement in Turkey Victor saw Baba physically for the first time in February 1980 and he was so drawn to His form, His miracles and His message that from that time he made several visits to Puttaparthi every year. Even as Baba was constantly shaping him to be His ideal devotee what is interesting is He also was using him as an instrument in His mission of touching and transforming lives. In fact the story of how Mr. Kaya Gunatha, the person who founded the Sai movement in Turkey in 1989, became a Sai devotee is fascinating. Not Baba but Kanu appeared in his vision in his meditation one morning! He didn't know who that person was but soon all became clear as many things orchestrated by the Divine unfolded in a span of just a few days. See the video below for the full account of this riveting episode: Mr. Kaya Gunatha of Turkey narrates how by divine design Victor appeared to him in a vision in early 1980s to begin His journey to Baba

Soon Victor was deeply engaged in carrying this message of human values to the African continent. He was instrumental in Sai devotees from Africa attending courses of SSEHV at the First Bal Vikas Training Course for Overseas participants held in Prasanthi Nilayam in 1983. This course evoked in them a deep sense of appreciation for the concept of value education and also created awareness of the inadequacies of the multifarious systems of education prevalent in Africa. Thereafter attendance at similar and more intensive courses on SSEHV at Prasanthi Nilayam and Europe became compelling for these teachers. Thus the period 1983 to 1985 witnessed the rapid expansion of the SSEHV programme in training and development in Europe as well as Africa.