People brought their letters every morning and every evening. When Sathya Sai Baba walked between the rows, the opportunity arose to pass the letters directly into his hands. Since Sathya Sai Baba was a clairvoyant, he read the information contained in the letters without even physically reading them. He never physically read the letters, and one look from him was enough to know everything that was written in them. Some letters he took, and some not. Sometimes a person would hold a bundle of letters, but Sathya Sai Baba would not take all of them, but only one. If he took a letter, then the problem or issue that was stated in the letter received his blessing and was eventually resolved.

Some carried their letter for many days and even for many weeks, but Sathya Sai Baba passed by and did not take their letters. People understood this to mean this question would remain unanswered. It is difficult to say why he did not take some letters, perhaps because the requests made in them were not correct or they were meaningless. Be that as it may, whether he took the letter or not it always gave food for thought.

11. Only Sathya Sai Baba determined who needed more to talk to him personally and provided such an opportunity


In addition to general meetings, there was the possibility of direct communication with Sathya Sai Baba in his room. These individual meetings were called interviews. I was fortunate to attend such meetings many times. Sometimes, Sathya Sai Baba invited me as part of a group, and sometimes alone. Sathya Sai Baba used to invite several people for interviews. Every year more and more people came to the ashram, and so the chance to get an individual meeting became less frequent.

In the ‘90s, groups who came for a month or two often had the unique opportunity to interact directly with Sathya Sai Baba. If he believed that a person really needed to talk to him, he would invite him or her to his room for an individual conversation, each time it was solely the decision of Sathya Sai Baba himself. It was impossible to "sign up" for an interview, only Sathya Sai Baba determined who he should talk to personally.

During the morning and evening programs, people sat on the floor of the large temple on rugs, while Sathya Sai Baba walked between the rows. Sometimes, he stopped and could talk to one of those present, and if he considered it necessary, he invited him to his room for a personal conversation. The invited people got up and walked to the entrance to his room.

Sathya Sai Baba invited groups of ten to twenty people and talked with people for about an hour, sometimes up to an hour and a half. Visitors from different countries came to him: Russians and Americans, Chinese and Japanese, Germans and French, Israelis and Iranians, Argentines and Mexicans.

He invited people from different countries for personal talks, and devotees who came from all over the world gathered in his room. The room for personal meetings was relatively small, and all the invitees sat on the floor. There was a beautiful chair in the corner where Sathya Sai Baba sat.

12. I was a beginner interpreter of Sathya Sai Baba, and I was very worried, but soon I witnessed two interesting cases, after which I realized there was nothing to worry about, and so I relaxed


When a group of Hindus came to Sathya Sai Baba, he spoke with them in any one of the Indian languages, such as Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Bengali. If the group consisted of foreigners, then the conversation was held in English. Most of the Russian-speaking people did not know English, so during personal meetings Sathya Sai Baba communicated through translators. I was fortunate enough to interpret many times at such meetings. The main advantage for an interpreter was the opportunity to have frequent personal contact with Sathya Sai Baba.