Venkat Raman
Auckland, March 24, 2024
Piety, Praise and humour were all a part of a fond farewell to Nyayapati Vira Raghava Swami (NVR) Swami who passed away in Hyderabad, India on February 28, 2024.
About 200 people representing a cross-section of the Indian community were present at the Satya Sai Centre of Howick and Pakuranga (Sai Aroha) today (Sunday, March 24, 2024) to pray and pay tributes to Mr Swami, who had endeared himself to New Zealanders and everyone he had occasions to meet in various parts of the world in his long and impressive career as a journalist.
Stotras and Bhajans
From Vishnu Sahasranamam that recites 1000 names of Lord Mahavishnu (the Protector of the Universe) to Bhajans in praise of Lord Ganesha, Lord Shiva (The Destroyer of all Evils), Lord Nataraja (a form of Lord Shiva as the King of all Dances) and Lord Rama, the Maryada Purshottam (an Incarnation of Lord Vishnu), Lord Krishna (who gave the Bhagavad Gita to the world), Goddess Shakti (described as Maheshwari, the Consort of Maheshwar or Lord Shiva) to Hanuman Chalisa, that praises the qualities of Lord Hanuman, the prayer session was replete with sincerity and devotion. These Stotras (Poems of Praise) and Bhajans (Devotional Songs) brought an atmosphere of peace and solemnity to the occasion.
The four grandsons of Mr Swami (two each of Vijay and Ravi Nyayapati) were among those who rendered the Bhajans, reinforcing the growing sense of concentration and Godliness among our younger generations.
Kantilal Naran, a former pilot and electrician from Zimbabwe and now a resident of Ontario, Canada, who altered his flight schedule (at unjustifiably high rates charged by airlines) to be present at the meeting, recalled his long years of association with Mr Swami.
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He spoke of the quick action taken by Mr Swami following the crash of an Indian Airforce jet on November 4, 1977 at Jorhat in Northeast India, carrying then Prime Minister and Janata Party Leader Morarji Desai and other officials of the Indian government.
“Mr Swami was travelling with Mr Desai. The aircraft skipped the runway, hit an unseen tall tree among thick dark clouds and plummeted into a paddy field. He pulled Mr Desai and other officials from the aircraft towards safety. The fear was that the aircraft might catch fire and explode. The airport did not have communication and light facilities like its modern counterparts. Despite being one of the victims of the crash, Mr Swami had the presence of mind to rescue the Prime Minister of the day from a possible disaster and death,” he said.
Editor’s Note: Mr Naran represents the Hindu community at several activities including the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run at which he recites excerpts from the Upanishads.
(Photo Supplied)
The fact of life and death
Conveying his condolences to the grieving family, Mr Naran said that Hindu scriptures advocated the philosophy of detachment as a measure of overcoming grief and understanding the meaning of life and death which occur in a cycle.
He also quoted Thiruvalluvar, one of the greatest Tamil poets, who gave Thirukkural to the world, describing death as sleep and birth as awakening from sleep (Urangu Vadhupolunj Chaakkaatu Urangi Vizhippadhu Polum Pirappu).
“Death is the most fateful experience of each of our lives. Our ancient Rishis and Saints and Masters (Spiritual Scientists) who witnessed the eternal truth neither feared death nor looked forward to it. It is said that death for the realised one is merely a transition, simultaneously an end and a new beginning,” he said.
Murali Kruthiventy, Retail Business Agent at Mobil Oil Auckland and former National President of the Sri Sathya Sai International Organisation of New Zealand Limited described Mr Swami as a ‘journalist beyond compare,’ that he was treated with immense respect by leaders of many countries and that India’s Prime Minister Indira Gandhi preferred Mr Swami to accompany her on our national and international trips.
(Photo Supplied)
A Leaders’ consultant
“He was very close to all the Prime Ministers from the 1960s to the 1990s. Their confidence in his advice was such that Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, PV Narasimha Rao, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee sought his advice on crucial foreign Affairs issues. His contacts in North and East Africa helped India’s ties with the African Continent in a big way,” he said.
Editor’s Note: In Africa, Mr Swami’s proximity and closeness with leaders such as Nelson Mandela (South Africa), Robert Mugabe and Kenneth Kaunda (Zimbabwe) formed a healthy professional envy among his colleagues and the diplomatic corps. For him, political journalism in Africa came with several risks. In 1984, while attempting to report the coup de tat by the Army in Uganda, Swami was locked up in prison for several days.
Mr Kruthiventy said that Mr Swami’s passion and love for India took him back home where he breathed his last.
“He was the kindest, soft-spoken person I have met, so down to earth and humble, despite his close relationship with the elite and who’s who in Indian politics. He was also a great devotee of Sathya Sai Baba. He surrendered to him fully and used to say that whatever happens is the ‘Sankalpa,’ or the Will of the Bhagavan,” he said.
Earlier, Vijay Nyayapati, speaking on behalf of the family said that his father was doing well as a journalist in Zimbabwe, decided to move to New Zealand with his wife Sumathi to see his sons do well in their professions and their grandsons grow.
“While we immensely miss him and mourn his loss, we had the good fortune of being with him during his stay in a Hyderabad hospital. He was 85 years old and that was his first visit to a hospital as a patient and unfortunately, that was also his last. Our father was a source of endearment not only to his colleagues but also to a large section of every community in which he lived. We are lucky to be born as his children,” he said.
This Reporter, who had known Mr Swami for almost 60 years, spoke of his association with him in India, New Zealand and the Middle East.
It was a fraternal relationship that transcended time and distance and an inexplicable bond of mutual concern and respect. Like his family and some friends, the loss is very personal.
