In plain words
I do not miss a single one of My engagements. Once I gave a programme in Rajahmundry. I went there on time. At that time this bridge was not there. You had to go by boat. As we were going in that boat, the Godavari was flowing very high up the bridge. It was touching the railway bridge. For the boat to go, it had to pass under the bridge. The Collector, the S.P., all of them came there. Saying it was not possible to come by boat. I had to go there at nine o'clock and open a house. There was an I.C.S. officer called Ramakrishna. I had to open his house. Then I said, "At nine o'clock I must go there and arrive." "It is very dangerous. The water is whirling in eddies so that no one's boat can go," they said. At that time Madras and Andhra were one state. Hanumantha Rao was then the Transport Commissioner. The Transport Minister was Gopala Reddy. All of them were to go with Swami. There they said that some guarantee must be given. We told them, "Collector, we are going without heeding you; whatever happens is our responsibility." I asked Hanumantha Rao to give an undertaking. "I am an officer; how can I write it and give it?" he said. I took a paper and wrote it out Myself and gave it. No danger of any kind will happen to Me. We went. As we reached the bridge, the boat was striking the bridge. If it struck, the boat would overturn. All the people of Rajahmundry were watching from the bank. "Sai Baba will come; how will He come?" We reached the bridge, the boat bent down and went across to the other side. No one knows how it got past the bridge. I went and at nine o'clock correct I opened it there. Today too I said 8 o'clock. As it struck 8 o'clock I got out of the car. If ever I am a minute or two late, it is because of Narasimhan who comes with Me. Swami's word is Satya. I keep to Satya. You too try to keep to it, more or less. Wherever you go, the children who studied in the Sathya Sai College must show forth the ideal.