At present, the people of Chennai are suffering from scarcity of drinking water. The rich can afford to buy water and quench their thirst. But what about the poor? They are drinking impure water and spoiling their health. Hence, I have decided to provide them pure drinking water so that they can lead a happy and healthy life. In this connection, Chakravarthi (Secretary, Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust), V. Srinivasan from Chennai (President, All India Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations) and Indulal Shah from Mumbai (Chairman, Sri Sathya Sai World Council) met the World Bank authorities yesterday and explained to them about the selfless service activities that we have undertaken. They told the World Bank authorities that all our activities were purely service-oriented and we did not expect anything in return. They repeated what Swami had told them to convey.
The World Bank people were very much impressed. They said they had never heard about or seen such stupendous service activities undertaken by a charitable organisation anywhere else in the world.
They were happy that Sathya Sai Baba was providing drinking water to a distant place like Chennai. They have agreed to provide funds for this project. On this sacred day of Ugadi before I came out to give darshan, we received a telephone call at about 7 a.m. conveying this message. If the feelings are sacred, the result is bound to be sacred. They told us, ‘You don’t need to be concerned about the funds and you don’t need to come to us again. We are prepared to meet all your requirements.’ With broadminded ness, they have come forward to extend their help. (SSS Vol.35, pp. 89-90)