Brindavan Campus Tag

The Summer Course in Indian Culture & Spirituality serves as an induction programme for all students and teachers of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning to expose students of the University to the rich cultural and spiritual heritage of Bharat. It orients students into Bhagawan Baba’s educational philosophy and gives them deep, first-hand insights into how they can directly benefit from this unique institution.

The genesis of the event dates back to the early seventies when Bhagawan Baba organized Summer Courses in Indian Culture and Spirituality for the benefit of students. The course then was usually three to four weeks long and would typically consist of a series of lectures on Indian culture, the essence of the scriptures and other spiritual topics delivered by learned scholars, senior devotees and men of esteem. The highlight however was the daily discourse by Baba Himself, delivered typically in the evening.

In 2011, Bhagawan willed that the Summer Course be reinitiated in a shorter format of two-and-a-half days and which is now an annual event at SSSIHL at the beginning of each academic year that the Students and Teachers of the University eagerly look forward to participate, experience and learn.

The Summer Course was and is an effective way to inspire young minds to follow a life of good values and character. The event also marked the beginning of the academic year for students and teachers of all four campuses of SSSIHL.

Enclosed is a detailed report on Summer Course 2024:

SSSIHL Anantapur Campus

Report & Pics | Schedule

SSSIHL Brindavan Campus

Report & Pics | Schedule

SSSIHL Prasanthi Nilayam and Muddenahalli Campus

Report & Pics | Schedule

The Department of Management & Commerce, Brindavan Campus, in collaboration with Fields of View, organized two unique workshops for II-year B.Com.(Hons.) students during the academic year, in January and March 2024. Through simulated learning experiences, these workshops aimed to foster 360-degree thinking and critical skills, empowering students to become future-ready leaders in a diverse and challenging world.

Fields of View (FOV), a Bangalore-based Policy Lab, researches prevalent societal issues such as urban poverty, water security, mobility, energy security, transportation, and disaster management. They then create games and simulations to help people better understand these complex issues.

Workshop 1: “I Solemnly Resolve”

• In this simulate experience, students were divided into various groups of civic actors: academia, bureaucracy, youth leaders, and the business community.
• Through challenging scenarios, participants made pivotal decisions that shaped the economy and the character of their country’s constitution.
• At the end of the session, witnessed the power of collective decision-making as students crafted a constitutional preamble reflecting their choices.
• This immersive game fostered critical thinking, consensus building, and systems thinking skills.

Workshop 2: “City Game”

• The participants explored the pressing challenges of urban sustainability, safety, and security in today’s rapidly evolving cities. In this cooperative game, students collaboratively built a city with limited resources and time.
• Post-game discussions delved into thought-provoking questions about water security, inclusivity, sustainability, culture, and more; unraveling hidden biases and stereotypical thought patterns as participants gained a deeper understanding of complex societal issues.
• Participants emerged with a heightened awareness of the nuanced challenges shaping our urban landscapes.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the esteemed facilitators from FOV – Sandesh, Pragati, Yashwin, and Akhilesh – for their invaluable contributions. Special appreciation went to Trina Talukdar, Chief Visioning Officer at Fields of View, for her instrumental role in making this collaboration a resounding success.

CAS Actuarial Exams (May 2023)

Eight students including an alumnus from the SSSIHL have successfully passed the actuarial exams administered by the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS), USA, as per the results announced by CAS in June 2023.

The CAS exams are considered amongst the most challenging in the Actuarial field and are well known for their level of difficulty. The success of these students is a great source of inspiration for other students and aspirants and a matter of great pride for the department and the Institute. It is indeed a rare accomplishment, as only a few universities around the world attain such levels of success.

Congratulations to the students for successfully passing:

MAS I (Modern Actuarial Statistics I): 1) Kasyap Sathya (II B.Sc.), 2) Saiprasanna G (II B.Sc.), 3) Sumanth Chebrolu (I M.Sc. Math), 4) Srinand N Hegde (I M.Sc. Math), 5) Hursh Gupta (II B.Sc.) and 6) Abhiishek Chugh (alumnus)

MAS II (Modern Actuarial Statistics II): 1) Sathya Sai Sri Charan 2) Arrnav Dutta and 3) Hursh Gupta all students of the II B.Sc. programme.

About SSSIHL Actuarial Data Science:

To date, 60+ have successfully passed various actuarial exams, since the inception of the Actuarial Data Science programs in 2017 at SSSIHL.

In 2022, SSSIHL was the first Indian Higher Education Institution to have received the 2022 CAS University Award, since the inception of the CAS University Award Program in 2016. SSSIHL is also one of the first HEIs, to award a Ph.D. in Actuarial Science in India.

SSSIHL has been offering Actuarial Data Science programs since 2017 and is actively involved in research specifically in the area of fraud detection. It has to its credit about 36 research papers/book chapters, 27 dissertations in the non-life actuarial stream, and 2 Ph.D.s awarded in the area of actuarial data science.

About CAS:

The Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) is a leading international organization for credentialing and professional education. Founded in 1914, the CAS is the world’s only actuarial organization focused exclusively on property and casualty risks and serves over 9,100 members worldwide. CAS members are experts in property and casualty insurance, reinsurance, finance, risk management, and enterprise risk management. Professionals educated by the CAS empower businesses and government to make well-informed strategic, financial, and operational decisions.

About SOA

The Society of Actuaries is the largest professional society for actuaries in the world with 31,000 members and 36,000 candidates (those working towards becoming an actuary) in more than 100 countries.

For over a century, SOA has advanced actuaries as leaders in measuring and managing risk to improve financial outcomes for individuals, organizations, and the public. That’s taken the form of cutting-edge research, continuing education, and the fostering of a community of peers supporting each other.

About IAI

The Institute of Actuaries of India (IAI) is a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament, viz. The Actuaries Act, 2006 for regulating the profession of Actuaries in India. The IAI has over 8218 members of which 7409 are students, 569 Fellow, and 231 Associates.

The Quest for True Freedom – A Short Play on the Life of Shri Aurobindo Ghosh

On the occasion of the 77^th Independence Day, the postgraduate students presented a play entitled “The Quest for True Freedom” in the Sai Kulwant Hall, Prasanthi Nilayam.

In commemoration of 150 years of the birth of Shri Aurobindo Ghosh, the students chose to showcase the life of the mystic patriot, whose actions were a perfect integration of patriotism and spirituality. The play sought to delve into the true meaning of true freedom, brought out through instances from the life of Shri Aurobindo Ghosh. Apart from the fact that He was born on the 15^th of August, the life of this true patriot saint, is an excellent example for people to emulate, especially at this time when divisions based on caste, creed, and religion are rampant.

The play was a clarion call for all of us to be united and together, harness the education we receive to serve the nation. More importantly, the youth of the country must inculcate spiritual discipline in their lives, which when coupled with patriotism, puts us on the path to true freedom. The play ended with a ‘one-India’ theme song summing up India’s all-round progress, followed by the National Anthem.

The staff and students of the Muddenahalli Campus were honoured to have Colonel T. V. Gopala Krishnan (Ret.) as the Chief Guest to celebrate the 77th Independence Day celebrations at the Muddenahalli campus. Escorted to the centre stage with a slow march by the senior students, Colonel T. V. Gopala Krishnan (Ret.) hoisted the national flag which was followed by the singing of the National Anthem by all present. Addressing the students and faculty, he emphasised the importance of remembering the sacrifices made by our brave freedom fighters and our Jawans. Then students sang patriotic songs describing the glory of India followed by planting saplings on the campus.

The celebrations at the Brindavan campus had our revered Chief Guest Group Captain Kashinath Damodar Bhat hoist the national flag. After the Salute, the National Anthem was played by the campus brass band. Later, the Director of the campus, Prof N Sivakumar, welcomed and greeted the audience on the 77^th Independence Day of the nation. This was followed by a speech by Sri Sai Shivam Shah of III B.Com. (H) in Hindi.  The speech by the chief guest followed, in which he exhorted the students to always adhere to 100% quality, use technology effectively and serve the country with sincerity.

Kartavya – Writing for Freedom – A Short Play

The second event of the evening was a drama presentation by the III-year students entitled, “Kartavya – Writing for Freedom”. The drama revolved around an imaginary freedom fighter named Mahendra who inspired the country through his writings and defending freedom fighters in court cases.

The students and staff of the Anantapur women’s campus assembled at the grounds to celebrate the 77^th Independence Day. At 8 a.m., the Director of the Campus Prof. (Mrs.) M Praphulla hoisted the national flag. The staff and students with great pride and joy saluted the flag, which was followed by the National Anthem and the Pledge. A marchpast by all the students represented by their houses – Sathya, Dharma, Shanti, and Prema was then led by their house commander. The march past was followed by speeches in English, Hindi, Telugu, and Sanskrit languages, over the theme Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. The cultural programs included songs, poems, and dance performances, based on patriotism.

On this occasion, we fondly remember the words of our founder Chancellor Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, who said “It is the patriotism and spirit of sacrifice enshrined in the hearts of the people and their spiritual outlook that will protect the nation”.

Meri Maati Mera Desh – Maati Ko Naman, Veeron Ka Vandan

As part of the Meri Maati Mera Desh campaign, all the students and staff across our campuses took the pledge to serve the nation and contribute positively to society. The students held a fistful of soil as they took the Panch Pran Pledge. At the Anantapur Women’s campus, a plantation programme was organised under the theme “Meri Maati Mera Desh”. 99 saplings of different types of fruits and shade-giving trees donated by Mr. A.G. Anil Kumar, Founder of, the Green Army organization, Anantapur, were planted by faculty, students, and non-teaching staff at various locations within the campus. The students were very thrilled to know that they would be the caretakers of the sapling they planted for their entire duration of stay at the campus.  As a part of the ‘Veeron Ka Vandan’ activity, students dressed as various unsung heroes took centre stage sharing their contributions to the freedom struggle.

Har Ghar Tiranga

The Har Ghar Tiranga program was celebrated with patriotic fervor by the students at Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. The students gathered together on the eve of Independence Day and sang patriotic songs while holding the National flag. The hostels were adorned with multiple Tirangas and each person had a small tiny flag replica with them. Students and staff were encouraged to come and take photographs both in groups and individually. Various patriotic songs were played at the Hostel campuses.

Partition Horrors Remembrance Day

The students and staff of the Sri Sathya Sai Institution of Higher Learning observed 14 August 2023 as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day, across all its campuses, reflecting and recounting the sacrifices of our elders who were rudely displaced from their homes, and subject to violence on religious grounds.

Sri Prasad RLK, Assistant Professor, DMC spoke on the occasion giving the students a peek into the sequence of events that took place that led to the partition and the role of our leaders. He spoke about the trauma caused by the violence to men, women and children alike. Those who survived were devastated as they were displaced from their families staying in the current day Pakistan and had lost their loved ones to the violence. The students got a perspective into the impact it had on the lives of millions of people uprooted from their homes for no fault of their own, and the excruciating pain experienced by them seeing their families being torn apart, exposed to the violence of all kinds, surrounded only with hatred, fear, and barbarity of unimaginable proportions.

Selfishness, religious intolerance, lack of unity and brotherhood, and hearts devoid of love were to blame had led to one of the largest forced migrations the world has ever seen.  The students were then shown the exhibits on the topic curated by ICHR & IGNCA. The session ended with the National Anthem. The activity helped sensitise them on various issues of society and life, reiterating how love, unity, and tolerance are the basis of peaceful co-existence. We are reminded of a powerful message our Master and Beloved Founder Chancellor Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba gave the world when He said:

“Where there is righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in character

Where there is beauty in character, there will be harmony in the home

Where there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation

Where there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.”

—Jai Hind—

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