Raleigh Sai Center

Sai Anshul’s journey with Swami and the Raleigh Sai Center started with a big move, a new country, and simply trust in his parents. He was born in Chennai, grew up in Bangalore, and moved to the U.S. when he was nine. You would think he would have had a lot of angst about being uprooted but his attitude was, “If my parents are taking me, it must be for my good.” That quiet respect for their choices still shows up in how he talks about almost everything.

Cricket has always been a major anchor for Sai Anshul

Finding Swami

There were always pictures of Swami at home in India, but as a kid Sai Anshul didn’t really know who He was. He would point to the photo and ask his mom, “Who is that?” and she would explain that it was Swami, and that his grandfather had been a very devoted follower who helped introduce the whole family to Swami.

His grandfather would talk incessantly about Swami. Even on his deathbed, he talked at length to young Anshul on the importance of anchoring his life to Swami.​

The real connection started only after the move to the US. A relative told his mom about the Raleigh Sai Center and helped them plug into the community here. His mother enrolled him in SSSE to learn more about Swami.​

That first SSSE class, he walked into a room where everyone seemed to know everyone else. He had a strong Indian accent and felt like kids might snicker when he introduced himself. But the teachers made a point of welcoming him, and some of the friends he made that first day are still some of his closest friends. He talks about how just seeing a smile from Nalini aunty or a kind word from Ganghadhar uncle makes his day!​

A Lesson in Peace

Sai Anshul's favorite of the five Human Values is Peace. He credits his parents with teaching him how to handle anger and conflict, reinforced by what he’s learned in SSSE.

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He didn't leave Peace in SSSE. When someone makes him really angry, his first step now is to pause and ask himself, “Is this actually going to affect my life in a big way, or is it something temporary that we can fix?”

From there, his instinct is to talk, not blow up. He tries to ask the other person why they did what they did, explain how he feels, and find a middle ground. He puts it simply: he wants to be heard, and he wants the other person to be heard too. He knows how frustrating it is when someone is just lecturing, not listening, and he doesn’t want to repeat that pattern with his friends.

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In fact, Sai Anshul did a live demo for the interviewer. The latter shared a frustration he had with his kids, and Sai Anshul coached the interviewer (three times his age!), beautifully crystalizing with "you want to be heard, your kids want to be heard also." ​

Daily Connection: Prayer, Vedam, and ... Cricket??

Swami is the inner voice he checks in with. If he’s stuck in a tough situation or big decision, he asks, “What would Swami want me to do? What is my heart saying if Swami is inside it?” Then he tries to follow that, trusting that whatever happens, Swami is walking with him.

Anshul's grandfather S. Govinda Rao with Swami and the Madras Seva Samithi, 1967

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He keeps that connection going in small but steady ways. In the mornings, even when he’s running late like most teenagers, he gives Swami about ten minutes. He chants the opening prayers he learned in SSSE and then just talks: “These are the important things today - school, a quiz, practice - please guide me through them.”

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On his short bus ride, he has a Vedam playlist on Spotify. Those chants are his “start button” for the day. If friends ask what he’s listening to, he tells them it’s prayer. He’s not worried about whether they think it’s cool; he feels it matters more that he pays attention to what he puts into his own mind.

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Outside of school and center, a huge part of his life is cricket. He plays at under‑13 state level. More than once he’s had a big Sunday match and a big Monday test. His way of handling it is to plan ahead, adjust his schedule, and consciously hand both the game and the exam to Swami in that morning prayer: “Help me do my best in both.”

Seva Everyday​

Sai Anshul talks about the joy of service. But he doesn't limit himself to formal service projects. For him, a life of seva is helping a classmate understand a tough problem, being there for a friend who’s having a rough day, or looking for small ways to make other people’s lives easier. ​

Advice to Parents

If you ask Anshul what he’d like to say to the older adults in the Sai Center - especially parents in the Parent Study Circle - he doesn’t hesitate long. The first word he comes back to is consistency. Sundays are great, he says, but they aren’t enough by themselves. What has made the biggest difference for him is having some touchpoint with Swami every day, even if it’s just a short prayer or a few minutes of Vedam on the bus.

He encourages parents to help their children build that kind of regular, realistic rhythm with Swami- something that fits into a school day, not just for a couple of hours on the weekend.

The second thing he talks about is listening. He knows many teens who feel like their parents are quick to advise or correct but slow to really hear what they are trying to say. He wishes parents would take 30 min a day just to sit with their children and talk to them as a friend, no advice, no agenda!