A tearful Sachin Tendulkar joined thousands of grieving followers today in providing his last respects to Sri Sathya Sai Baba. The queue of people trying to make their way into the ashram for a final darshan of the spiritual guru stretched for kilometres. Among the VIPs were Maharashtra politicians Praful Patel and Vilasrao Deshmukh,Telugu filmstar turned politician Chiranjeevi and yoga guru Baba Ramdev,as well as other cricketers such as V V S Laxman,S Sreesanth and Sunil Gavaskar,all of whom have been long-term devotees of the Sai Baba. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to visit the Prasanthi Nilayam ashram on Tuesday evening. The sight of Tendulkar,who arrived today morning,provided a slight distraction with the devotees thronging outside the VVIP entrance to Kulwant Hall,where the body of the Sai Baba lay in a glass casket,to catch a glimpse and take pictures of Tendulkar. The cricket star,who was accompanied by his wife Anjali and a friend,burst into tears soon after he entered the hall and knelt down beside the body of the Sai Baba his spiritual guru of nearly 14 years. Anjali lent him a handkerchief before Tendulkar composed himself and chatted briefly with a senior member of the ashram on the final rites. After spending nearly an hour at the ashram,Tendulkar,who had travelled from Hyderabad,quietly exited through the designated VIP entrance. Laxman and Sreesanth,team-mates on the Kochi Tuskers Kerala IPL team,came together in the evening. Gavaskar,who visited the ashram on Sunday night,spent over an hour beside the body of the Sai Baba. He has left us physically but will always remain in our hearts, the former cricketer said. While Puttaparthi town itself remains virtually shut since the news of the death,many of the mourners,especially the Sai Babas foreign devotees,turned up in their best Indian attire,saying it was the gurus wish that they always dress well. Former business tycoon,the founder of Hard Rock Cafe and the House of Blues global chain of restaurants,Isaac Burton Tigrett,said he was not planning to leave the apartment he stays in in the southern block of the ashram despite the Sai Babas death. Living there permanently now for the past four years,the 64-year-old said he would continue to stay till his death. He wanted me to live here till my last days, Tigrett said. The former entrepreneur who donated nearly Rs 300 crore for the Sai Baba to start the 220-bed super-speciality hospital at Puttaparthi,from proceeds of the $108 million sale of the Hard Rock Cafe brand 20 years ago,said he expected the fame of the spiritual guru and Puttaparthi to grow rather than diminish with his death. Babas following is already seven million people. It will grow further without him because his physical presence was a bit of a distraction. He is a national treasure in India. That is why you have ministers,celebrities and musicians coming to pay respects, Tigrett said. He added that the devotees pouring into the ashram were simple people who would be greatly affected if accusations were made against the Sai Baba. Tigrett said he saw the Sai Baba not just as a spiritual guru but one of the greatest philanthropists and expressed confidence that there would be no damage to the Sai Babas legacy from bickering in the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust. There is no concern over his legacy,it will only grow, he said. On the streets of Puttaparthi,where ordinary people came in bus droves,local residents put into practice the philanthropy that the Sai Baba was famous for. With shops and hotels closed,the devotees marching barefoot found a constant supply of drinking water,biscuits,bananas and snacks.
