“The Guru sows the seeds of virtue, of wisdom, and of faith in the heart of the pupil. He is, therefore, Brahma (of the nature of the Creator).
The Guru cannot sit back and silently watch the fate of the pupil, after the first few lessons. He has to guide the pupil at every step, foster and encourage good habits, sound reasoning and valid emotions, and act as Vishnu (of the nature of the Preserver).
The Guru has also the duty cast on him, to watch every step of the pupil, and warn him off, when he takes false step, or develops a bad habit, or entertains a deleterious doubt. The Guru must be ever alert to destroy the pests of vice and the weeds of sloth and unsteadiness. (He is, therefore, Shiva, of the nature of the Destroyer.)
I direct that Balvikas teachers should hereafter be known by the vastly more appropriate name of Guru, so that you may be conscious always of the spiritual role which you have taken on, and its responsibilities and value.”
– Sri Sathya Sai Baba, Rajamundry, January 3, 1974 Content

Gopi Balakrishnan is a Sai Parent and SSE teacher. He lives in Houston, Texas. He has taught group 3&4 over past 6 years. He received his SSE training from Sis Bernice Mead in 2011 and has been an active volunteer / facilitator / participant at SSE teacher enrichment programs. He came to Swami’s fold at a very young age. He did his schooling in Trivandrum, Kerala and was an active member of the Madhuvanam Sathya Sai ashram in its formative days in the 90s.  
He did his Masters in an electric power engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York and currently works in field of Technology management and Digital transformation.

Lakshmy Padmanabhan is a devotee of Sri Sathya Sai Baba since her early days. She enjoys the company of children and guiding them to better experience the world around them. Her love for children is her primary motivation to teach Group 1 and Group 2 classes in the Satya Sai educational program since 2004. Besides being an SSE teacher, Lakshmy has also served as devotional coordinator and service coordinator at Sai Centers. She is a retired financial executive and lives in the Dallas area.

Paddy Padmanabhan is an ardent devotee of Sai and has been teaching Group 3 & Group 4 children in the SSE program since 1997. He has served the Satya Sai Organization in several capacities and is actively involved in Swami’s educational mission and study circle programs. Since 1998, at Swami’s calling, he has served as a visiting professor in finance in the MBA program at the Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning in Puttaparthi. He is a retired business executive and lives in the Dallas area.

Panchavi Radhakrishnan is CPA by profession and lives in Dallas, Texas. She has been teaching Group 2 students for 5 years. Her Sadhana for SSSE is practicing Swami’s teaching. The significant part of her spiritual journey is to become the better person by following the five human values. She is looking forward to learning from SSSE Gurus and students.

Pappa Kumar has been in Swami’s fold for the past 20 years. He lives in Sugar Land, Texas and has been a SSE guru for Group 2. He received his SSE training from Sis. Bernice Mead and took part in periodic SSE Teacher enrichment activities. He taught group 2 children at the Sacramento Sai Center and later continued to teach Group 2 at the S Houston Sai Center. He
considers teaching children to be not only fun but also his spiritual sadhana. By profession he is a Research Professor in M.D Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Pavithra Krishnan is a Sai Parent and SSE teacher. Her journey with Swami started while in high school in Bangalore. Her affinity to Swami began with Seeing (S)Him in Brindavan where her
mother was one of the singers. This grew into Association(A) with Swami’s activities in Bangalore and then in US. SSE has enriched this into Introspection(I) every day. She received her SSE training from Sis Bernice Mead in 2011 and has been an active SSE Guru for a decade.
She has taught Group 1 through 4. She has served as the SSE Coordinator (S Houston), been a part of the National SSE teacher training team, several SSE enrichment sessions, SSE Teacher mentor and National Teacher Study circle team in the past.
She lives with her husband, children and pets in Houston, Texas. She is a Technologist by profession and works in field of Product Management. She pursues music, painting, reading, and cartooning in her free time. Being with children and participating in their spiritual growth keeps her very close to Swami. She enjoys their company and considers it a big honor to be part of their journey.

Sridevi Devaraj lives in Sugar Land, Texas and has been a SSE guru for both Group 2 and Group 3 children for the last 15 years. She is formally trained to teach SSSE and is very passionate about teaching Swami’s values to children. She is especially motivated to follow what she teaches and motivate the kids to use Swami’s values in real life. By profession, Sridevi is the Medical Director of the Texas Children’s Hospital laboratories and Professor of Pathology at Baylor College of Medicine. She is also committed to being involved in community service and loves to involve children and devotees of all ages in these efforts with the ultimate goal of enriching ourselves by sharing and caring.