Sri Sathya Sai Young Adults of Region 4

Sadhana Matheswaran (Female YA Rep)

Sadhana was born in St. Louis Missouri and has been a part of the Greater St. Louis Sai Center.  Swami has been the most important part of her life ever since she was born. Sadhana has been actively involved in various regional and national YA activities – YA Region 4 representative for the 2021 National Women’s Mini-Retreat, national GoGreen team for the multi-regional retreat, Bharatanatyam dance offering in the Sai95 YA play, represented region 4 YAs at the 2020 Retreat as a panelist for the workshop SaiFi Network, along with co-leading several projects at her center.  She is a rising second-year honors student at George Washington University, majoring in public health on the pre-medicine track. The principles of human values have guided her passions in social justice, advocacy, and human rights. In the past, she has served as a youth ambassador for the United Nations and has been/currently involved in various initiatives related to women’s empowerment, working against racial injustices in healthcare and education, and combatting local and global human rights issues such as human trafficking, period poverty, and climate change. Sadhana is also a trained Bharatanatyam dancer, and loves to dance in her spare time!

Favorite teaching: “Self-confidence is Faith in God. While Faith is confidence in the God that exists outside of you, Self-confidence is Faith in the God that exists within you. This teaching of Swami has helped me realize that my self-confidence should never be contingent upon praise or external sources of recognition but rather reliant on my own innate Divinity and Faith that Swami is the doer and that He is taking me on the path that is right for me.” 

Abilash Gangula (Male YA Rep)

Abilash was born in Andhra Pradesh, India. When Abilash was 6 years old, his father had turned into Swami’s devotee, after which Swami naturally became his God too. Later, his life took a complete u-turn when Swami “pulled” Abilash to Puttaparthi for his “Educare” from 11th class to Ph.D. This is when he learned and understood many aspects of Life and the true relation between Swami and His devotee. After completing his Ph.D. and a year of Postdoctoral studies at Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Abilash came to the University of Missouri, Columbia in April 2016. He currently attends the Sathya Sai Center of Columbia and has been serving as the Devotional coordinator at the center. Abilash is currently a Post Doctoral Research Fellow, and his research work is to develop diagnostic paper microfluidics for Diabetic Retinopathy & Zika Virus; to design nanoparticle-based drug delivery targets for Cancer therapy.

Favorite quote: “Do not speak bad of others in their absence, for that is the greatest sin one can commit.”