P.K. Suri of the Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust

Mr. P.K. Suri, who headed the Books and Publications Trust for Sathya Sai Baba was a liar and embezzler. He known by many residents and writers of Sai literature to be so, but no one could uncover this, since telling Sathya Sai Baba  had no effect. P.K. Suri had been a petty clerk in a governmental office before he came to Sathya Sai Baba.  Suri remained at his post. Sai Baba had favoured him since the man’s son, who was a student at the Institute of Higher Learning (I.H.L.) at Prashanthi Nilayam, was one of two killed when their omnibus hit a truck in 1989 in Andhra Pradesh when  students and teachers were travelling with them  on Sai Baba’s direct instructions! A third person was in a coma for several days.

I published a book, ‘The Source of Dream’ (later entitled ‘Source of the Dream’). It was issued in 1,000 copies, 900 of which were given by us to the Sathya Sai Book and Publications Trust ℅ Mr. Suri. He kept it mostly under the counter , selling it at the rate of Rs. 50/- per copy. Mr. N. Suri kept no accounts but had pocketed the money himself (piles of unaccounted cash amounting to Rupees 50,000.- being found in his room during the post-murder investigations at the ashram when Indian journalists were investigating affairs after the infamous 1993 murders episode.

The editor of Sai Baba’ journal, the famous ex-journalist V.K. Narasimhan, told me that P.K. Suri was a liar and a petty crook. Other authors of books donated to the ashram, including Al Drucker, Rita Bruce, and UK-based Indian, Mr. Taylor (publisher of the ‘Gufa Narayana Ashram’ books), all suffered similar or worse treatment from Mr. Suri. He would accept money for printing a book, then not print it and not refund the money given for the purpose (Al Drucker also experienced this but, in his extreme blindness, put it down to Sai Baba’s mysterious, inscrutable will!). Suri accepted printing plates of ‘Vision of Sai II’ from Robert and Rita Bruce for making an ashram edition (profitable for the Book Trust), but he did not use them, claiming he had lost them. The plates had to be made again in Bangalore by the Bruce’s at their own expense. When I asked Rita Bruce if it was Mr. Suri I had met – describing him as someone who hardly even smiled, she said it was, and that he only smiled when he lied!

To Narasimhan’s relief he could later tell me that, P.K. Suri had been removed from his post “on a good ‘pretext’ in a most ruthless manner” by Swami. The pretext was a book he published causing Sai Baba’s ire … about ‘Naranga Amma Sai Ma’, who claimed that she was Sai Baba’s spiritual mother etc. Narasimhan said the rogue Suri was still pretending he was in grace after being sacked, sitting on the verandah.