P. S. Varadaraja Ayyar

If monkhood assumed the form of a cheerful youth, it is Swami Venkatesananda. Ever attentive to the call of duty, Swami Venkatesananda goes about his task with a smile that is infectious. He has a gift for brilliant conversation and sparkling wit, and can keep the gravest company aglow with merriment. The rigorous discipline of an ascetic life has failed to freeze the genial current of his soul.

Like his master, he combines the wisdom of a sage with the simplicity of a child. A scholar without ostentation, a writer without pedantry, and a speaker without idiosyncrasies, the Swami has made himself lovable and valuable to all those that have anything to do with him. To his master, Swami Venkatesananda is an invaluable treasure. As an exponent of Hatha Yoga, as a speaker on Bhakti Yoga, as an organizer of a Bhajan group, as an inaugurator or promoter of a branch society, or as the editor of the Yoga-Vedanta Forest University magazine, he always carried distinction in serving the cause of the Society, in any of its many-sided activities. His versatility, magnetic personality and genial temperament should arouse the emulative spirit of many a young novice in the Abode of Busy. To any old man wanting a treatment for rejuvenation, I would recommend spending an hour in the company of Swami Venkatesananda, in preference to the painful injections of Dr. Voronoff.

I wish the Swami all the best on his entering the 34th year of a very useful life, and many more happy years to follow.