The Managing Trustee of the Shirdi Sai Baba Foundation, Aushim Khetarpal, has announced that the Sai Baba Peace Awards will be held in India in 2026, recognizing distinguished individuals across six categories.
“I come here with a lot of graciousness and humility to have the awards launched,” Khetarpal told South Asian Herald in an exclusive interview at the National Press Club in Washington DC. He explained that an Advisory Committee is being formed to identify honorees from around the world, with a special jury making the final selections.
During his visit to the United States, Khetarpal said his primary goal was to “spread the message.” He has been meeting with media leaders, dignitaries, federations, foundations, and sports figures who “believe in God and contributing to the world at large.”
“It is a momentum I’m taking on so that these people can take charge,” he said. “I not only come to carry the message of peace and unity, but also to see this world into a place of oneness that are the fundamentals of this award.”
Khetarpal also met with the Indian Ambassador to the United States, Vinay Kwatra, to present a publication about the awards. Discussions have also begun with the Muhammad Ali Foundation and other organizations addressing racism and empowerment. “Those people, on the first year, will be honored by the Sai Baba Peace Foundation,” he confirmed.
The idea for the awards originated nearly a decade ago when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee invited Khetarpal to Kolkata to honor tennis legend Martina Navratilova with a Sai Baba Peace Award.
Reflecting on his creative journey, Khetarpal emphasized, “I don’t make films for entertainment. I make films for awakening.”
His film, serials, and talk shows on Sai Baba, he said, have touched millions. “Today there is a huge impact of Sai Baba on the lives of crores and crores of people in India and abroad. Awards are one way of connecting these countries where the message of Baba is going every day.”
Asked how he first came in contact with Sai Baba, Khetarpal recounted, “I’ve been blessed in 1999 when I went to Shirdi. I was an atheist. I ran one of the leading sports companies of India, Radiant Sports. I have done about 540 events, but there was a huge controversy. There’s always a story behind a change.”
Referring to the cricket match-fixing scandal of the late 1990s, he explained, “This was the controversy with Jagmohan Dalmiya and Stephen Fleming, where Dalmiya put me into this embarrassing situation, slapping charges indirectly.”
The controversy, he said, was widely reported in over 100 countries. “I was fed up because I was a true Indian who had enlightened sports, got big sponsorships in India, and showed the power of television to the sporting bodies,” he said.
“When these things happen in life, you die, or you live a life of isolation. But I decided to fight, and when you fight, you have to have some universal energy protecting you. And I saw that every action I did there was a hand of Sai Baba,” he said. A chance encounter then led someone to suggest, “why don’t you make a film on Sai Baba?”
The film was released in 2001, and according to Khetarpal, “It changed the course of Shirdi.” He noted that while only about 1,000 people used to visit the shrine earlier, after the film’s release, the number surged to two hundred thousand. Since then, he has authored 75 books.
“I’m very blessed that all this work, but in this whole process he made me clairvoyant,” he said. “I heal people through my clairvoyance, not to earn money, but to heal them. Because I understand the power of empathy. I just pray to him if my contribution can have an impact on the world, make me that.”
Earlier this year, Khetarpal participated in the American Spiritual Tour, traveling to California, Atlanta, and Dallas.
“I just wanted to spread this message of peace. I want to make people understand what when a master touches you, he can change you. And what you cannot get by your Karam you will get with this blessing, but Karam is necessary,” he said adding “So my life is only about talking to them, healing them, and making sure that they have a brother or a father or a son who they can depend on.”
