Powerful Reminiscences of His Presence

Isn’t it so uncanny that each one of the millions of Sai devotees has a personalised account of how Swami drew them to Him, like a bird with a string tied to the foot? What is even more extraordinary is that each of these experiences is special and unique, and includes the blissful recall of His constant guidance in the devotee’s life, in matters both spiritual and mundane.

Going down the memory lane, I see my family’s experiences with Swami as a testimony to this fact, for He has been our omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent guardian angel, forever giving us proof of His love and concern.

In early 1967, even before I was born, my father lived in Bangalore where he worked for a multinational firm. Despite the physical proximity to both Brindavan and Prasanthi Nilayam, my parents were not inclined to go and see Swami because they had read a negative media report about Him in a periodical.

Finally, three and a half years later, in August 1970, the miraculous cure of my 13 year-old cousin peaked the curiosity of my parents to explore the phenomenon that is our Bhagavan.

Miracle Cure Brings Family To Sai

My father’s elder brother’s son in Mumbai used to suffer from an excruciating backache. My cousin was being treated by the late Dr. Choubal, a leading orthopedic surgeon of Mumbai. During Swami’s visit to that city in 1970, my cousin was taken to Dharmakshetra (Baba’s abode in Mumbai) and made to sit in the enclosure for sick persons. Being a 13-year-old, his mother was allowed to be beside him. During darshan, as Swami glided along serenely, without being told about his problem, He came near him and casually put His hand on my cousin’s spine, under his shirt, and lo and behold, in an instant, he was relieved of the excruciating pain of several months!

A week later, when the boy was taken for the follow-up to the orthopedic surgeon, the doctor repeatedly looked at the latest x-ray taken after Swami blessed him at Dharmakshetra and compared it with the one taken about a month prior. Noticing the doctor’s predicament, my uncle asked whether there was anything wrong with the boy.

The surgeon replied that there was absolutely nothing wrong; he was just baffled trying to understand from the two x–rays the incredibly rapid healing process which was nothing short of a miracle. My uncle narrated the happenings at Dharmakshetra to the doctor who then remarked that though he was not Swami’s devotee, he had to admit that the remarkable improvement in such a short span of four weeks was indeed inexplicable.

My cousin’s experience in 1970 was my family’s passport to the sacred journey to Sai. Along with my two older brothers and I, my parents began to frequent Whitefield and Prasanthi Nilayam to be in His most auspicious presence.

He Loosens Our Bonds

It was sometime in October 1970, when I was about 13 months old and could barely walk, that we experienced Him as an active presence in our lives. My mother had to take care of three of us and my cousin who was barely four months old. For the most part, this was not at all a problem as we were staying in a large joint family along with my great-grand mother in a huge house. However, once it so happened that only my mother and I were at home

Before going for her shower, my mother tied my legs to a piece of cloth which was tied at the other end to the window bar and around me were many toys – the idea was to make sure that I do not drag myself under the furniture or pull things which could injure me while she was busy in the bathroom. Therefore, on that particular day, leaving me in this fashion at one end of the house, my mother went to the restroom which was at the other end.

When my mother finished her shower, she was astonished to see me standing near the bathroom door by leaning against the wall – at that time I had not even started talking. She was surprised all the more because to reach to that end of the house one had to pass through three rooms and two passages. She wondered how I could make it without straying into the other bedrooms, kitchen or the shrine room en route. When she took me near the window where I was tied, my mother asked me who untied me. I am told I had pointed at Swami’s photograph which was on our bedroom wall!

On another occasion, during darshan at Whitefield, when Swami came and stood before my mother, she urged my brothers and me to seek His blessings by prostrating at His feet. For some reason, my second brother hesitated to touch Swami’s feet, and just sat looking down. Swami, on the other hand, waited patiently almost for nearly three minutes till my brother finally took padanamaskar.

Finally, upon reaching home, we discovered the reason for my second brother’s hesitation. It turned out that my maternal uncle had warned my three-year-old brother not to go anywhere near Swami as there were “serpents in His hair”! While none of us had any clue about the reason behind my brother’s mental block, the all knowing Lord knew what had happened the previous night in our house. Thereafter my father advised my uncle to remain silent even if he did not have faith in Swami.