Sitting in the hall of a private hospital of Bhubaneshwar, Gadadhar felt that his future was bleak. His sadness weighed heavily on his heart and then the dam broke. Gadadhar sobbed uncontrollably. It being mid-day there were other patients and their relatives in the hall, but they went about their own business, for, each one of them had their own set of pain or that each one of them had already cried their share.

It had just started with a little pain on the right side of the abdomen, which had Gadadhar visiting one hospital after the other.  They would give some medicines and the pain would subside and then after a few days it would return as if with vengeance. He finally made his way to a hospital in Bhubaneshwar. After all the tests the Urology surgeons  there told him that his right kidney was in a bad state and needed to be removed. Gadadhar was not prepared to hear something even remotely like that. He had already spent Rs.66,000 on tests and the hospital demanded another Rs.1.5 lakh for the operation. 

“The surgeons in the private hospital at Bhubaneshwar told me that my right kidney was damaged and had to be removed. I could not digest that. They also told me that more I delayed there is a chance of the infection, which may spread other parts of the body. But I am sitting here, hale and hearty and with my both kidneys intact” he said, reclining on the post-operative bed in the Urology ward of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Prasanthigram. “And all this is Bhagawan Baba’s Grace. He Himself directed me to this hospital,” he added.  

Gadadhar Sahoo belonged to a middle class family and lived in the town of Nayagarh in state of Odisha with his wife and three children, two daughters and a son. Initially for a livelihood Gadadhar bought a car and would give it on rent and would also drive it himself to earn money. As the business prospered, he could later establish a small hardware shop in his town.

Gadadhar’s family had enough to go by so he would always be at hand whenever anybody in the neighbourhood required any kind of help. He would take patients to hospital and also run errands for people in the locality who could not help themselves. In his endeavours his wife Pramila was always stood with him.   

After dropping off one of the patients for treatment, on his way back, Gadadhar for the first time felt pain on the right side of the abdomen, which then started the series of events, which culminated in the waiting hall of the private hospital in Bhubaneshwar. 

After the news was broken to Gadadhar in that hospital he went out to the waiting hall and and sobbed. “After a while I felt a soft hand on my head. I looked up and saw it was a thin old man in a lungi and a white ganji. He asked me softly why I was in tears. The manner in which he asked, I wanted to open my heart to him. I told him what the doctors had told me,” Gadadhar said. “Don’t worry nothing will happen to you. Go to Sai Baba hospital in Puttaparthi and it will be taken care of," the old man said “Hearing this I wiped my tears and then when I looked up again, he was nowhere to be seen.” I forgot all about my ailment and ran around to search for the man. My younger brother met me and I told him what had happened and we both spent the next hour searching for the man, but without success,” Gadadhar said. 

The words of the old man kept ringing in his ears. “Go to Sai Baba hospital in Puttaparthi”. Gadadhar had no clue who Sai Baba was or where Puttapathi was. On his way back to his town of Nayagarh, Odisha,  he kept asking people around him if they knew anything about who Sai Baba was or where Puttaparthi was. All expressed their ignorance about the matter. 

Gadadhar then started asking his relatives if they any clue about Sai Baba or Puttaparthi. After a few days his brother-in-law phoned him and told him about a neighbour who had undergone completely free cardiac surgery in Sri Sathya Sai Baba hospital at Puttaparthi and that there was a facility to treat even Urological ailments. “ While I was relieved that finally I had found out about Sai Baba and Puttaparthi I was not convinced that high-end treatment could be provided completely free of cost and this doubt persisted till I visited Baba’s hospital in Puttaparthi,” Gadadhar admitted. 

Gadadhar visited the SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram a few days after his conversation with his brother-in-law.  

“The hospital is so beautiful, the staff so kind, talking to them I felt half of my ailment had been cured,” Gadadhar said 

 The surgeons at the Urology Department after a thorough examination told Gadadhar that there were multiple stones in Gadadhar’s right kidney and therefore, more than one surgery may be needed, but there was no need to remove the kidney. Gadadhar felt relieved. The words of the old man who had met him in the waiting hall of the Bhubaneshwar hospital had come true. “I firmly believe that the old man who came to me and guided me here was no other than Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba Himself," Gadadhar said. 

After all the tests were performed he was given a date for surgery a few days later. This surgery was one of the several that Gadadhar had to undergo to remove the stones. 

According to Dr. Ashwin, Consultant, Department of Urology at SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram, Gadadhar had multiple stones in his right kidney, for which he underwent surgeries in a phased manner. Eventually the kidney is free of stones and patient is happy, which is most important to us.  The best part, however, is the fact the whole treatment is provided completely free of charge following the philosophy of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.” 

Tears come to me just by thinking about how Sai Baba pulled me out of misery. Otherwise I don’t know what would have happened to me,” Gadadhar said, before his discharge from the hospital. His wife Pramila who was next to him said, we have heard this hospital being called a temple and now we know why it is called a temple. All the staff be it nurses, the doctors or the volunteers all radiate the love of Baba. Bhagawan Baba is our God. 

Jai Sai Ram