My first introduction to Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba was through my maternal uncle, whom we used to call Fauji Mama, because he was in the Indian Army. He was posted in the North East of India and was  getting transferred to another location, which was far from our native place in Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh. He wanted a location closer home like Pathankot, as my grandmother had fallen ill and he wanted to take care of her.

During that time he visited his office in Bangalore where one of his colleagues who was a Sai Devotee told him about Swami. He mentioned to my uncle that Sai Baba was a man of miracles and He could do anything if the wish is sincere. My uncle visited Whitefield in the 1991 and had Darshan of Swami and prayed fervently to Him and asked Him to get a posting close to home. He also mentioned in the prayer that if he was posted somewhere close to home, he will definitely believe that Baba was God incarnate.

Lo and behold, his transfer was changed and he was posted at Pathankot close to home, just as my uncle had wished. After taking his posting in Pathankot he went back to Whitefield for Swami’s Darshan once more and also to thank Him for His kind help. He then brought many books from Whitefield and gave some of them to our family also.

One of those books was by Howard Murphet. I was a doubting thomas. I read the book, but felt that it was hard to believe what all was written in the book and I shared the same thoughts with my parents also. At that time I was in my high school and one girl in our class was from a Sai Devotee family. On her birthday she distributed toffees to us especially mentioning that they had been blessed by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Me and my friends just ate the toffees, feeling why she was making it such a big thing that Bhagawan Baba had blessed it. I had no idea then, how special it was to be blessed by Swami. 

I completed my schooling and got selected on merit in the Medicine entrance examination. During my studies, I came to know that my mother had started attending Sai Bhajans in our home town. I was against her attending Bhajans and would ask her why she was doing it. She would just say that she was feeling good attending Bhajans, so I let it be. 

I felt at every step by some coincidence things were happening, which were pushing me towards Swami. One day I visited my mother’s maternal uncle. He was born before India’s freedom. In his room there were photos of all the freedom fighters and I was surprised to find a photo of Bhagawan Baba also there. I asked him about the photo. He told me, all others were great human beings, but he could not meet him  them as they had passed away, but  Swami was in flesh and blood and is considered to be the incarnation of Sri Sai Baba of Shirdi, so if I would ever get an opportunity, I must make the full use of it and have His Darshan. This set me thinking. I was no longer on the opposite side of Swami, but was being gradually drawn to Swami by an invisible rope.

I returned home from my college during my vacations and heard that my parents were going to Puttaparthi for Seva. I was not convinced with their decision. But I felt that as I was also having holidays, let me go with them and after dropping them off at Puttaparthi I would go off to Bangalore and from there for a South India tour. I did not have any interest in spending time in Puttaparthi.

I came along with them and entered the Ashram. It was around 2:30 pm and there was this enthusiasm among the people in the Ashram about the forthcoming Darshan. I did not understand what was going on, but felt like going with the flow and thought that I should also go for Baba’s Darshan once.

I saw Swami gliding across the Sai Kulawant Hall and pass by me. That first Darshan had some profound effect on me. I completely forgot about leaving for Bangalore and then going for a South India tour and ended up performing Seva along with people of my State in Prasanthi Nilayam for a full week. I did not know what had happened to me. But now I realized that a primordial bond which I had with Swami was renewed during that first Darshan. Much later I came to know that this was a common experience among the devotees. That is how Swami works.

During my Seva period I met many people. Two of them were doctors like me. One person was from Chennai. Seeing my desperation and hearing my silly doubts about Swami being Poorna Avatara, He just smiled and said it’s just as Frank Starling law of physiology, which says “The more the initial length of muscle, the more shall be the contraction after the initial stretching.” The more you are running far from HIM, the more HE shall pull you nearer to HIM.

My Seva was in shifts, so when I was off duty I could go for Darshan and on the third day I got Padanamaskar. Here I was arguing with my parents about their decision to go for Seva and here I was getting Swami’s Padanamaskar. I went back from Prasanthi a changed man. Then Seva became an integral part of my life. During my college holidays we had our Himachal State Seva I would be a part of my State’s Sevadal group.

I would keep pestering my mother about why she would believe that Swami was God incarnate. Not with any doubt, but because I just felt like asking.  She initially would not tell me much. But later she revealed that Swami had given her Darshan many times in various forms, sometimes like Shiva, sometimes like Rama, sometimes like Krishna and so she had no doubts left in her mind that Swami was God incarnate.

I came for Seva on several occasions and two occasions I even got Seva at Swami’s Residence also. There was no sudden event through which Swami had transformed me. But more of a gradual process.  When I look back I feel Swami removed layer after layer of maya, which had settled on this ancient bond between Swami and me so that I could see the blazing truth standing right in front of me. Swami was my mother, my father, my Guru and my everything. In the unfathomable depths of my heart there was nobody apart from Swami, it seemed so natural. Looking back I did not know why this was so difficult for me to see in the first place. Let me mention it here, Swami’s bond with us is not only this birth, but it is for many many births. Only that Swami knows and we do not. It is our great good fortune that He decides to bring us into His fold.

During my visits to Puttaparthi, I would pass by the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Puttaparthi many times, but never felt like I could ever enter it. I was always told that big doctors worked there. During one of the Seva occasions I came to know that one of my known doctors who was also a part of the Sai Organisation in Himachal had joined the Hospital as a student. I was surprised. His name was Dr.Rajan Anand and he was from Kangra, while I was from Hamirpur. He had joined as a Diplomate of National Board (DNB) Trainee a three years course at SSSIHMS, Puttaparthi in year 2005. Then this thought came to my mind then, why not I also give it a try. I got through the examination and took up the course of Ophthalmology at SSSIHMS, Puttapathi. That is how I joined the hospital in the Ophthalmology department as a trainee in February 2006. After the completion of my course I went for a fellowship and joined the department back again. Later I became the Head of Department. 

There are many incidents which I can narrate, but one remains etched in my mind. There was one patient for whom we performed a cataract surgery in our hospital. This person after the surgery spoke to me and said that throughout the surgery he saw that Swami was performing the surgery. “It was not you, it was Swami who was performing the surgery. In place of you it was Swami,” he said. I was thrilled.  Then later he came for cataract surgery of the other eye, this time after the surgery, I asked him whether he still saw Swami instead of me. This time he replied “No Sir, Swami was standing in the corner and supervising the whole operation.” This is one of the many occasions when patients have seen Swami in the operation theatre. In fact on several occasions we have our Sevadals seeing Swami in the corridors taking walks during the night time. There are many instances like this.

We all know that Swami’s hospitals provide treatment totally free of charge. But what it really means I came to know only when I went outside for a fellowship. After finishing my training at Swami Hospital, I went for a fellowship in a private hospital with the aim of completing it the returning to Swami’s hospital. One day I was in the OPD in that private hospital and told a patient to get some tests done and come and see me post lunch. He refused to see me post lunch. I was beside myself with surprise, as to why a patient would say no for a consultation when doctor is asking for it. Finally with a sad face the patient told me that he did not have the money to pay for the tests. It was with a sudden jolt that I realized that I was no longer in Swami’s hospital and that I was in a private hospital, where treatment was not free. 

It was so natural for us to ask the patient to return post his tests in Swami’s hospital because everything was being taken care by Swami. There was no expenditure for the patient. But in every other hospital, patients or their attendants spend a lot of time at the billing counter. In Swami’s hospitals billing counter does not exist. It is only love and care that exist.

JAI SAI RAM