My family’s first contact with Bhagawan Baba was in the year 1974. We were staying in the Triplicane area of Chennai and our neighbour an ardent Swami devotee would ply buses from Triplicane to Puttapathi for devotees four timesa year. For Gurupoornima, Mahashivarathi, Dasara and Swami’s Birthday.

On one Shivaratri, he invited my parents to join the devotees going for Swami’s Darshan. My parents attended the Shivaratri celebrations and also had the great good fortune of witnessing the Lingodbhavam by Swami. My parents were mesmerized by the sight. After the celebrations were over, they felt that due to their ignorance of Swami’s Divinity they had lost so many opportunities of being close to God Himself. And in Puttaparthi that day, they took a vow that from that day onwards they would dedicate their lives to Swami. A wonderful consequence of the vow was that both of us, my sister and me had the golden opportunity of joining the Bal Vikas.

My parents went back and realized that there was no Sai Samiti in the Triplicane area so my father took it upon himself to start the Triplicane Sai Samiti. I still remember the board outside our house in Triplicane, which read, “Sri Sathya Sai Bhajan Mandali, Triplicane”.

Later our family shifted to Roypetta area. From Roypetta it became easier for us to visit Sundaram Sai Centre as there was a direct bus from near our house to the Sai Centre.

My first opportunity of having Swami’s Darshan came in the year 1981, when Swami was visiting Chennai to inaugurate the new Sundaram Sai Centre building. I was a part of Bal Vikas and was given the opportunity to sing during the Nagar Sankirtan during the function. The moment I looked at Swami for the first time, something inside me told that Swami was the only goal of my life and I have to do every possible effort to be close to Him.

Every Sunday in Chennai a medical camp is organized called the Sai Krupa. In that people from almost 500 villages in and around Chennai would attend to receive medical care. During 1980s Swami would regularly visit Chennai on various occasions. My father was the Pharmacist by profession and would perform Seva at the Sai Krupa Medical Camp every Sunday. The best part was when Swami would visit Chennai, he would visit Sai Krupa and my father had many golden opportunities of having Swami’s Darshan, Padanamaskar and also receiving Prasadam from Swami’s Divine hands.

Gradually I graduated from Bal Vikas and then joined the Sundaram Bhajan Group. In January 1986 I had the opportunity to have a group photo with Swami when He visited Chennai. At that time I was fervently praying to Swami to grant me admission to His Institute. In His mercy, as if in response to my prayer, Bhagawan for no apparent reason suddenly turned around (I was standing directly behind Him) and gave me a piercing look. I felt this was His blessing, which would help me through the difficult exam and sure enough it did. I was admitted to B.Com course at Prasanthi Nilayam Campus in 1986.

Living a Bhagavan’s Feet is an educating and elevating experience and can only be achieved by His Divine Grace. The life in the hostel was an experience by which Swami changed the direction of my life. Basically I realized that if one could please Swami by following His commands He in turn would take over the responsibility for our lives.

Years rolled by in basking in His glorious proximity. In November 1989, Swami began speaking to me frequently, almost daily. He would speak about my parents and praise them telling other students about their active participation in the Sai Organisation. Taking courage one day I made a bold request, to ask Swami to call my parents for an interview. Swami was kind and asked me to call them to Puttaparthi.

Thus for the first time in December 1989 we had the great chance to be with Bhagawan as a family in the memorable interview (top photo). Swami showered us with blessings and divine love. He gave us His guidance on several issues. Then He told my parents to get my sister married. And added that “I shall Myself perform it”. We were all delighted at the shower of Grace and were especially happy for my sister.

Bhagawan’s ways are strange. But as we later discovered even His silence is a form of Blessing. Expecting further guidance from Swami my parents stayed on. A week passed and still there was no sign. They had no choice then but to leave for Madras after ten days. As they reached Madras, however, to their utmost delight, our neighbours informed them about a suitable bridegroom who along with his family had just visited the previous day to discuss a possible alliance. Here was the Divine Hand, so evident was it in our lives. Further we found that everything was highly satisfactory with the bridegroom and his family and the marriage was therefore fixed. With Bhagawan’s sankalpa so much was effortlessly achieved.

In April 1990 Swami called us for an interview at Brindavan and instructed us to perform the marriage in Madras itself according to the orthodox traditions. At this juncture, like a shower of flowers falling from the sky- Pushpavristi, Swami very kindly told my parents to come to Puttaparthi.

Turning to me Swami lovingly asked me, “Who is your friend?” I replied, you only Swami. In additions to cling on to these beautiful moments, I prayed to Swami to continue contact with us even after my sister’s wedding. Swami’s response was a broad smile.

True to His promise, one year after the marriage, Swami called us for an interview again in June 1991. After settling my sister’s life, Swami planned a good job for me so that my parents could resign their jobs and settle down in Puttaparthi. He told us that he was constructing a Super Speciality hospital, a multi crore project. 

As I was eagerly awaiting my placement in Swami’s hospital, Swami selected me along with a few other students to undertake training for a job in Swami’s hospital. I went along with some of my batchmates  went to New Delhi for training and completed it. 

However, on the day of the completion of my course, a sad news awaited me.  I came to know that my father was in a very serious condition in Madras. By the time I reached, my father had passed away. Whole family was saddened by this event. After completing the last rites I proceeded to Puttaparthi.

Some days later Swami called us for an interview. During the interview, Swami said simply, “You need not worry about your Father, He has already reached Me.” One cannot overstate the value of these words coming from Swami lips. Everybody who is born will die someday. We all know this, but we go about our lives as if we are going to live forever. Swami is called “Iha Para Sukha Dayaka”. Meaning the One who would takes care of you here and in the hereafter. So those words of Swami that my father has reached Him lifted a pall of gloom from our hearts.

At the end of the interview Swami answered our long felt prayer to stay at His Lotus Feet and He asked me to join the hospital. In the days that followed we felt the Divine Hand helping us in various ways. My mother also got seva opportunity in the Sri Sathya Sai General Hospital.

While working in the hospital two incidents come to my mind. Swami presented me three different watches on three different occasions. As we generally believe that a Watch, as quoted by Bhagawan, represents watch your Words, Action, Thought, Character and Heart, in my case it took a different dimension.

The first one Swami gifted me was a white silver colored watch. After one and a half years, it was a golden color watch. Again after one year, it was a watch with a black strap with a white dial. I was wondering about these 3 different colors, I did not get any answer for a long time and the question also left my mind.

But on the auspicious day of Rama Navami in the year 2018 as I was reading the ‘Thought for the day”, and there was an epiphany and I got the answer. It was about the efficacy of the name ‘Rama’. The word Rama has got 3 syllables, ‘Ra’, ‘Aa’ and ‘Ma’. ‘Ra’ symbolizes Agni (gold color) principle as it burns down all our sins. ‘Aa’ represents ‘Sun’ aspect as it destroys our ignorance and grants us illumination ( from darkness to light , black and white color) and ‘Ma’ symbolizes ‘Moon’ (silver color) aspect as it bestows on us the tranquility of mind. Thus the Rama Nama is powerful enough to take us across the ocean of life. And Swami had symbolically mentioned the same thing through the three watches He presented to me.  

One more incident that is etched in my mind is when I was in the Cardiac Surgery Theatre complex one day. A complex heart surgery was being performed in the cardiac theatre one day. After the surgery when the effort was being made to wean the patient off the heart lung machine, the pressures were not adequate. The team tried many ways to get the pressures up, but it did not work. Then one of the Managers went to Swami’s photograph at the entrance of the theatre and prayed silently to Swami to revive the patient. By the time the time he returned, the pressures were back up and patient was easily weaned off the Heart Lung Machine and thereafter had an uneventful recovery. Later when the manager went for Swami’s Darshan, Swami created Vibhuti and while giving it to him said, “This is for the prayer you said for the patient.”

Swami’s ways are inscrutable and divine, with all our effort we can just touch the surface of this unfathomable ocean. For our part we should just dedicate our lives to Swami and let Him take over the reins of our life.

JAI SAI RAM