I first heard of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba when I joined the Indian Railways way back in 1975. I was posted as a doctor in Bastar, Chhattisgarh, and there I met Sri M G Krishnamurthy, the Chief Engineer who invited me to his house. In his house I saw Baba’s photo for the first time.  While discussing several other things, he narrated a story about a patient who had gone to Swami and asked him to cure his cancer. Moved by the patient’s pleas, Bhagawan Baba’s heart melted and He uttered “Cancer Cancelled”. And from that day onwards the patient started improving and in a few days was totally free of cancer. I was astonished. But more impactful was the next story that he narrated. Another patient who had been suffering from cancer had gone to Baba and asked Baba to cure him.  Then Baba asked the patient “Do you want me to cure you now, but remember due your karma, you will have to suffer in the next birth”. The patient then after a day’s thought told Baba. “Baba I am well off now and I am able to manage pretty well even with the disease, so let me be as I am now, but shower your Grace that my Bhakti to You may get strengthened. Baba had smiled and blessed him.

This conversation set me thinking. I felt that Baba cannot just be an ordinary saint or sage, but He is one who has complete control of our past, present and future. He could have cured the patient like he had done for many others, but knowing the future he asked him to make a choice. These thoughts created a strong desire in me to read and learn more about Baba and I started reading Baba’s literature voraciously. And soon I had no doubt that Baba was none other than God incarnate.

Every night before going to bed I would pray to Swami. And on many occasions, when I was facing a problem, I would request Swami to take care of it. Interestingly, when I prayed fervently to Swami, the answer to my problem would just flash in my mind.  It was as if Swami had planted the answer to my problem, in my head. The solution would surprise me, and I would keep wondering as to why I had not thought of this earlier, but as time passed I realized it was not me, but it was Swami who was helping me. Soon Swami became my everything. Every little work I would do, I would dedicate it to Him. Mind you I had not had Swami’s physical Darshan till almost 25 years later, but in my life Swami had been a constant presence.

The first opportunity I had to have Swami’s Darshan was in the year of 2000 when I visited Bangalore with my daughter and had Swami’s Darshan. The second time I had Swami’s Darshan was in May 2003 when I visited Puttaparthi. But much before I had His Darshan I already knew Swami was God. He was pervading my entire life and was permanently residing in my heart and was dictating my every action.

As a National Programme Executive in the Indian Railways I was involved in executing National level programmes. I remember one incident from those days. In the Railways we would spend almost Rs. 26 Lakh every year for Anti Rabies Vaccine and my superior asked me to look into the matter as it was a huge expenditure. As was my habit, in the night I kept praying to Swami to show me the way. After a sincere prayer, I heard the words, “Why don’t you immunize the dogs”. I did not understand the idea behind it. Then suddenly like a flash it came to me that, like we immunize the humans, we can as well immunize the dogs also. I took up this idea with our superior and he was surprised at the brilliant idea. We then teamed up with the local NGOs and started the programme of immunizing the dogs. The programme was a huge success and it was then implemented all over the Railway Colonies across the country. This is just one of the many examples that I am citing.

During my job with the Railways I could not dedicate much time to Swami’s service activities and therefore I would take my Railways job as my service to Swami. After retirement, however, I dedicated my time entirely to Swami’s activities and joined the Sri Sathya Sai Telemedicine Centre in Bhubaneshwar as a doctor.

There are many miracles, which I am a witness to while working at the Telemedicine Centre. The telemedicine centre is mainly for follow-up consultation for Cardiac and Neurology patients, but one day a lady came to the centre complaining that she had not been able to sleep peacefully for almost two months. Whatever little sleep she would get was very disturbed. We did not know what to do. Before we start the Telemedicine session we give Mangala Arati to Swami. While doing Arati to Swami I was silently praying to Swami for a solution for the miserable woman.

The Arati got over and we distributed Vibhuti to everybody including this lady. Soon after she had the Vibhuti we asked her to relax on a cot kept in one corner of the centre. She then slept on the cot from morning that day, till late in the evening. It was the first time she had had a fulfilling sleep in 2 months!

It has been often said that when we perform Swami’s work sincerely, Swami takes care of our personal problems. I will narrate one such incident. My wife, who is also a doctor, was working at a hospital after retirement and they had not paid her a proper salary for almost three years. One day she asked me whether she should continue working in that hospital. I told her not to bother about the salary as we can manage without it, but continue if the work gave her satisfaction. She was undecided. I prayed in front of Swami’s photo and the response from Swami was immediate. The next day she received a cheque, which was her salary for the time she had worked at the hospital. 

Although the 30 years I spent in the railways was fruitful and with Swami’s Grace I accomplished a lot, the pleasure that I am getting while working at Swami’s Telemedicine Centre, serving Swami’s patients directly, is at another level, which cannot be described.

I am 78 years old now and I keep wondering how long Swami would allow me to do His Seva. My wish and prayer is that I get the opportunity to do Swami’s Seva till my last breath.

 Jai Sai Ram.