MEETING WITH MAHASHAKTI

My Twenty-Five Thousand Rupees

I was internally glad I was going to be the editor of a magazine. This was my dream job. I kept calling the young man to know about the fresh developments in our proposed magazine publication venture.He would talk to me very sweetly and I would get convinced of his honesty and capability.Then I would dream big and build castles in the air. This was how four or five months passed and I began to suspect him.Now he didn't accept my calls.Once when I called him,he said he was in Australia. The next time he said he was in New Zealand.I talked to people about him.I was told that he cheated peoplie of their hard-earned money and they were shedding tears of regret for having trusted such a swindler.I gave up all hope of getting my twenty-five thousand rupees back. My wife was pecking at me from time to time enquiring about the return of the money:"I told you not to make any payment to the stranger,but you didn't listen to me.You had already given him the cheque before I could have a word with you. Why are you worried now? " I was very sad and thought of appealing to Sri Sai for help.I said,
"Baba if he returns my 25 thousand rupees,I will immediately make a visit to Shirdi." I kept repeating this to myself the prayer without anyone's knowledge. As usual I sent an angry message to him and kept quiet. He called me the next day! After weeks of restless waiting! I told him how to reach my place at Laxmisagar.
He actually came to my house and handed me a cheque for 22 thousand rupees. He argued that he had done a lot of motorcycling which meant consumption of a lot of petrol and time. He had a nagging fear that I might reach his home in Khordha and that might deteriorate his father's worsening health.

I accepted the cheque gladly and showered Baba with words of eulogy and adoration. I looked at his photo and pondered his compassion and generosity which I thought were unlimited.

That Baba exists and listens to the helpless is a source of never ending joy and happiness and strong moral support. I believe the religion of Sai is going to be the religion of mankind.Love,compassion and forgiveness are the supreme tenets of Saism.

I went to my friend's house the next day.At that time, I was teaching my friend Umakant's son Omkar.I told Uma about my experience. It was Umakant who booked four tickets for us to Shirdi.I wanted to stay two days at Shirdi but Umakant prevailed upon me saying that I must stay there for a week!We had had our third A/C tickets.

The next day we boarded the train for Shirdi. Our joy then was unspeakable. Every moment passed pondering over the kindness and compassion of Baba.

The next morning we reached Shirdi around 1:30.We had to wait for a long time to get our room key.After getting the key,we finished our morning chores and washed ourselves.As we were complete strangers to Shirdi,we badly needed someone to acquaint us with the routes and give us information to visit different sites of interest there.My elder brother was a staunch devotee of Baba.He had visited Shirdi many times. I called him to get information about Shirdi.I was rendered speechless when he told me he too had come to Shirdi with my sister-in-law.We locked our room and joined them. I was thinking how Baba had made all the necessary arrangements for us.

All of us went to the Baba's temple and had our cherished visit of Baba. We came out of the samadhi temple and walked to our hotel rooms.
Reaching my room,I observed my legs. They had been swollen for a long time. But now the swelling had disappeared.I had taken countless pills and potions to cure the swelling but to no avail.In addition,I had terrible knee pain but I found it had now gone!That night I had a strange dream in which some Brahmins were telling me to visit Mahalsapati's house. I wondered a lot and told others about it but nobody seemed to be convinced of the veracity of my dream.This unfulfilled wish remained a source of regret for ever.

After coming back to Bhubaneswar,I began the elaborate worship of Baba.Once I visited the Sai temple at Tankapani Road. Before coming back,I went to a bookshop there.I found two volumes of a book in which some celebrated Sai devotees  had recorded their unique experiences with Baba. I bought the two volumes and began reading them avidly.After I  had finished with the two volumes,I wrote my own real life story based on my experiences with Baba. I called the compiler of the two volumes and expressed my wish to contribute an article for the third volume. The compiler told me to translate the 1st volume into English and narrated a beautiful happening which captivated me so completely that I started the translation of the first volume of the book Shraddha Saburi.

She told me that a lady was waiting for her train to Raipur at the Brahmapur railway station. An old man came to her and said,"Ma..take these books and read them. The lady was a pious woman. She reached into her vanity bag to find some money to make the payment. But when she wanted to pay the old man,no sign of him was there.Then she looked at the photo on the cover page of the book and was puzzled. The photo was that of the old man who had gifted her the books. She made enquiries and came to know that the photo on the book cover was that of Sai Baba of Shirdi.