Suman Ji from India says: It is my indeed pleasure to share with you and all the Sai devotees and readers an experience regarding my Sai Satcharitra Parayan. These are small, but important tales related to it. But first I would like to take permission from Sai Baba in narrating my account and ask for His forgiveness for any error that might creep in unassumingly while stating the facts thereby.
ai Sai Ram to everyone. My name is Suman and I basically belong to Uttrakhand. I am a small, but an ardent devotee of our Lord Sai Baba, who tries to follow His teachings and principles as best to my capacity yet falters at it sometimes and therefore ask for His pardon. I am going through some major issues for the past 7 years (which is duly mentioned in my earlier post “Sai communicated through your website”) and therefore would like to excuse myself from mentioning it again.
I have been treading the path of Sai devotion all through these years right from my ascent stage up till now and slowly but surely I have gathered few realms of Sai devotion, which have taught me a lot. My issue has not yet been resolved, but I have now become more closer to Sai and feel His presence more than ever.
In regarding my issue, Sai directed me to go to a certain person in far off area in Delhi for proper consultation and guidance and this person asked me to make certain visits to her every month for seven days for another 9-10 months. For this purpose, I had to visit Delhi every month and therefore was required to travel from my brother’s house (Dwarka, Delhi) to my said destination through the metro. Metro traveling always took a good 40 min (one way), which would ultimately bore me quite enough. Therefore I decided to carry Sai Satcharitra with me so that I can read it on the metro. In the first month, I did not even realize that I had completed Sai Satcharitra in exactly 7days even though I use to see Him a lot in some form or the other when I use to get down at the required station and hire an auto to reach my place.
Subsequently, I started doing the same every month, and thereafter I realized that I was being blessed by Him after each parayan (excluding one or two) when I would return to my hometown. I don’t remember the series of events, but it surely happened after my Prayan. At one time, only a few days after, when I returned to my hometown, a Sai Palki came to our street. I offered people with the Palki 10 rupees thereafter which they gave me some UDI, Akshat, and a flower from Sai idol. In the evening, when I did my pooja and randomly opened a page from Sai Satcharitra, I came across the story of Appasaheb Kulkarni, where he too gave 10 rupees to Sai Baba and in return got some UDI, Akshat, and some flower from Him in blessing. You can imagine what I must have felt at that time. Sheer bliss.
After my completion of another Parayan, as usual, when I returned to my home, another blessing came to me. I have the habit of offering water to Baba both in the morning and evening, which I then drink after my lunch and dinner respectively. One fine night, when I went to take the water, I found the glass very light (since it was covered by a lid, I could not see it immediately). And quickly I removed it to see that the glass was empty with only a few drops of water in it. You can rest assured that I first enquired with everybody in the family that if somebody drank it or did anyone touched it and everyone nodded in No and I was sure of myself that I had kept the water. When I realized this may be another blessing of Baba, I tried to confirm it with Baba itself by placing chits before Him (which I usually do in case of dilemma). I got the reply ‘Yes’ and I almost jumped in excitement and thanked Baba profusely.
This is when my next Parayan bore its fruit. This time I went to my very dear friend’s place just the next day after I returned from Delhi. I was chit-chatting with her for quite some time when suddenly she got up and asked me to wait as if she suddenly remembered something and returned with a very small, but beautiful idol of Baba. I first thought that she is showing me because I am a Sai devotee. But to my amazement, she said “Isn’t this beautiful, Suman. My brother a few months earlier visited Shirdi and bought two idols of Baba from there. One we have already kept in our pooja, but this other one was just lying ideally at my computer table for long, and I always thought it should be kept at a proper place like pooja place and since we already have two in our pooja, can you please take it with you because you seem to be the right person to take care of it”. I was so happy that I instantly thanked Baba in my mind. Now that idol adorns my pooja room.
But it doesn’t end here. My friend suggested we should go out for an outing and we immediately left her house on her scooter. She casually asked me while riding where we should go and I replied to her saying wherever she wants. We rode for a while enjoying the fresh breeze when she said “Let’s go to the nearby Sai temple. It’s beautiful inside”. I have been there once, so I replied in affirmation. I was a little taken aback by my friend’s behavior because she is not a Sai devotee nor does she ever visits Sai temple except for when insisted upon by me, but this time it was her, who initiated the whole idea much to my surprise. We visited the Sai Darbar and it was so pleasing and serene and Baba looked so beautiful and I again donated 10rs at the donation box, got the Prasad, and returned blissfully. But it was only after returning to my home that I realized everything.
I would like to narrate an interesting thing that happened during the course of one of my Parayan in Metro. One fine day I was returning from that said place to my home in Dwarka via metro only and as per my habit I again started reading Sai Satcharitra and I had read only one page when I thought of listening to some music on my iPod and assured myself I will read Sai Satcharitra later on at home as its not compulsory that I should read it in Metro only. My iPod needs to charge through a PC or laptop for a maximum of 1 hour and since I had done it last night through my brother’s laptop, I was sure it was charged fully. The moment I put on my earplug and had listened to just 2 songs that it stopped operating. I checked again and again, considering the various possibilities in my mind, but it was not playing. Well, then again I got hold of Sai Satcharitra and started reading it and thereby completing my that day’s set of chapters.
My mind was restless in the metro and even after reaching home, I was not at peace. While I was having my lunch I thought to check the iPod again and lol the iPod was playing again and it played the music uninterruptedly for a good 40 min. I briskly called my sister and shared the details with her to which she said “Baba didn’t want that you should avoid your daily Sai Satcharitra reading practice in the metro and therefore this”. I got my doubts cleared ASAP.
I always have the habit of chanting Sai name in the auto until I reach my above-mentioned place and thereafter while returning to catch the Metro and it has always happened that I always find a Sai Baba photo or His name on a car or some other auto passing by me like He is blessing me. But one day I couldn’t find anything while en route to catch the metro and since it was Thursday too I was searching desperately for it. And just I was about to put my guards down, I saw a boy holding a very and I mean very large size beautiful Samadhi photo of Baba at a bus stop and since traffic was little slower than usual I took His Darshan to my heart content as if I am in Shirdi itself. I am so happy and so grateful to Baba that He, in His unique ways, has assured me that He is always watching me and taking care of me no matter where I am. I am always under His caring eyes and am so thankful for that. Thank You for maintaining such a wonderful site and giving a common platform to all the Sai devotees to share their part of Baba’s Leela in their life.