Missing what we want because of how we want it - God's dilemma

Seeking the magic of a Divine visit

Among the several magical memories that a Sai-student carries of life at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, a Divine visit to the hostel often ranks very high. When Swami visits the hostel, it feels like the Lord wanted to call all the students for an interview but did not have an interview room as big as His heart! And so, He decides to visit the students in the hostel -  it is like a mass private interview on the largest scale! Such a visit brings many close interactions with Swami. He speaks to the students and the students express their feelings for Him through conversations, talks, short skits and songs. There are momentous materializations and rousing revelations.  A taste of such a visit can be obtained by reading the happenings during one such visit that had taken place in 2003. Each visit is unique and the ‘uncertainty’ about how it will unravel only adds to the anticipation and excitement.

The memorable Divine visit to the hostel in March 2003

Thus, every student of the SSSIHL wishes to be part of at least one Divine visit to the hostel. The students in our batch were no exception!  It is no wonder that we wanted such a repeat of history. But Swami always has His ways of refusing to make such a visit unless the boys plead hard enough. We prepared ourselves for such excuses of the Lord, and went to the mandir armed with a large invitation card. The card had many photos of Swami with the students during many previous hostel visits and the wording was this,

“Swami, our home is empty without you. Please bless it with your loving visit.”

Different gender, same scenes! Swami's visit to the girls' hostel in Anantapur brings thrill to everyone.

It was the 22nd of February in 2005. The clock face in Sai Kulwant Hall proclaimed 4:15 pm when Swami came out on His darshan rounds. As He neared us, we got up on our knees with the card and showed it to Him. He looked at the card and said out aloud,

“EMPTY.”

“Swami, it is empty because You are not there. If You visit our hostel, it will cease to be empty. It will become full!”, we answered.

Swami nodded and told us to go back and sit in our places.

Do we miss what we seek because of how we wish to get it?

There is a popular story that goes as follows.

A town gets flooded and there is water everywhere. A pious man is trapped on the roof of a building and has nowhere to go. The rising flood waters are slowly encircling the building and he has nowhere to go. But he is not at all worried. His faith in God is firm and he simply starts praying. He says,

“Dear God. All my life I have worshipped you and have had steady faith in you. Please come to my rescue.”

Within a few minutes, the waters have risen a few more meters and it is only a matter of 15 more minutes before they swallow the building completely. Presently, a boat comes by and the boatman shouts out,

“Sir! I have place for one more on my boat. Would you care to join?”

“No! You carry on and save someone else. God will save me.”

The boat goes away.

Minutes before the building is completely submerged, a helicopter comes above and, over the megaphone, a shout is heard,

“Sir! Please hold on. We shall rescue you.”

“I DON’T WANT YOUR HELP. GOD WILL SAVE ME. YOU PLEASE CARRY ON”, the man screams back.

God's delays are not denials but gateways to greater joy

“God’s delays are not His denials...”

This is a quote that I have heard a million times. Well, maybe not a million times, but it surely feels like that! It is possibly one of my all-time favorite phrases to be used while consoling someone who is in despair.

“Hey! Don’t worry. Things will sort out. God is there to help. Remember... His delays are not His denials.”

But my attitude towards the quote depends on how life is panning out for me. When things are sunny and fine, I completely trust the quote. When things go bad however, I seem to desperately grab on to the quote with the secret hope in my heart that this is only a delay and not a denial from God. The truth is whether I ‘believe’ in it or not, God definitely has the perfect timing and His delays are only to bring added joy! I know this to be true based on multiple experiences with my Swami, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. One singular experience however, stands out because it reinforces this quote with two simultaneous experiences of delays not being denials.

The Master walks into our life at the perfect time - ALWAYS!

Just like a single story of the charming Lord Krishna gets linked to so many other stories which reveal His divine facets, this incident too shall have its sub-stories. In fact, ‘deviating’ from the main story into sub stories has been termed as ‘Hari-Katha’ in India, a composite form of storytelling with poetry, music, drama, dance, and philosophy, which often runs for hours! The sub-stories add flavour and spice to the main story. So, here is one such Sai-Katha.

A class teacher’s classy talk

It was the March of the year 2000. I was in XII grade and was preparing furiously for the countrywide Board Examinations. In India, 12th standard is a transition from high school to University and the examinations conducted by the CBSE (Central Board for Secondary Examination) are given paramount importance. For a student in Swami’s school, it was a time of another probable, terrible transition. Since Swami had not started any medical or engineering colleges and courses for chartered accountancy, those wishing to pursue these lucrative and attractive careers had to leave Swami’s physical proximity. Further studies available in the University involved only the pursuit of a Bachelor's degree in pure sciences, commerce or the arts which is considered ‘mediocre’ by many. (This is fast changing in part due to the impressive record of the Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning).

In that scenario, an informal talk delivered to us by our ‘class’ teacher, Dr.Sailesh Srivastava was vital in the enlightenment it provided. The talk lasted two hours and was delivered late in the evening in the galleries of the Sri Sathya Sai Hill-View stadium. The next day, we were to travel to Brindavan (Whitefield in Bangalore), as the school’s outgoing batch and seek His blessings.This was the practice - the outgoing students from Puttaparthi, Brindavan and Anantapur would travel to wherever Swami was and hope to elicit an interview or at least padanamaskar. The talk that Sailesh sir gave us was inspirational and full of the divine stories of Swami. He made one particular point that struck us and seemed to get enshrined in every listening heart.

He said, “Whether we stay with Swami or not, is not in our hands. If we are supposed to be away from Swami, even if we perform somersaults to stay on here, it will not be possible. If we are supposed to be here, however hard we try to get away from this place, it will not be possible. So, that is out of our hands. That is destiny. But we can decide what we feel and desire. We can have the intense longing to be with Swami always, irrespective of where life takes us. We can choose to give Swami first priority always. That is self effort. Take care of your feelings and desires which are in your control, life will take care of itself. “

At the end of that talk, everyone was wanting to be with Swami, irrespective of what they had originally desired or what their parents had planned. If fate/destiny would take them away, so be it but they would certainly not want to be away from Swami at any cost.

The rewards of the inspirational talk

Thus it was, that a bunch of highly motivated and charged up students made their way to Brindavan. In the morning, as we all sat for darshan, Swami came and made enquiries into how many of us had come and for what reason we had come. The darshan got over during which we had managed to hand over the bundle of letters that we had all written to Swami. Within a few minutes, we received word that Swami had called us all into Trayee Brindavan, His residence at Whitefield.  With great joy, anticipation and excitement we wended our way into the Trayee compound and entered the hallowed precincts of the building. The Jhoola or swing welcomed us and we sat around it. In a few moments, Swami arrived. As soon as He came into the room, He asked,

“How many doctors here?” 

Nobody raised their hands. Sailesh sir’s speech on the previous evening was obviously showing its effects. Everyone in their hearts was saying,

“Swami, we want to be with you.”

Any desire other than God is a distraction at best - Govinda's life story with Sri Sathya Sai

Destiny is another name for God’s arrangements

Govinda had a broad smile on his face as he filled the application form to enroll into the National Defence Academy. Joining the Indian army had been his only dream during the school days and he was just a step away from achieving it. The 12th grade National Board Exams had concluded and Govinda was very confident of repeating his 10th grade Board Exam performance where he had topped his school. But there was only one problem. His father, a temple priest by profession and his mother, a simple housewife, wanted him to study more and gain degrees in accordance to the traditions of the Brahmin caste they belonged to. It was obvious that they had not understood the Bharatiya tradition of caste based on aptitude and not birth. Govinda’s aptitude had always been for physical rigour, discipline and courage. Though he was born to Brahmin parents and carried the surname, Upadhyaya, the ancient Indian tradition would have placed him in the Kshatriya caste with a different surname perhaps!

He had somehow prevailed on his parents and was hurriedly filling the forms before they could change their minds. That is when his friendly neighbour, Gupta uncle walked into the house holding some other forms.

“Govind beta, take this. You should join this college. I have all the necessary forms here.”

Govinda saw the name of the college - Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning.

“Thanks uncle but no thanks! I am joining the army...”

“This is like the army and better than it also. You just apply. The entrance exams are in the first week of May in Prasanthi Nilayam.”

“Where is that?”

“Puttaparthi... Andhra Pradesh. That is Sathya Sai’s ashram.”

All these were new words for Govinda. He had not heard the term ‘Sai Baba’ in his life so far. He knew of some Babas near his hometown, Dehradun, and assumed that this Sai Baba also must be a wandering renunciate like them.

“But I have my NDA exams in the first week of May.”

“Just do as I am telling you. This will be the best decision of your life.” Gupta uncle was persistent.

“This is what you should do - study. Please do this instead of becoming a Kshatriya”, the parents pleaded.

Out of respect for the very loving Gupta uncle and to please his parents Govinda agreed to fill the forms. To his surprise, his favourite Mathematics teacher also egged him to apply in the Baba’s college in spite of having no information about him.

For the first time in his life, Govinda decided to step out of his home state of Uttar Pradesh and travel more than 2000 kilometres to the state of Andhra Pradesh. Before he left, Gupta uncle gave him a filled rucksack which contained several pairs of white dresses along with other essentials that he would need for a year! He also gave him Rs. 15,000 before bidding him all the best. His parents gave him an additional Rs. 5,000.  Thus it was that in the first week of May of the millennium-changing year 2000, Govinda found himself in Puttaparthi, to write the entrance examinations for the BSc degree.

A ‘hot’ welcome

Puttaparthi was an immediate put-off for Govinda. It was simply too hot for him in sharp contrast to the cool Dehradun climate. Added to that, it was a ghost-town (as Swami was in Brindavan, Bangalore, in the month of May 2000). He was accommodated along with three others from the states of Himachal Pradesh and Bihar. These three would always have Sai Baba’s name on their lips and would keep studying for the exams. Govinda thought they were crazy. He had decided not to study one bit so that he would flunk the exams and go back home. Little did he know the power of the destiny-strings with which the Lord beckons to a devotee!

Desirelessness is the only way to be one with God

A desire nearing fulfillment?

It was the June of 2010 and we had just moved into our new home at Puttaparthi. A fortnight before, I had left for Mumbai seeking Swami’s permission to get my parents to settle in Puttaparthi post my father’s retirement from work. The relocation and resettlement had happened quite quickly, considering the fact that my father retired on the 31st of May. That is a story in itself and I will resist the temptation of going into it right away. But I must mention that it had all begun on the return flight from Pune to Puttaparthi after the visit to Hadshi, when Swami had asked me (about my parents) in the aisle,

"When are they coming here?"

“Swami, after father's retirement in May, they will come and settle down here itself.”

Swami nodded saying, “Santosham”. I continued, “One more thing, Swami. Mother keeps crying out ‘Swami’, ‘Swami’, ... Please grant her namaskar once when she comes to Puttaparthi. Once You speak to her, she will be so happy.”

He nodded in agreement. But then He responded with a question of His own,

"She keeps telling ‘Swami’, ‘Swami’... What about you?"

I was dumbstruck. I mumbled and fumbled a bit and said,

"Swami, You know what I feel. You are most important for me."

{For those who are interested, the entire 5-day trip to Hadshi and Mumbai has been captured in a serial blog of 11 parts. The link to the first part is given below. Each part has the link to the subsequent parts.

Hadshi-Mumbai diaries -  Part 1 - The blessing materializes. }

My parents were now settled along with me at Parthi. My desire was that Swami should grant us a family interview. I felt that would be the ultimate fulfilment for me because, in my opinion, Swami had granted me every ‘chance’ except that of a family interview. Though I never asked Him directly for the same, I always made it a point to ‘remind’ Him that my parents had arrived and settled at Puttaparthi. Nearly nine months of ‘labour’ after the first time Swami enquired about my parents arriving to Parthi, I felt that the date for my ‘deliver’ance was due! It happened on the 16th day of June, 2010.

The Governor’s visit

It was the day when the Governor of the state of Andhra Pradesh, ESL Narsimhan, had visited Puttaparthi. Before the evening darshan session, he visited the Super Specialties hospital. I thought it would be of archival interest to take pictures of the Governor’s visit to the hospital. However, it was easier thought than done. The Governor’s security team did not allow me to go through with the plan and, after taking a few pictures, I was stuck outside the hospital. Nothing I said helped my cause.

“I am a mandir photographer...” I said.

“Show us the badge which says so?”

How was I to make the security personnel understand that Swami’s smile of approval was my badge and that there is nobody who is formally appointed as a ‘mandir photographer’? I just shook my head in disbelief and walked away.

The Governor with the Director of the SSSIHMS, Dr.Safaya, in the main dome of the hospital in June 2010.

“Well, I never am keen on running behind anyone other than Swami”, I told myself, “and I have no regrets about not being allowed to photograph the governor. The focus for me (and my camera) is actually Swami!”

Within the hour, I was back in my room in Prasanthi Nilayam. It was before the evening darshan that I received a request - could a picture be taken of the Governor seeking Swami’s blessings? I smiled to myself and went to the Sai Kulwant hall with the camera. The Lord is the fruit and the world, its shadow. Chasing the shadow never yields fruit, but getting hold of the fruit also brings along the gift of the shadow!

Hadshi-Mumbai diaries - Part 7 - A day for group-photo taking and group-photo showing

A special photo-viewing session with Swami at Hadshi

A beautiful solo-photograph that Swami granted at the request of the Jadhav family at Hadshi

Rising up at 5 a.m. is indeed an excellent practice, I discovered on the 30th of October, as I woke up in Hadshi. It is not only spiritually beneficial as the early hours of the Brahma muhurtam are sacred but also practically useful as one gets quality time with oneself with least distractions or interruptions. Waking early seems to unlock a great energy source within which diminishes in intensity the later one rises! It was during the early hours of the morning that I occupied myself with noting down in detail all the happenings of the trip which is responsible for this comprehensive travelogue today.

(Dear reader,

If you have come directly to this post, I would like to egg you on to enjoy the full story with its history. Link to part 1 is given below and the link to the next part will be at the end of each previous part. Thank you.

Hadshi Mumbai diaries - Part 1 - The Blessing Materializes 

The previous part which is Part 6 is located at the link given below in case you missed that.

Hadshi Mumbai diaries - Part 6 - Sathya Sai's message at Hadshi

Part 7 continues below)

As soon as I finished my notes after returning from the Mandir I got busy getting ready for the day. The morning ablutions time was also fun. Almost twenty of us would be shaving, brushing and getting ready with a lot of talking and singing going on. A lot of leg pulling and discussing never-before-thought-of angles about the events that had happened during the trip brought cheer and mirth to all. Ravikumar (Ravi bhaiya for me) was present and I felt like how a newcomer in the Indian Cricket team would feel when he would share the dressing room with the legendary Sachin Tendulkar! Ashwath Narayan and Koustubh Pare in the meanwhile would have begun their respective Riyaz (singing practice). The whole area would be reverberating with music and swaras. CG would be practicing the Sitar adding strings to the heavenly atmosphere of music. It was just so beautiful.

Yet again we had a sumptuous breakfast by the poolside. Many took photos with the water in the background and tried to capture memories on a memory chip in a camera! Completing our breakfast, soon we were all seated outside Swami's room awaiting His arrival. We all had come up with a plan for the morning- a plan to spend more time with Swami. Eager to have a few exclusive moments with Bhagavan, we thought arranging a photo viewing session would be a good idea. I was all set with a few selected pictures to show Him on a laptop. Something interesting and nice happened. In a corner of the same hall we noticed a 29-inch plasma TV, which when connected, began to read the photos on file! It was as if Providence had liked our idea! Immediately, the laptop was hooked up to the TV. We now could not wait for His door to open.

Once the door opened and Swami came out, we had Him for ourselves for the next 20 minutes or so.

At about 10:05 a.m., Swami emerged and as He came towards us He asked,

"All of you showered well or did you have only a sponge bath?"

We laughed and replied that we did freshen up ourselves in full. Getting up on my knees, I said, "Swami, we have some photos. If Swami agrees, we can watch them." The Lord graciously consented. Soon He moved to the centre of the hall and was seated facing the TV. And then began a most memorable twenty minute session. Even as I began to scroll through the images, Nishikant, Kaustubh, P. Srinivasan and Ravi Teja began to do padaseva to Swami. CG continued to shoot Video and Ravi Bhaiya thankfully took my camera to capture pictures of the whole scene. Here are a few snippets of the conversation that ensued; even though this is not in order of occurrence, I guess the sequence is not as significant as the event itself.

Initially, there were the photos of the concert on Day 1. Swami asked,

"Who is that?"

“Swami, Kavita Krishnamoorthy, that is Nitin Mukesh and.... (I forgot the third name!)”

Satyajit helped me with the answer, “Sapna Mukherjee”.

As the slideshow progressed, there came a picture of a woman receiving a saree from Swami. Bhagavan asked who she was and when nobody answered, He Himself revealed that she was an elderly devotee who sings and has been coming to Him for long.

Swami looking at the picture of Him blessing Sapne Mukherjee. He gave us all the joy of conversation with Him.

The photos of the crowds during the concert were taken mostly from the gents' side and so the ladies were largely seen in them. Observing this Swami said sweetly, as if in justification for me, "The gents were all seated on this side (same side of the photographer and hence he could not click them) There were many people behind too!"

Swami then saw the pictures of the welcome ceremony to Hadshi. Next on the screen was the photo of the sunrise (about which I have mentioned in the fourth part of this serial).

“Ah! The Moon looks very nice,” He commented.

"Swami, that is the Sun," I said.

(And now is a portion when I was in maya or delusion!)

Swami asked me if that was the Sun, why was everything around dark?

The photo exposure of the camera was according to the Sun’s brightness which is why everything around was dark. Instead of going into the details of the exposure levels in the camera, I simply said, "Swami, its orange in colour! It is the Sun."

Swami looked at me as if to say, "Ok! If you say so…"

In retrospect, I feel I foolishly let go of a wonderful opportunity to learn a lesson that I hope I will practice some day. When Lord Krishna pointed out to an eagle in the sky and said it was a dove, Arjuna agreed. When He surmised that it was a crow, without batting an eyelid Arjuna replied in affirmative again for he knew very well that the Lord can easily turn the eagle into anything He wished. I was in a similar position and rather than saying, "Yes Swami! If you say so..." I made Him say that very same statement. I regret now but with the Lord everything is an opportunity to learn and improve. (By the way, this incident in detail forms the heart of an article on how we often become platform heroes but remain practical zeroes.)

Next was displayed the group photos taken in the Vitthala temple. Seeing this Swami asked, "Who are those elderly people?" Before we could answer, He Himself said,

"They are the mother and father of Jadhav brothers." Then came up a photo of the crowd and I said, "Swami, just like the sunflowers turn to always face the sun, people too move to look at You constantly." 

The incident with Ganesha and the wrongly-held umbrella on the balcony was also depicted in the photos. We then moved to the images shot during the tiffin session at the poolside. There were photos of Swami being reflected in the water. As the wide angle shot of Swami eating amidst the natural settings showed up next I said,

"Swami, this picture has a name." When He looked inquisitively, I said,

"Swami, it is called Prakruthi Paramatma."

Swami's reaction to it was the same like the previous day - He opened His eyes a bit wide and with a mocking smile said, "Abba!" All of us laughed and there was so much happiness all around. It is so easy to comprehend at such times as to why it is said, “Happiness is union with God”.

In the photos taken from the balcony were also pictures of lines of cars climbing up the road to Hadshi. I zoomed in to show Him the number of vehicles as earlier He had mentioned how so many devotees were eagerly arriving for His darshan. When the slideshow was complete, Swami asked,

"That’s all? Is it over?"

I said there were hundreds of photos and we had selected only a few. He then asked,

“Where is that picture of Me you took on the balcony yesterday?"

I was thrilled. I had thought that Swami would never want to see pictures of Himself (And I shoot maximum of Him!). I quickly navigated to the folder and brought that up.

The beautiful Lord amidst beautiful nature. This was the picture that I had got the previous day on
the balcony.

He was happy with it but then said, “All My hair has fallen off.”

All of us chorused,

“No Swami; You have such beautiful hair.”

Swami continued, “I had much more; in Kodaikanal, I lose a lot of hair.”

These interactions were so much on the human level and that, I felt is the reason why the whole humanity identifies with Him - He is so less ‘God’ and so much like any of us as we converse with Him in the physical plane.

The picture of Swami in Orange with the Nature in green and blue skies was wonderful and so I blurted out, “Swami, it looks so nice and wonderful.” Swami said, "Avanni photo theesay vadiki trupti, naaku ledhu (that is joy and satisfaction for the one who has taken the photo, not for me).” Instead of waiting for the nectarous flow, I imprudently said, "Swami, You are ever happy. Only our satisfaction is temporary and it comes and goes." The Lord was silent. After a while, He asked for photos of the Residence and the lake too. I showed Him those too and He seemed happy.

Once we were done, He asked all of us to go down. We did just that. In a short while Swami was with us. He directed us to start moving towards the temple complex and start bhajans on reaching there. It was almost 10:45 a.m. as we reached the stage which had witnessed the concert by Kavitha Subramaniam, Nitin Mukesh and Sapna Mukherjee the previous day. A huge crowd was waiting for Him in the afternoon sun. Most of them had cloth pieces or kerchiefs tied over their heads.

A huge crowd had been patiently singing bhajans, waiting for Swami's arrival at the temple grounds.

Morning session leads up to a visit to Pauna Dam

A loving blessing Abhayahasta at the end of the bhajan session.

Swami arrived at about 11:05 a.m. and as always His drive down was accompanied by a set of students whom our teacher Mr. Gopi had selected to be part of a permanent ‘Security’ team. Swami came on the dais and immediately there was so much energy and enthusiasm in the crowd. In spite of the sun, everyone now forgot the coverings on their heads and seemed to open up their hearts to receive the warmth of His Love and Grace. At about 11:20 a.m., Mr. Shivajirao Jadhav sought Swami’s permission for the Bal Vikas children to lead the session. Bhagavan consented and asked the boys to pause as the little ones started.

They sang about four bhajans in their sweet and innocent voices. Swami concluded the session with one bhajan by the students. For this, He called me. When I walked across to Him, He said, "Tell them to sing Panduranga, Panduranga..." I conveyed the same and that was the final rendering following which was aarthi. Now there was a beautiful breeze and fluffs of Swami's hair swayed as if playing with the wind. The flag atop the Vitthala temple too fluttered in all majesty and glory. Swami raised both His hands in benediction for the crowd that had pined for Him. It was almost 12:00 p.m. when He returned to the Mandir.

The devotees are thrilled and many are moved to tears having Swami's darshan.

We were all waiting for Him. Seeing all of us in a row, Swami moved into the Residence and soon we also followed suit. Another banquet had been arranged and Swami was seated for lunch amidst the elders. The discussion on the table meandered first towards the fruits and other crops grown in the region and then into diet and nutritional value of some of them and many others. Thus it was that mangoes, oranges and jamoon fruits ‘cropped’ up in the divine discussion! As lunch concluded, we learnt that Swami had agreed for the boys to be taken for an outing to the Pauna dam nearby.

At 1:45 p.m., our tour began in a special air conditioned bus loaded with cool drinks and snacks! Those were times of plenty and many of us even refused to take advantage of those bounties! The drive was to take about 45-50 minutes and for most of the time, I dozed only to be shaken by someone who said, "Just look at the scenery outside. You will not get such views again. Get up and shoot." In spite of the comforting embrace of the Goddess of Sleep I opened my eyes and indeed it was a sight worth sacrificing the siesta for! In fact, they were captivating enough to make one forget sleep.

A sweeping view of the Pauna Dam

The huge expanse of water was beautiful even at midday and the shapes of the nearby hills resembled the sacred linga! The road was narrow and winding, and a white Audi car formed the pilot for our bus. We came across groups of mules lugging up loads, herded by women in traditional Maharashtrian attire. By 2:30 p.m., we were at the site and had been granted special permission (courtesy the Jadhavs) to actually go along the dam. It was hot with the sun right above us. But a mere glance at the expanse of freshwater before us which was 210 feet deep ensured that neither the salty sweat nor the burning sun dampened our enthusiasm. The staff manning the dam not only showed us the rooms which housed the valves to open the sluice gates but also gave us a demonstration of its entire management. The bus had been sent to the other end where it would wait for us as we crossed the entire stretch of the dam on foot. The blue-green waters below had a sort of calming and relaxing effect and so we easily accomplished the kilometre long walk. As Swami had directed us against going for boating, by 3:10 p.m. we were all aboard the bus ready to return to Hadshi.

Special photo-shoot session

Once we were back we quickly freshened up and rushed to the Mandir. It was well past 4:00 p.m. We could not go up near Swami's room as He Himself was coming down the lift even as we entered. He saw a few of us and asked,

"Have all the boys returned?"

We replied that some of us had reached the Mandir earlier but all the boys indeed were back. Swami then called Mrs. Ratanlal and asked, "Do you still remember your husband?"

“Swami, I recollect nothing of the past. Of what use is it to think of the past?”

Swami speaks with the venerable and sweet Ratanlal aunty - dedicated in His service since the 1960s.

Swami continued to gently prod the elderly devotee. She had been blessed with service of Swami since the 1960s and Swami had relished the food cooked by her for decades.

“Delhi, Lahore, your husband… you must be remembering them.”

“No Swami! We all have come with nothing and we leave in the same manner. If we think of Swami always, it is enough.”

I could not help but admire the wisdom being exuded by this special devotee of the Lord.  I was touched with the surrender and love of Ratanlal Aunty.  At this point, Mr. V. Srinivasan added,

"Swami always narrates to us the story of Alexander who left the earth empty handed."

Swami now moved to His room next to the dining table. Arrangements were being made for a group photo session of the Jadhav family with Swami. The flower vase in the centre of the hall had been made anew with fresh flowers and Bhagavan too arrived around 4.20 p.m. in the beautiful darshan chair. As the family arranged themselves around Him, the angle of coverage needed expansion. So Satyajit and I moved the massive dining table behind. Once this was done, the photo session began. It was very special for me as Swami was constantly looking into the camera with momentary glances at the video camera that CG held. The family members took pictures with Him in various permutations and combinations.

The immediate Jadhav family. The steps on the right lead to Swami's room above. Swami, however,
made use of the lift (seen as a door beyond the staircase) to move up and down.

Soon the boys followed suit. Again, Phani and I requested Swami and He did agree for a complete-group photo. Actually we were all keen to have individual snaps with Swami. However since He has agreed for photos in groups we quickly formed three small teams - a midway compromise between Swami's and our wish! Bhagavan again lovingly got involved in the seating arrangement around Him. I felt so blessed being His student! In the end, it was only CG and I who had not had a picture with Him and so we both sat by His side with our hands on His feet and a beautiful frame was taken. After that, some more people had this blessed opportunity and then Swami Himself called for Prof. Anil Kumar, Mr. Balaram and Mr. Srinivasan to pose with Him. Finally, at the request of the Jadhav brothers, Swami agreed for a solo photograph. With great joy, I took a few good shots. (Shown as the first photo in this part).

A special photo-op for the photographer and the video-cameraman.

As this session concluded by about 4:40 pm, He began to move out. And there He saw all the other members of the family assembled for His darshan. Also present were the workers, gardeners, cooks, helpers and everyone else who had contributed in the service. Swami now began to move amidst them granting them namaskar and blessings. Here, there were other photographers and videographers, and so, CG and I took a small break. This was such a noble act of Mr. Jadhav; he had ensured that none miss the joy of His physical proximity. Towards the end, I noticed that as Swami would move out of the shade, the evening sun would delightfully light up the divine face. So, I rushed there and clicked the Radiant Face smiling brightly. Moving ahead, Swami got into the car.

The padanamaskar session that Swami granted was because of the large-heartedness of the Jadhav brothers and Swami would give us a message about the same, later.

to be continued in Part 8 which is at the link below:

Hadshi-Mumbai diaries - Part 8 - The Vijayabhojanam or the banquet of victory

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