ॐ सांई राम
My Shirdi Trip & Baba's Miracles Part 1
Om Sai Ram!
This is my second experience that I am writing on this blog, you can read the first one following this link-
Baba brings you back to him!
Miracles happen every moment..It is just that we take note of only the big ones, the below experience which I am going to share is one of those times when you need to take time off your worldly matters to understand what just happened with you. I will narrate this experience as it is without any edits & will also include the thoughts that immediately came in my mind at each & every step.
Part 1This particular experience that I am going to narrate is about my recent trip to Shirdi. I was planning to visit Shirdi since June but was not able to make up my mind. Finally in August some of my friends expressed their interest in visiting Shirdi & we decided to move ahead with tickets etc. We were in bangalore & from here no direct flights to Nasik or Aurangabad..So we decided to travel via Train or else Bus if we do not get tickets. It was 5th August when we finalized this & the travel date was 17th August. We checked the train tickets & the waiting list was large & there were little chances of it getting confirmed. Still My sister in law booked the tickets in 2nd AC. I was hoping to book the tickets in tatkal quota 2 days before 17th i.e. 15th August. I was praying to Baba that if he wants only than I can make it to Shirdi. On 14th there was a house party & I slept at 3am. Now to book tickets one need to wake up at 8 & do it else the quota finishes in 20 minutes past 8. I was hopeful that if Baba wants I will surely get the tickets. I woke up at 8.05 and rushed to open the website & book tickets. To my surprise all the seats of quota were still there, I thanked Baba & proceeded with booking, I needed to book 4 tickets, Everything went fine but the payment did not went through & it got declined, I tried again & this time it was 10 seats left, The same error happened again & I could not book the tickets. I got little worried & prayed to Baba. Thus being hopeful I felt like trying one last time, This time it was 4 seats left, I was constantly praying to Baba & this time I was able to book tickets. I was elated & as soon as I booked the tickets I got this SMS-
Shirdi chalo Shirdi Chalo, Baba ne bulaya hai
Ye sandesha Baba ne aapke liye shirdi se bhijwaya hai.
Dear Sai Devotees, this is going to be a very long one, Please bear with me & Have patience while reading. Baba had planned himself for me this time & starting from beginning till end I could not understand anything except SAI.
We had to catch the train at 1900 hours from Bangalore station, we booked the Cab & was to reach us at 1700 hours. At 1650 I checked with Cab customer care & they told me that Cab is unavailable & they had sent an SMS which might have not delivered due to network congestion. I again thought Is it that Baba does not want me to come. I tried booking another cabs & all the cabs were available after 1 hour only, Luckily I managed to get one cab Immediately but he took 30 mins to reach us due to traffic. We left from station approx. 40 mins late from planned time, thus we decided to go to Cantt. Station which is nearer. To worsen things it started raining heavily & due to which water logged on roads. All this resulted in heavy traffic on road. Again the clouds of doubts appeared but this time I was confident that I will surely make it to station & Shirdi.
Yes we reached Station just 10 minutes before but we reached. Sigh!
We entered the station & was waiting for train, We saw a bakery shop on platform & felt like eating, I went to buy something & there I saw a man with a walking stick asking me for food. Strangely he asked none but me for food, I made him eat something & took my stuff & left. We boarded the train & sat on our seats. I am skipping some small incidents here during our journey due to comparatively low relevance.
We reached Kopargaon at 1+ something, took taxi from there & left for Shirdi. We reached
Shirdi around 2.30pm & took a hotel just opposite Dwarkamai. Strangely I was not in hurry to have Darshan of Baba, instead I was feeling to visit Chawadi first than Dwarkamai & than Samadhi Mandir, I was also praying to baba, give me Darshan nicely not like last time just for few seconds. We got freshen up & came to Chawadi & than Dwarkamai. We sat there for like 10-20 mins. We were feeling hungry & it was already 5.30. We ate some food & I did not wanted to go to Samadhi mandir right now as Evening Aarati was about to start & there was lots of people in all the halls. I prayed to Baba that I wanted to attend Aarati but not in such hurry with so much crowd. Thus we decided to go after 7.
We entered the temple at approx. 7.30pm & joined the queue in the first hall. The first hall had only some people but I guess the second hall should have been full. The queue was moving slowly & Suddenly when It was my turn to enter the second hall, the guard asked me to stop and closed the gate. I was surprised as to what it was but how could I guess Baba wanted me to welcome in a good way. Another guard came after 5 mins & let me through and directly to stairs skipping the second hall. I felt astonished. We reached the main hall & was eager to see a glimpse of Baba & there I saw him shining like Sun with a glory that of ‘Rising Sun embarking its strength to wither away all the darkness’. I can not express the joy I felt., I thanked baba for calling me to Shirdi & prayed him again to give me Darshan nicely, I wanted to see him till my soul is filled with his presence. We reached near to Idol and could see that people were not allowed to have Darshan for more than 5 seconds, some were even given 2 seconds. There were 3-4 guards and they were pushing people aside. I was worried that I will not be able to see Baba for long. As soon as I reached the Idol, one guard hold my hand.....I thought he will pull me away and I will have to go.
But Baba had something else planned for me!
That very guard looked me in the eyes, gave a very good smile & told me to have darshan for as long as I want, I was overwhelmed. I looked at Baba with contentment & thanked him. That very guard gave me prasad & flowers from Baba’s Samadhi. He also asked me to have Darshan again at the samadhi, I took it with grace. I again got prasad , He told me to stand in corner and have darshan till I want. I stood there for 15 minutes talking to my Baba. Than a Lady guard came & asked me to have darshan again & gave me garlands from Baba’s Idol. My joy knew no bounds as If I have got what I aspired for. I was spellbound & speechless. I again stood there for 5 more minutes looking at Baba & Baba looking at me with love as if he was telling me, I listen to you & this is the proof, Now do you have any doubts?
Do you think here ends my roller coaster ride?
Not yet, My friends were waiting for me outside the hall & were surprised to see me as if they were excited to know what just happened but I was in another world. We went to Gurusthan & were looking for Neem Leaves, we could not find any. One guard from nowhere took notice of this & called me. He asked me very poiltely “ You are searching for Neem Leaves?” I replies in Positive. He told me, “Please take 101 rounds of Gurusthan & you will get it, everyone who does it, gets it for sure”. We decided to do this & the guard disappeared somewhere. As soon as I completed my 25 rounds the very same guard called me & gave me 2 neem leaves & told me,”Make sure to complete the 101 rounds”. I expressed gratitude and continued. In between My friend’s wife asked me are these leaves really sweet? I replied “Let me check” I ate both the leaves and yes they were!
As soon as I completed my 50th round, Guard came again & this time with a smile he gave me one more neem leave and said “ You might have eaten the last 2 leaves, please keep this one in mini wallet you carry” Here I must tell you all, I don’t carry a full wallet me all the time, I generally carry a small Credit card holder with some cash. I asked him How do you know I have a mini wallet? He smiled and asked me to continue. I was totally in different state of mind unable to understand anything. I was chanting Sai Ram continuously and taking my rounds. I was wondering what was happening with me, Is this for real or these guards do this trick to some chosen people but then suddenly it came to me, everything that happens is controlled by SAI, so this must be inspired by him only. I was again called by the guard after 75th round. This time what happened gave me all the answers as If SAI was listening to my thoughts & wanted to answer me one by one. He gave me one red & transparent bead’s necklace and said these words, “You have been asking Sai to be your Guru for long, Today Sai becomes you GURU and also you wanted to attend Aarti, Please attend you aarti here at Gurusthan & wear this after aarti finishes after placing it on Sai’s feet at Gurusthan, This was given to me for you by Sai himself” Just as he finished the aarti started. (I had been wishing Baba from long to be my Guru & guide me through this worldly affairs and not to forget my wish to attend Aarti when I reached Shirdi)
I had tears in my eyes & this led me a world beyond my imagination & understanding. I continued my rounds and as soon as I completed the rounds the aarti also finished. I wore the Mala “Necklace” as he suggested. I went to thank him for all this, instead of listening to me he asked me to wait so that he could bring the aarti prasad, He gave me the Prasad and told me you can share it with your friends. After this I thank him whole heartedly & left for my hotel. I needed a lot of time to digest all this.
Keep Watching this space, tomorrow you will experience the Second Part (Part 2) of my Experience....
Till then Om Sai Ram to all...
My Shirdi Trip & Baba's Miracles Part 1
Om Sai Ram!
This is my second experience that I am writing on this blog, you can read the first one following this link-
Baba brings you back to him!
Miracles happen every moment..It is just that we take note of only the big ones, the below experience which I am going to share is one of those times when you need to take time off your worldly matters to understand what just happened with you. I will narrate this experience as it is without any edits & will also include the thoughts that immediately came in my mind at each & every step.
Part 1This particular experience that I am going to narrate is about my recent trip to Shirdi. I was planning to visit Shirdi since June but was not able to make up my mind. Finally in August some of my friends expressed their interest in visiting Shirdi & we decided to move ahead with tickets etc. We were in bangalore & from here no direct flights to Nasik or Aurangabad..So we decided to travel via Train or else Bus if we do not get tickets. It was 5th August when we finalized this & the travel date was 17th August. We checked the train tickets & the waiting list was large & there were little chances of it getting confirmed. Still My sister in law booked the tickets in 2nd AC. I was hoping to book the tickets in tatkal quota 2 days before 17th i.e. 15th August. I was praying to Baba that if he wants only than I can make it to Shirdi. On 14th there was a house party & I slept at 3am. Now to book tickets one need to wake up at 8 & do it else the quota finishes in 20 minutes past 8. I was hopeful that if Baba wants I will surely get the tickets. I woke up at 8.05 and rushed to open the website & book tickets. To my surprise all the seats of quota were still there, I thanked Baba & proceeded with booking, I needed to book 4 tickets, Everything went fine but the payment did not went through & it got declined, I tried again & this time it was 10 seats left, The same error happened again & I could not book the tickets. I got little worried & prayed to Baba. Thus being hopeful I felt like trying one last time, This time it was 4 seats left, I was constantly praying to Baba & this time I was able to book tickets. I was elated & as soon as I booked the tickets I got this SMS-
Shirdi chalo Shirdi Chalo, Baba ne bulaya hai
Ye sandesha Baba ne aapke liye shirdi se bhijwaya hai.
Dear Sai Devotees, this is going to be a very long one, Please bear with me & Have patience while reading. Baba had planned himself for me this time & starting from beginning till end I could not understand anything except SAI.
We had to catch the train at 1900 hours from Bangalore station, we booked the Cab & was to reach us at 1700 hours. At 1650 I checked with Cab customer care & they told me that Cab is unavailable & they had sent an SMS which might have not delivered due to network congestion. I again thought Is it that Baba does not want me to come. I tried booking another cabs & all the cabs were available after 1 hour only, Luckily I managed to get one cab Immediately but he took 30 mins to reach us due to traffic. We left from station approx. 40 mins late from planned time, thus we decided to go to Cantt. Station which is nearer. To worsen things it started raining heavily & due to which water logged on roads. All this resulted in heavy traffic on road. Again the clouds of doubts appeared but this time I was confident that I will surely make it to station & Shirdi.
Yes we reached Station just 10 minutes before but we reached. Sigh!
We entered the station & was waiting for train, We saw a bakery shop on platform & felt like eating, I went to buy something & there I saw a man with a walking stick asking me for food. Strangely he asked none but me for food, I made him eat something & took my stuff & left. We boarded the train & sat on our seats. I am skipping some small incidents here during our journey due to comparatively low relevance.
We reached Kopargaon at 1+ something, took taxi from there & left for Shirdi. We reached
Shirdi around 2.30pm & took a hotel just opposite Dwarkamai. Strangely I was not in hurry to have Darshan of Baba, instead I was feeling to visit Chawadi first than Dwarkamai & than Samadhi Mandir, I was also praying to baba, give me Darshan nicely not like last time just for few seconds. We got freshen up & came to Chawadi & than Dwarkamai. We sat there for like 10-20 mins. We were feeling hungry & it was already 5.30. We ate some food & I did not wanted to go to Samadhi mandir right now as Evening Aarati was about to start & there was lots of people in all the halls. I prayed to Baba that I wanted to attend Aarati but not in such hurry with so much crowd. Thus we decided to go after 7.
We entered the temple at approx. 7.30pm & joined the queue in the first hall. The first hall had only some people but I guess the second hall should have been full. The queue was moving slowly & Suddenly when It was my turn to enter the second hall, the guard asked me to stop and closed the gate. I was surprised as to what it was but how could I guess Baba wanted me to welcome in a good way. Another guard came after 5 mins & let me through and directly to stairs skipping the second hall. I felt astonished. We reached the main hall & was eager to see a glimpse of Baba & there I saw him shining like Sun with a glory that of ‘Rising Sun embarking its strength to wither away all the darkness’. I can not express the joy I felt., I thanked baba for calling me to Shirdi & prayed him again to give me Darshan nicely, I wanted to see him till my soul is filled with his presence. We reached near to Idol and could see that people were not allowed to have Darshan for more than 5 seconds, some were even given 2 seconds. There were 3-4 guards and they were pushing people aside. I was worried that I will not be able to see Baba for long. As soon as I reached the Idol, one guard hold my hand.....I thought he will pull me away and I will have to go.
But Baba had something else planned for me!
That very guard looked me in the eyes, gave a very good smile & told me to have darshan for as long as I want, I was overwhelmed. I looked at Baba with contentment & thanked him. That very guard gave me prasad & flowers from Baba’s Samadhi. He also asked me to have Darshan again at the samadhi, I took it with grace. I again got prasad , He told me to stand in corner and have darshan till I want. I stood there for 15 minutes talking to my Baba. Than a Lady guard came & asked me to have darshan again & gave me garlands from Baba’s Idol. My joy knew no bounds as If I have got what I aspired for. I was spellbound & speechless. I again stood there for 5 more minutes looking at Baba & Baba looking at me with love as if he was telling me, I listen to you & this is the proof, Now do you have any doubts?
Do you think here ends my roller coaster ride?
Not yet, My friends were waiting for me outside the hall & were surprised to see me as if they were excited to know what just happened but I was in another world. We went to Gurusthan & were looking for Neem Leaves, we could not find any. One guard from nowhere took notice of this & called me. He asked me very poiltely “ You are searching for Neem Leaves?” I replies in Positive. He told me, “Please take 101 rounds of Gurusthan & you will get it, everyone who does it, gets it for sure”. We decided to do this & the guard disappeared somewhere. As soon as I completed my 25 rounds the very same guard called me & gave me 2 neem leaves & told me,”Make sure to complete the 101 rounds”. I expressed gratitude and continued. In between My friend’s wife asked me are these leaves really sweet? I replied “Let me check” I ate both the leaves and yes they were!
As soon as I completed my 50th round, Guard came again & this time with a smile he gave me one more neem leave and said “ You might have eaten the last 2 leaves, please keep this one in mini wallet you carry” Here I must tell you all, I don’t carry a full wallet me all the time, I generally carry a small Credit card holder with some cash. I asked him How do you know I have a mini wallet? He smiled and asked me to continue. I was totally in different state of mind unable to understand anything. I was chanting Sai Ram continuously and taking my rounds. I was wondering what was happening with me, Is this for real or these guards do this trick to some chosen people but then suddenly it came to me, everything that happens is controlled by SAI, so this must be inspired by him only. I was again called by the guard after 75th round. This time what happened gave me all the answers as If SAI was listening to my thoughts & wanted to answer me one by one. He gave me one red & transparent bead’s necklace and said these words, “You have been asking Sai to be your Guru for long, Today Sai becomes you GURU and also you wanted to attend Aarti, Please attend you aarti here at Gurusthan & wear this after aarti finishes after placing it on Sai’s feet at Gurusthan, This was given to me for you by Sai himself” Just as he finished the aarti started. (I had been wishing Baba from long to be my Guru & guide me through this worldly affairs and not to forget my wish to attend Aarti when I reached Shirdi)
I had tears in my eyes & this led me a world beyond my imagination & understanding. I continued my rounds and as soon as I completed the rounds the aarti also finished. I wore the Mala “Necklace” as he suggested. I went to thank him for all this, instead of listening to me he asked me to wait so that he could bring the aarti prasad, He gave me the Prasad and told me you can share it with your friends. After this I thank him whole heartedly & left for my hotel. I needed a lot of time to digest all this.
Keep Watching this space, tomorrow you will experience the Second Part (Part 2) of my Experience....
Till then Om Sai Ram to all...