COMPASSIONATE MOTHER SAI (September 1983)

[Guest guest]

COMPASSIONATE MOTHER SAI (September 1983)

 

This is an incident, occurring during the terrible cyclone havoc, which

rocked Andhra, when the Rail-Link connecting Madras with the capital of

India was badly damaged and totally breached in some places.

 

My Keralite friend, who holds an important office in a famous industrial

concern here at Kanpur, is a sincere and saturated devotee of Shri Sai Baba

of Shirdi. He is in the practice of visiting Shirdi off and on.

 

During one of his such visits while he was returning to Kanpur, he could

not obtain my prior Railway reservation and was anxiously waiting at the

Manmad station to board the train. After some time, when the train

arrived, it was found so over packed that it was beyond any possibility to

get into any general compartment. Over and above, his presence in the

office the very next day was essentially needed to attend to some important

business. Consequently there was no other alternative but to board a

reserved coach as a last resort, when the train was actually set in motion.

 

He requested that conductor in the coach to be kind enough to allot him a

seat as he was urgently required to reach his destination at the earliest

possible time. But the conductor expressed his inability as there was no

vacancy and urged him to get down and he was eventually detrained at

Bhusawal.

 

It was about 9.00 p.m. in the night and he became greatly perturbed and

disappointed when he could learn from the Station Enquiry office that there

was no other Jhansi-bound train in the night. As there was no way out, he

thought himself destined to spend the night in the station. In a very

depressed mood and with a sad countenance he kept on loitering in order to

pass time when he noticed a saffron-clad Mahatma at the distant end of the

same platform.

 

On close approach, he became highly fascinated to mark the most sober and

graceful appearance of the Mahatma. He was all the more attracted to find a

majestic photograph of Shri Sai Baba in his possession. My friend had a

spontaneous urge to pay due regards to the Mahatma, which he had complied

with in great reverence and took his seat by his side with the intention of

spending the night in the ‘August Company’ of the Mahatma, to whom he

ultimately narrated his sad plight.

 

With extreme love and confidence the Mahatma advised my friend to have

‘Saburi’. He assured him that his train would shortly be coming and he would

reach his destination much earlier than the previous one, which he had

already missed and as such he should have the least worry.

Surprisingly enough, shortly afterwards a through-running train approached

the station in a great speed and had an instantaneous and non-scheduled halt

at the very platform. Most lovingly the Mahatma directed my friend to

board the train and blessed him for a comfortable journey. It is extremely

miraculous to note that it was the fast running “Tamil-Nadu express” from

Madras, which was diverted on account of the Andhra cyclonic disaster on the

Bombay route via Dhond to Manmad and thereafter to negotiate the Delhi

route.

 

My friend took leave of the great Mahatma most humbly and respectfully and

approached the conductor of the train to enquire if any berth would be

available to him His you knew no bounds when he informed that there were

innumerable berths vacant, which he could avail with pleasure.

My friend, after being comfortably accommodated inside the train, reviewed

the entire antecedents since the evening of that night. Tears rolled down

his cheeks in profound gratitude, love and reverence for the ever-watchful

and compassionate mother “Sai”, who comes to the rescue of Her children in

appropriate time in some form or the other !

 

 

B.G. Das

Kanpur – 208 004 (U.P)

 

 

(The experiences of Devotees as published in Shri Sai Leela Magazine, can

be

read at www.saileelas.org/magazines/SAILEELA/exp.htm