My devotee may be thousands of miles away ……….'
(Experience of a 20 year old girl, 1986.) I was floating on cloud nine. My dreams had come true. Here I was, on my way to the U.S. for my studies. I had admission to the course of my choice; at the University, I had dreamed of going to! Baba had made it happen. There was, of course, the pain of being separated from my darling parents, of going away from all that was familiar, loved and known. Here I was on the brink of exploring a whole new world ….a whole new way of life.
A few days later, I began to realize how badly I was missing everything and everyone I had left behind – my mother and father, my indulgent grand parents, my friends, my home, my room, my bed…every little thing there! The loneliness which every student has to fight and learn to get over, hit me.
The evening was cloudy, dark and gloomy. There was a chill wind blowing, and it did little to cheer me up. I was walking down an empty street, which felt lonelier still as it did not take me home to Mom and Dad. There was no one with me, just no one!
Just then, I remembered Sai Baba's assurance: Wherever you may be, thousand of miles away, which I had read as a child, came back to me. I prayed to my Baba,'Sai, where are you? You promised, Baba, you can be anywhere, anytime, with the one who loves you."
I took my handkerchief to my eyes, to wipe my tears….and I felt something rustle against my skin – not like fabric at all. It was something the wind had brought. I took it away from my eyes and looked. I could not believe what I saw – it was Baba's photograph! Here in an alien land on the other side of the earth? It was real….real, not my imagination….as years later, it is still with me, framed in gold, at my bedside!
(From: 'SAI FOR EACH, FOR ALL, FOREVER' by Shaila Hattiangadi and published by Quest Publications, Mumbai -400 001)