My Experience With Baba

8/9/2019 My Experience With Baba

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My Experience With Baba

Devotees and my online friends often ask me about

my experiences relating to Sai baba and also whatmakes my devotion in Baba so strong?

Sometimes,I think if I started to reply to them- Ireally would'nt know where to start and where toend. I have been going to shirdi since mychildhood days. My dad had a lot of faith in Baba

and He used to take us to shirdi every month. Istill remember those days when I was a small kidand I used to play in Samadhi mandir and in thosedays ,Samadhimandir did not have a roof all thewayIt was connected to Dwarkamayi-I rememeber mydad giving abhishek to Baba's murti and Baba'ssamadhi in samadhimandir.I have a lot of

memories of how Shirdi used to be several yrs ago-specially those small alleys where we walked on barefoot --one could actually feel that you arestepping on the same mud where Baba must haveonce walked on. I remember seeing those 9 coins which were given by Baba to Laxmibai. I wasfortunate to go to this great devotees house and

meet her family.I remember there used to be 3-4furnished bunglows which were just reserved for vip's and we often stayed over there. Those bunglows are not there anymore but the memory will always be. When I was a kid, before any examor test that I had in school -my mom used to give


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me Baba's udi before leaving the house. We calledit Babuti. And today, I do the same with my 12 yrold daughter. And by His grace, I have never ever

been out of my Baba's sacred udi .Infact, when Imoved into my new house, instead of doing anygharpraveshpooja-- I made my daughter take thefirst step in the house with Baba's picture in herhands and then I put Baba's udi all around myhouse on the outside and inside every corner ofeach room. So now even Baba lives in that house with us .We all have felt His presence in the house

in some way or the other. A few years ago, I got very angry with my daughter for something wrongthat she did and in front of Baba's picture, Islapped her like any normal parent would do --andin a couple of seconds - I heard a voice from deepinside my heart that" You have done so manymistakes in your life - have I ever punished you-

then why did u punish your daughter". I realizedmy mistake and since that day no matter howangry I become on any one-- I hold on to Baba'sname and handle the matter with patience andunderstanding.Great is Baba and even Greater areHis leela's. He has shown me so many miracles andit is hard to list them all but there is one that I cannever ever forget. About 5-6 yrs ago, I had gone to

Shirdi with my mom and my sister's family. There was a very kind Sai devotee who was my friend inthose days who arranged for the hotel stay and the vip pass for me and my relatives for the morningKakadaarti. Anyways, we all reached Shirdi at


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midnight so we were all tired. But I was all set toattend the Kakadaarti. In the morning, I tried towake up everyone who had come with me to attend

the aarti but all of them to my surprise said thatthey wanted to sleep and will attend the aarti later. Anyways, so I got ready and at 5 am, I was able toget in the Samadhi mandir with the Vip pass. I wasso happy to get such a nice darshan of Baba.Finally the aarti started and at the time when theaarti was going on--my mind started thinking of a wish that I had since long. Something that only I

knew about.Something that bothered me and leftme confused for a long long time. Anyways, theaarti was over and I was able to also get in for thesatyanarayanpooja, buy the Saisatcharitrabooks ,get extra udi for my friends in USA and did all thefun stuff that I usually do in Shirdi. And when Icame back to the hotel, all my relatives were still

sleeping. I woke them up and now they wanted toattend the madhyanaarti at noon and so they askedme if I would be able to get the vippaas for themfor the madhyanaarti . But not even a leaf canmove without Baba's approval so no matter howmuch I tried and they tried but they were not ableto get in for the aarti. After the aarti, they did avery quick darshan of Baba at Samadhi mandir and

then we left for mumbai. This had happened inmay or june. Usually, I never go to India ,with in6-8 months but like Baba said "My people do notcome to me of their own accord; it is I who seekand bring them to me." Things took a turn and I


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had to go to Mumbai once again alone for somereason. And , one thing led to another- and Ireached Shirdi on my Birthday itself. I went there

with a couple of my friends and the plan was to bein shirdi for 2-3 hrs and come back to mumbai thesame day. We reached at 1 :00 in the afternoon andmiracles started happening since then. We went toa restaurant and over there, I saw a very bigoriginal picture of Baba and I said to myself, Iwished I had that picture too and then I completelyforgot about it. Anyways, we went to Samadhi

mandir and we were able to get a very nice darshanof Baba since it was not all that crowded. I wasreally happy to get blessings of Baba on my specialday and when I came out of the Samadhi mandir, akid came to me who was selling the exact samepicture of Baba which I had seen in the restaurauntand that too a pretty good size.I was shocked to see

that picture, only I knew that I wanted to have thatpicture. To me, it was Baba's birthday gift for me. Anyways, once again, I did my usual stuff- gotsome extra udi and SaiSatcharitra books etc andthen I told my friends that I will meet them in 30mins at 4:10pm or so cos I wanted to read theSaiSatcharitra in Dwarkamai and then we will beoff to Mumbai. They went their way and I once

again started my tirthyatra in Shirdi by visiting allthe small temples. I started reading theSaiSatcharitra in a temple other than Dwarkamai.Ifinished reading it and there was a fakir dressed inorange kafini with a turban on his head whom I


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noticed was watching me. He was sitting near themoorti .Anyways, in 10 mins , I got up and prayedin front of the moorti there and was about to put

some dakshina in the donation box when I noticedthat fakir looking at me again so instead of puttingthe money in the box -I offered him to take thedakshina. He said no put it in the hundi so I didthat and as I was leaving the temple, I felt likegiving something to that fakir, so I turned behindand I had the bag of prasad in my hands - I tookout a packet of sweet pedas and thought that since

the fakir did not want any money ,let me give himthis packet of Baba's prasad. So I offered to givehim that itself, He took it gladly and he raised hishand and blessed me. And for a minute it felt likeBaba raised his hand to shower his grace and blessings on me. My heart started beatingfast,what more could I ask from Baba on my

birthday. I left that temple happily once again tomeet my friends . But this was not the end of Hisleela's.

When I was walking towards the place where I wassuppose to meet my friends--I passed Samadhimandir and reached the place where there r 3-4small temples of Lord Ganesh, Lord Shiva etc and

over there I got attracted to this small door whereeveryone was going. My feet automatically weredrawn towards that door and when I went inside, Isaw a big line chanting Baba's name - That line wasgoing to the samadhimandir I guessed. I dontknow


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what happened to me but I held ShriSaiSatcharitraclose to my heart and started chanting Baba's namein a way that I had never chanted before and

started walking and I actually started passing allthose devotees who were waiting in the line beforeme and see the miracle of Baba, no one even oncedared to stop me and with in 5 mins I was atalmost the begining of the line and as soon as Ireached there , the gates were opened andeveryone rushed up and down the stairs to go tothe Samadhi mandir. And with in minutes, I too

reached inside the temple only to realize that I wasstanding at the exact same spot where I wasstanding a few months ago when I had the vip passfor attending the Kakadaarti and not only that Iwas wander struck, when i t was announced that thedhoopaarti will be starting soon .I kept looking atBaba's moorti and was speechless. I looked at my

watch and realized that my friends must be waitingfor me so I called them from my cell and told themthat I am sorry that they have to wait. I am inSamadhi mandir and I am attending the aarti. Itsamazing, we can not enter or leave Shirdi unlessHe wishes. Although the bus tickets for returningto mumbai were already booked, and they were waiting for me at the bus station- they had to

cancel the tickets and reschedule it for a later time.Great are Baba's leela's . The very same day, someother events had also happened which had satisfiedmy long awaited wish and cleared the confusionthat I had since many manyyrs and this was the


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very same wish that I had when I had attended theKakadaarti..This was His miracle , otherwise, mestanding at the very same vip spot without having a

vippaas would not have been possible. Once again,Baba showered his grace on me and I was able toattend the dhoopaarti but my friends were not ableto do that .And on my Birthday, this time when I was attending the aarti, my mind was only set onhim and it did not wander for any uncompleted wish or some mind bothering confusion. My mind was clear and only fixed on Him and his grace.

Tears of devotion kept falling from my eyes ,theentire time- while the aarti was going on.He gaveme what I wished for and besides that He made myBirthday very special for me.I happily and with acontented mind left shirdi at 8pm or so afterhaving the dinner and all.

Truly, Great is Baba and even greater are Hisleelas. He very well knows what His devotee wantsand He gives it to him . It is just we human beings who do not have patience and do not have faith inHis judgement.Since that day, I fully beleive thatSai is not so far away. He is not in the heavens

above, nor in hell below. He is always near you.[Continued]


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My experiences and the leelas that I witnessedduring the trip to India in 2010::My this trip toIndia was much more interesting than what I had

planned or anticipated.It was definetly filled withleelas and miracles of Saibaba. I went to Shirdi onRamnavami and I not only had a very good darshanover there but I also attended the Aarti as a VIP.Thanks to the two messengers of Sai without whom I would have been totally lost. They helpedme in every possible way to make sure that I get whatever I needed in Shirdi and Baba thru them

made sure that I am able to do everything in Shirdito my hearts content. Infact at one point, one ofthem wandered and said to the other- I have nevermet Deepa before but I wander why am I doing allthis !!!!!!!!... He carried on his shoulders 700 plusSaiVrat Katha books and other stuff that I hadpurchased and walked bare foot from Dwarkamai

to Prasadalaya.It was abt 10:30 pm and they madesure that I safely reached my hotel and on theRamnavami day before saying good bye to me-Theypresented me with a big framed picture of Baba which was one of a kind and not easy to get. Itseems they had got that picture for some otherdevotee but that devotee never showedup..Ofcourse, to me this was a leela of Sai - I had

tears in my eyes when I saw that picture cos just before leaving for India-- I had sent a very bigpicture of Sai to a father whose daughter was notfeeling well and in my mail to Him- I had writtento him that Sai is coming to ur house!!!! And there


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I was in Shirdi on Ramnavami day and aSaibhaktpresented me with Babas big picture--Ifelt as if Baba is coming with me to my house. May

be it was a blessing from the heart of that fatherthat Sai has come to my house or perhaps it was a blessing from Sai that on Ramnavami day Heshowered His grace on me. No matter what thetruth is but when ever I see that pic in my house inmy temple -I just say to myself -Great is Baba andeven greater are his leelas. Inspite of the hugecrowds of devotees everywhere, I also was able to

do the Satyanarayanpooja and do everything elsethat I normally do in Shirdi. This reminds me ofanother leela that happened the next day afterRamnavami .I woke up at 7:30 am or so and thefirst thing that came to my mind was that I wish Icould do the Satyanarayanpooja so I hurried to thesansthan to get the parchi for the 8:30am pooja

but when I reached there - I was told that there was no place-the hall was full and they could giveme the parchi only for the pooja that will be at 1:30in the afternoon.I knew I can not attend the 1:30poojacos by then I had to leave for Mumbai.I hadcompletely lost hope and just then Sai alone knowswhat happened-it was like Sai Commanded and theperson sitting way inside the office suddenly

instructed the clerk to give me the parchi for 8:30am ... I was so soso happy- I immediately got theparchi and ran to the place where the pooja wasgoing to be held -it was already 8:30 by then -whenI reached the hall- the guy inside the hall saw my


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parchi and gave me the seat in the very first frontrow and I sat just across the pandit who wasperforming the pooja....

Many leelas kept happening during this trip toShirdi.Out of which one also happened onRamnavami during the day. I had never ever metor seen or even spoken personally to the designerof the above Sai Picture whom I often refer as theTrue Sai Devotee.....But on that day, I met him inShirdi outside Dwarkamai- of course that meeting was planned --- anyways, we both then went toShri Abdul Baba's cottage which you see in the below picture and sat there to chat.But beforeentering Abdul Baba's cottage, I saw everyoneeating pulao outside Dwarkamai. It sure lookedtasty so even I wanted to have that prasad but


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could not find who was distributing it.Anyways, Isit possible that you sit in Baba's Darbaar onRamnavami day and you go without eating the

Prasad??? Nope Not Possible!!!! Anyways, The trueSai devotee who designs the pictures everyday forthe ShirdiSai Speaks mails and I were chatting in Abdul Baba's cottage and suddenly the person who was distributing the pulao came inside with herdish-- filled the plate with pulao and offered it tous. Vow!!! What more could I ask !! Nobody knewexcept Sai, that I was dying to have that tasty

pulao and there it was in my lap..Baba's Prasad tome along with jalebi and udi while sitting in AbdulBabas cottage!! To others, this may be a coincidence but to me they are leelas which make mefeel as if Sai is with us at every step we take .

This is the picture of Abdul Baba's cottage which isacross Chavdi.


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It is believed that No one can leave Shirdi untilBaba Permits and ofcourse, I have witnessed thatin my life many times .This time during my visit to

Shirdi during Ramnavami of 2010 ,a similar thinghappened.I had a very nice darshan on theRamnavami day and I was also lucky enough toattend the aarti.On the next day, with the grace ofSainath- I was also able to do the Satnarayanpoojaand get a couple of chaddars from the auction asrequested by a couple of Sai devotees. I had

finished all my work and headed to exit theSansthan gate and leave for mumbai but on thatlast day, I did not go to Dwarkamai or Samadhimandir.


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However, Sai had not yet given me permission toleave the premises. I exited from theShirdiSansthan gate and the second I did that--something in my heart said that I have to go backin since I did not get anything from Shirdi for my best friend.The voice inside me was so loud that Icould not stop myself- I turned back to get in butthat was the exit gate near the Samadhi mandir so

no one was allowed to get in from that gate. But Irequested that havaldar that I just came out and Ihave forgotten something so it was very kind ofhim to let me in once again.Anyways, Things havechanged a lot in Shirdi now and the gates reallyconfuse me-as I was heading back in the oppositedirection of the crowd-By mistake , I enteredanother entry which led me straight to the stepswhich led to the SamdhiMandir.It was the very endof the Samadhi mandir where people were doingjust a quick darshan and tears started rolling downmy eyes when I noticed that even though I amstanding way in the end but I am in Samadhi


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Mandir paying my respects to Baba and asking himthe permission to leave Shirdi. Although I hadalready exited from the gate but Sainath called me

back to give me His Blessed Darshan.

Anyways,with Baba in my heart- I proceeded to theplace where the auction is held to get a chaddar formy best friend. But unfortunately just as I reachedthere , the auction got over. I inquired from theperson who was conducting the auction if he hadany more that I could purchase and he directed meto the room where I could buy the chaddars that

were touched by Baba's samadhi but when I wentthere, there was just 1 small chaddar left by thegrace of SAI and obviously, I got my hands on it. Ipaid for it and Sai knows what got into me that Igave the clerk my best friends name to type on thereceipt.


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After that , I noticed that there was a SterlingSilver coin and a gold pendant of Baba on sale tooover there. I got so attracted towards those twothings that without any second thought, I went

ahead and purchased that for myself. But just whenI was coming out-I saw the receipt for the silvercoin and the gold pendant and to my surprise, ithad my best friends name on it.- The clerk hadforgotten to ask my name when he was making thesecond and third receipt and I completely forgotthat I needed to give him my name for those 2

articles.... At this point , I realized what exactlyhad just happened and I had just witnessedanother leela of Baba..


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For you to understand the leela behind this let meshare an incident with you that happened last year---- Since abt 19 yrs or so, I had been carrying asmall purse which had all my lucky tokens- Those

lucky tokens were so dear to me that no matter where I went-- Mexico, Thailand, Dubai, Canada,Alaska, India -- I took them with me. I even carriedthem everywhere in my routine life and even if Ichanged my big purse still I made sure that thesmall lucky token purse is always with me. It had asmall gold pendant of Baba which my dad had

bought for me in Shirdi when I went with him last before coming to States 17-18 yrs ago. Since mydad is no more, that pendant was very close to myheart.


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That visit to Shirdi with my dad abt 17-18 yrs ago,itself was a miracle---I still remember, I had gotmy visa to usa and I was very excited to go tostates and meet my hubby and start my married

life.I booked my ticket for the first available dateand was all set to fly.I had said good bye to all myfriends and relatives .However, on the day, I wassuppose to leave from India- I got a call from AirIndia saying that the pilots have gone on somekind of indefinite strike and the flight had beencancelled until further notice.Oh ! I was so

frustrated. But my dad who was an ardent devoteeof Sainath saw the good in it and said to me thatlets go to Shirdi. We will return in 1 day.You aregoing so far, u should take Baba's blessings beforestarting ur new life.So Papa and me, both headedfor Shirdi and there he got me that gold pendant.


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We went to the Samadhi mandir and made thepriest touch the pendant at Baba's feet and at Hissacred Samadhi.I seeked Baba's blessings-took His

permission to leave India and then as soon as Icame back- I flew that very same day to states. It was a pure leela of Sai where He made me come toShirdi just the day I was suppose to leave forstates.

Anyways, that very same gold pendant was in thatlucky token small purse of mine along with asterling silver coin which one of my well wishershad given from Siddhi Vinayakabt 15-16 yrs ago.Inthat lucky token purse,there was also a 1 Rupeenote with the numbers 786 written in the serialnumber which was given to me by this very same

best friend many manyyrs ago whom I had got thechadar for...786 is believed to be a lucky numberfor any muslim .Neither my friend nor me r amuslim but since we both have been a Sai devoteesince our child hood days-- We have faith in all


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religions. Baba always said 'AllaahMaalikhai' .. Anyways, that small lucky token purse which hadsome other stuff besides this- had got stollen last

year. Since the time, that purse was stollen, I had become so scared that all my confidence hadstarted wearing off.I would start crying on thesmallest problem. I am in the medical field andseeing blood was so normal for me but after thatlucky token purse got stollen -the sight of bloodmade me nervous. I was sentimentally attached tothat purse because it was filled with blessings and

well wishes of my loved ones.It always made mefeel protected and it gave me all the confidenceand showed me the light that lead to the path ofGod.

Coming back to my trip to Shirdi in 2010-Themiracle that happened after the U turn that I tookfor my best friend after leaving the Sansthan gatemade me seek Baba's blessings and permission before leaving Shirdi. Baba also made me get- thesterling silver coin from the ShirdiSansthan along


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with the gold pendant with Baba's picture on it andon the receipt was my best friends name on itinstead of my name.. I realized that Baba gave me

back the lost sterling silver coin of siddhivinayakalong with the gold pendant of sai which my dadhad given to me with the well wishes of my bestfriend .Baba gave me back my lucky tokens andonce again I bloom with the self confidenceand with the faith that no matter where I go or what Ido -- Sai is always with me and even if I loosesomething- He will surely give it back to me, if I

truly deserve it. Once again My Salute to Babaandto HisLeelas..SaibhaktDeepa HEmail :[email protected]

My Experience With Baba

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