Over a month had passed since I was home after completing my M.Tech from Prasanthi Nilayam campus. All ten of us classmates were eagerly waiting to hear the results of our first Job interview with Citibank at Chennai. One Tuesday, with my mother’s advice, I visited the Hanuman temple to fight my fear and anxiety. As an immediate response to our prayers, the following morning, I received an interview call from a startup to attend a face-to-face interview in Bangalore. I had just enough time to make it to Bangalore travelling 36 hours by train. The interview went on for over six hours and I missed my train back home. And then the Divine play unfolded. My classmate offered me an overnight stay at his home in Bangalore. The same night, my friend’s father referred three of us to his neighbor – an executive from a Fortune 500 multinational company. Was that a coincidence? She was hiring for an engineering role in her team and we were asked to attend an interview the next morning. We joined the pool of candidates contesting for a single vacancy. After multiple rounds of discussions, the same day, I returned to my friend’s house with an offer letter in my hand. It was 09.05.2002, Thursday, Sai Hanumantha had planned it all!
Over six months into the job, sensing my restlessness due to uncertainties in my personal life, a colleague suggested that I seek help from Nadi Jyotisa. The friend took my thumb impression to access my records in the Agastya Nadi back home. “I was a priest in a Shiva temple in my last birth”, revealed the Nadi. This is when I realized why Swami often addressed me as “Pujari” through the seven years of my physical proximity with the Lord.
In a year, I was engaged to my life partner. Both the families were seated for the Divine Darshan at Brindavan to seek blessings for the wedding. Swami blessed her on the ladies’ side and walked straight to me bestowing His infinite blessings and accepting the wedding invitation. During Mangalya Dharana, on the wedding day, we witnessed two senior devotees from Parthi blessing us with Akshath and Vibhuti from Bhagawan. The Lord had sent a vehicle to their home at 5.00AM asking them to attend the wedding in Bangalore and bless the couple. Bhagawan, the Divine Master, in His infinite compassion and mercy allows us to experience His Grace.
Two years into the marriage, Swami blessed us with a baby. Medical complications in the seventh month led to a premature birth. I was lucky that my wife survived the procedure, according to the doctors. The baby with premature lungs landed in NICU. On one of the nights through those tough times, Swami appeared in my sister’s dream where she was holding Bal Krishna’s photograph during the Darshan. Swami took the photograph from her and walked away. On the same night, Swami visited my classmate in his dream in Hyderabad. The friend saw himself praying to Swami for my son’s health. “I can save only one child,” said Swami. Was he referring to a choice between my wife and my son? My son merged in Swami the following morning after his 45 days journey on Earth. My wife expressed her wish to spend the following few days in Parthi. We were in front of the old stores waiting for room keys at around 2.00PM in the afternoon, when Swami passed by us blessing us with Abhayahasta from His car. He was there, giving us the strength, caring for us through those down times.
In 2006, we were constructing our new house in Bangalore. It was my strong desire that His altar be the most prominent place in the house. During a site visit one morning, a labourer at site informed us that a King Cobra had visited the altar the same night it was constructed. (The snake was seated in the center where the Shirdi Baba Statue is placed in the photograph). Lord Sai Shiva proclaimed His presence in the new house.
In June 2019, I was rushing back, from an official visit to London, to attend the Brindavan Golden Jubilee function. While in transit, I met a classmate at the Dubai airport. He too was on his way to attend the function. Having met after nineteen years, we were lost in conversation, before we realised that we were seated next to each other on the plane. The gentleman, seated next to us, instructed a crew member not to disturb him for dinner as he wanted to catch up with his sleep. However, overhearing our conversation over the next five minutes, the gentleman revealed that he was a Sai student from a senior batch and was also travelling to Bangalore for the function. The three of us seated on seats 9A, 9B and 9C of the Emirates flight, basking in the memories of our student life through the rest of the night. This could not have been a coincidence but His way of revealing His omnipresence!
Let’s all rejoice and reciprocate the Divine Love.
Praveen Sachwani B.Sc, M.Sc, Mathematics, M.Tech Computer Science, 1995 – 2002, Prasanthi Nilayam. Currently Senior Director Engineering, Global Solutions at Verifone India Technology Pvt. Ltd. in Bengaluru. He is actively involved in monthly Medical Camp Seva at Whitefield.
