Good olden days
Smt. G. Sujatha Devi - India
I had darshan of the Swamy [Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba] for the
first time in the year 1954 in the company of my husband, Sri
Govindu Ramachandra Rao, to whom I was married just then. We
travelled from Hyderabad to Dharmavaram by train and from there by
bus to Bukkapatnam, enroute to Puttaparthi, as there was no direct
bus connection then from Dharmavaram as at present. From
Bukkapatnam our journey had to be continued by the only bullock
cart available in the village. It was night fall and raining when
we reached Bukkapatnam.
Being strangers we did not know of any place to go. We took
shelter from the rain in the covered space in front of a shop that
was closed. It was pitch dark. There was no movement of persons.
There was absolute silence. Then we were startled to hear a voice,
"Why are you standing in the rain? Hot, Hot 'Senagalu' (Bengal
Gram) are available there". Pleasantly shocked, we looked around
but could not see any person. My husband the proceeded a little
ahead. In fact a person was selling 'hot, hot' groundnuts and
'senagalu'. Wondering at this unexpected but very welcome
situation, we bought these, ate them and spent the night in the
verandah (of a house) offered to us. We got into the single
bullock cart (of the village) in the morning and reached
Puttaparthi.
The journey to Puttaparthi by the bullock cart took one and half
hours, part of being through the Chitravati river. In those days
Puttaparthi was accessible from Bukkapatnam, and the single
bullock cart in the village owned by a maternal uncle of Swamy was
the only method of transport.
This was our first trip to Puttaparthi. Bhajan was in progress in
the "Paata Mandiram" (Old Temple). Swami was present there. We had
our first glimpse of Him while circumambulating the temple. Swamy
did not look at us but looking elsewhere, He said, "Were the
'Senagalu' tasty?" It did not immediately occur to us that Swamy
was actually reminding us the meal we ate the previous night at
Bukkapatnam! It struck us later that Swami was reminding us about
'Senagalu'. During the Darshan, He spoke to us very
affectionately. Thus started our first experience with the Swami.
About the miracles performed by Swami in those days, some times
Swami used to take us to the 'Kalpa Vriksha', the Tamarind tree on
the banks of Chitravati river, make us sit around Him, ask us to
hold the tamarind leaves of the tree in our closed fists. Lo and
behold! The sweets wished for by us were in our open palms! The
sweets were not materialized by Him in his hands; instead the
leaves in our palms got transformed into sweets! He would keep the
petals of some flower in the hands of women and ask them to wish
for flower they liked; the flower wished for was there in their
palms immediately!
Swami would gesticulate by His empty hands as though throwing
something at us. When we tried to catch hold of it, we got either
an apple of an orange! It is similar to the present practice of
Swami showering 'Akshatas' (sacred rice used for blessing) on all.
About Prema Sai, once before commencement of Bhajan, the
women-folk were gossiping and one of them said that some thought
that the Baba was playing dramas, and there was another Baba at
Shirdi who was endowed with many supernatural powers. Suddenly the
passing voice of Swami was heard announcing that 'Another Baba
also would be appearing". Later He presented to my mother a locket
which contains the pictures of all the three Babas. This is still
preserved in my mother's house.
He once told us that Shirdi Baba was not a fakir; He was born in a
Brahmin family and nurtured by Muslim fakirs.
The miracles of Swami are infinite and can be talked about
endlessly.
Smt.
G. Sujatha Devi - India
Andhra Pradesh, India. Housewife. A longtime
devotee of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
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