'What faith did to Gavaskar' - Article in The Times of India

March 3, 2004

Title: What faith did to Gavaskar

What faith did to GavaskarBINA BAKSHI

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, MARCH 03, 2004 12:07:08 PM ]

In her book, Blossoms in Eternal Spring, Shammi Paranjpe talks about her

family’s experience with Sathya Sai Baba, and how she had the chance of a

lifetime to transform herself and see others lives being touched by grace.

The book also mentions how Sunil Gavaskar, her older sister Marshneil’s (Pammi)

husband, "has been a part of this collective experience".

Recounting a couple of experiences, she relates how Marshneil would carry Baba’s

photograph "in her wallet, for every delivery he faced. By the ‘expression’ on

Baba’s face in the photo, she could make out how Sunil would fare as, in one

photo, she could see different expressions. The day she felt Baba was smiling,

Sunil would do really well, but on days when she felt she saw a frown, Sunil

invariably got out early! On such days, however hard she tried to turn the

photo this way and that, she could not ‘force’ it to smile!"

The book talks about the experiences of Shammi and her three sisters, who

together with their individual families moved together in the direction of

awakening and self discovery. When asked if he’d read the book, especially

since his own experiences make up at least a couple of chapters, Sunil says,

"Yes, I’ve managed to finish a couple of chapters." There has been a healing

incident that seems to be very special to Sunil’s own experiences.

"I was in Brisbane; it was the Australia tour of 1977 when Bishen Singh Bedi was

captain. I had torn an upper thigh muscle. Those were the days when we didn’t

carry our own physiotherapists with us and I had to make do with the therapist

of the home team. I was to be laid off for at least 6-8 weeks which meant I’d

have had to sit out for almost half the tour, and miss 3 Tests. And this was

before even the first test match had begun," relates Sunil.

"I called home. My wife sent me vibhuti through some commentators who were

coming in the next day. Having applied it for the next 3-4 days, I was able to

play."

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