Shri Sai Baba's Divine Grace

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Shri Sai Baba's Divine Grace

 

On perusal of my diary, I found that the year 1954 was very eventful in my

life, because of two calamities which would have ended my life, but for the

timely help rendered by Shri Sai Baba.

 

Andhra State was constituted in 1954. A separate list of Government

personnel was prepared to man the newly created state from the original

Composite State of Madras. My name was retained in the State of Madras.

Because there was a dearth of suitable qualified persons, my services were

lent to Andhra State for a period of two years as a transferred Officer.

Hence, I had to stay in Visakhapatnam till 1955.

 

I purchased a maroon coloured Vanxhaul car from a close friend and a

colleague for a price, which I considered reasonable. He assured me that the

car was in perfect condition and that it was not likely to need any

expenditure for a fairly long time. Though I was an experienced driver, my

knowledge about detecting defects in second hand cars was almost nil; I was

not wise enough to destruct my friend and get an expert mechanic to test the

soundness of the vehicle.

 

For the benefit of Shri Sai devotees, who have the patience to read this

narration and not had the pleasure of visiting Vishakhapatnam, a short

description of the place may be useful, because it has a bearing on the

incident that happened on 15th August, 1954.

 

There is a ridge of hillock about 2000 feet high almost abutting the sea

coast along its whole length. Houses are built on the side of the ridge

facing the sea and as such, roads are steep almost precipitously running

from the top of the ridge to the sea at the bottom. We were living in the

official colony next to K. G. Hospital almost -near the top of the ridge.

 

The car was received by me on the afternoon of 15th August 1954 and put in a

garage which was about 500 feet above our house level. My young daughter

aged about 12 years had learnt Bharata Natyam and as such was very popular

by giving free performances in the college, Lady's Club etc. Her dance

performance was arranged to take place at 5 p. m. on Independence Day eve at

the local Lady's Club where my wife also was taking active part as a member.

My daughter had dressed up and was ready to go to the club along with the

accompanying musicians at about 4 p. m. My wife also was dressed up and was

ready. When I told them to wait in the house until I get the car, my wife

insisted that she would come with me to the garage. So, we both sat in the

newly acquired car and started coming down the slope. To my great

consternation when I pressed the foot brake of the car, it did not respond

and the car was going downhill very fast with great acceleration.

Immediately, I tried the hand break but it also failed miserably. We were

panicky and did not know what to do. We were sure the car would run down the

slope with tremendous speed directly into the sea below and thus both of us

would end in a watery grave. We called out " Baba Save Us " . There was a big

gutter running along the road abutting a compound wall on the left side.

Shri Sai granted me presence of mind at that time to turn the car directly

towards that big gutter. We dashed against the compound wall and in a flash

both the left side wheels were dangling high in the air. I immediately

switched off the engine and both of us got out of the car without even a

scratch by the divine grace of Shri Sai. It was a miraculous escape from

certain death. The mechanic who examined the car after it was taken out of

the gutter told us that no damage had occurred to the car except for, a few

scratches to the paint on the left side because it was leaning against the

compound wall. He examined the car thoroughly and told us that the master

cylinder of the hydraulic brake system was completely empty without a drop

of oil as it was leaking badly. The hand brake cable was cut and as such was

in need of replacement. It seems the same mechanic, who was attending on the

repairs of the car before had advised the original owner to get the master

cylinder replaced and get a new cable fixed up to the hand brake. The reply

he got was that as he was selling away the car, he was not prepared to spend

any money for the said repairs and purchaser has to let the repairs done at

his cost. After hearing that, I swore that day that I will never trust any

human being however great he may be but repose all our trust in Bhagavan

Shri Sai, who is always vigilant to protect His devotees.

 

The second calamity occurred in the month of October, 1954. One night while

taking food, I felt that a little sharp thing scratched my throat. I thought

it was probably a rough vegetable fiber and never bothered about it. But

next day, the pain in the throat increased and my neck began to swell up. I

immediately consulted the E. N. T. specialist, who assured me that there was

nothing serious and all will be well with a little throat paint. But

swelling of the neck continued and gradually I found that I could not

swallow either solids or liquids. I was hospitalized and kept alive by

intravenous glucose and antibiotic injections. I was extremely hungry and

thirty but not even a drop of water could be swallowed. I was almost at the

death's door in a miserable condition. The E. N. T. Surgeon was not sure of

the diagnosis and expressed his inability to adopt any other treatment. I

was praying to Shri Sai everyday and applying His Udi to the head and neck.

A number of my colleagues, some of them quite famous surgeons, E. N. T.

Specialists used to visit me daily to enquire about my health, but none

would suggest any operation. My wife and children had almost given up any

hope of my survival and as such were very unhappy. But I had full confidence

in Shri Sai and used to assure them that He will come to my rescue at the

proper time. In the early morning of seventh night, I had a dream in which I

saw clearly that Baba was getting into my mouth and that I was swallowing

Him. I called out that Baba was going into my throat when suddenly I felt

that something burst into my throat. When I got up a gush of blood and pus

came out of my mouth which I spat out. Immediately I felt intense relief and

felt I could swallow. I asked my wife to give me some water which I was able

to swallow without any difficulty. We were immensely happy because my life

was saved by ever merciful Baba. Next morning, I was able to take in milk,

coffee and porridge and later on even solid foods. The E. N T. Surgeon then

told me that it was probably an abscess which had formed behind the food

pipe (Retropharyngal abscess) and because it was pressing the food pipe, I

could neither swallow solids nor liquids. He was also very much surprised to

learn that it had burst into the mouth and thus my life was saved. As the

abscess was deep down the neck, no surgeon could do anything on that area.

Where surgeons dread to operate on account of unapproachable-ability, Shri

Sai was able to go in and conduct the required operation. Nothing is

impossible for Him and He will come to the rescue if we have implicit faith

in Him.

Dr. A. R Govinda Rao M. B. B. S. M. S. (YALE)

Adyar, Madras

 

Source Shri Sai Leela Magazine Aug 1979)