AUM SAI RAM ‘I know your every thought, word and action!’- Sathya Sai Baba.
It was the first night of Navaratri at the Centre. The Hindu priest, who was conducting the prayers in Sanskrit, now and then stopped to explain the meaning of the prayers to the devout assembly of people. He also laid stress on the need for devotees to help others as a precursor to prayers. One of the simplest way of doing‘seva’, he explained, was ‘help a dadi to cross the road’. ‘Dadi’ is a Hindi word meaning either a grandmother or an old woman. I am an astute listener at ‘satsang’, avid to learn more about religion, spirituality, saints, gods and goddess. Amazingly on that night, when I heard the sermon of the priest, an amusing thought came to my mind and I turned to my pet friend, who was sitting cross-legged next to me. I whispered in her ear- ‘Dadi is at the steering wheel!’ She giggled like a little girl. We are both grandmothers and we both drive our cars. The next morning I drove my car to the market. I left the car in the parking bay and crossed the road to buy vegetables at the market. When I was returning to my car, I stopped at the pedestrian crossing, looked left, then right and left again. The road was clear but the little man at the traffic lights was still wearing his red suit. Instead of proceeding on my way, I decided to wait for him to change to green. All of a sudden, an unknown lady came from behind me in a rush. She got hold of my right elbow. She pushed and virtually dragged me across the road. Taken by surprise, my only reaction was to walk aided by her to the other side of the road. She then let go of my elbow and said- ‘These days motorists are very reckless. Pedestrians are frightened to cross the road!’ I hardly had time to utter a word, she had disappeared! I only had a glimpse of her red attire. I was stunned! What a lesson in humility to learn from Our Loving Sai Durga Ma! Everyone is blessed by Her Boundless Mercy and constantly protected by Her. At the Lotus Feet of Sai Anita
