the Orange Darshan

Date : 28th October 2009

"What to wear ? "
"hmm.. quite a few shirts are there"

"dhoti??"
"hmm.. ya.."

"ya! thats the best way i feel i want to"
"and then ? our favourite green shirt?"

"hmm.. no im wearing it now.. but for tomorrow.. hey! how about the kurta?"
"super!"

It was already close to 550PM. The shuttle (my first company Avaya in Pune) to the city would leave by 6PM. I thus, took one extra set of clothes and made way to the shuttle stop. Thankfully there was no important work in the office, that i could leave early.

The bus started. My 1 day old 'new friend' had invited me home so that we could go to Hadshi together. Baba had arrived that day to Hadshi village enroute Pune.

I was extremely excited already and a couple of incidents that day ay my friend's home took me to an entirely different level of existence.

First:
The agenda off BABA's Visit was to inaugrate the magnificent Panduranga Kshetra built by the famous industrialist "Shivaji Jadhav". Right from 2003, the latter patiently waited and prayed to BABA to inaugrate the temple. However, Swami had only decided to inaugrate at this point of time.
On introspection, i realised that "i too was considered in HIS Plan" of this visit. Had HE come over even a couple of months earlier for this visit, i would not have fitted into this Blissful Scheme of the events!

Swami says that HE is like an engine that waits for a number of carriages to be attached so that HE can pull all of them together at one go! But why me ? What a great fortune has been bestowed on this pretty ordinary soul ?

Second:
My friend had one VIP Pass, which would allow one to take a closer Darshan. The entire family did not take the VIP pass and straightly passed it on to me! I was thrilled further!

Third:
My friend gave me a drop of the nectar that continuously flows in an Ashram at Mysore. It was materialized by Swami.

Fourth:
There was one Dream i got in the night, which practically looked very real to me. I saw that Swami showed me that HE was present in the lifesize picture of HIM that was in the hall.

Date : 29 October 2009



The next day, my friend and i left for Hadshi village, about 60kms away from Pune.

As the taxi reached the foothills of the hillock, where the Panduranga Kshetra Mandir was built, i started recalling the place slowly and steadily.

I got a SHOCKER of my LIFE!

45 Days prior to this, when no one knew of this visit of Swami, Swami showed me in my Dream that this is the path i would be taking to see HIM. Further to this, in that Dream, HE had even acted as a priest to "Lord Panduranga", which is what exactly happened here in reality!

Thus, the last 12 hours were unimaginably crazy!

Now, the TIME arrived!

As the car reached the hillock's top, my heart started beating harder. This was my first visit to see Swami. I was unable to comprehend that 'I am physically in the radius of GOD' and was very excited! What a proximity to cherish!

As i walked in, the SevaDal led me to the VIP seats' area. I was in a white (slightly creamish coloured) kurta. I also had worn a Dhoti. I sat down on one of those seats.

I was fortunate to see Swami from a close distance. After a while, Swami decided to go to HIS Residence. I still recall those beautiful moments when Swami was taken in a make-shift lift that was very near from the place where i was sitting.
Every moment looked so beautiful and i felt that each moment was running fast.

HE was to come back in the evening where HE had planned to give us a Discourse. The evening session was extremely touchy! The way HE made HIS Entry like an awesome HERO, and with high pitched yet pleasant Vedam chantings being sung by HIS Students and other Devotees put me in extreme Bliss.

My mind finally agreed, "this is how GOD must be, and this is the way I wanted HIM to be!"

Suddenly a very unusual thing happened to me, where i started weeping profusely. I was unable to take the Divinity in front of me, perhaps! The beautiful bhajans that were sung in HIS Presence still remain my heart-favourites!

Those precious moments.. The real moments in an otherwise transient world.. these would remain etched in my hearts for eternity by HIS Grace!

Now, Swami is not seen in HIS Physical Presence.
I was always interested to know if i would have seen Shirdi BABA in one of my previous lives? or seen Krishna in one?
But.. now they all seem to have satisfied and answered by this beautiful Orange Darshan!

4 Chapathis for my friend, ma!

"Anand! its already 11pm da.. "
"yes ma.. he is just coming.. just 2-3 minutes.. he is near B'lore Central.. just 2mins"

Rightly so, in about 2 minutes, the bell rang. Mom opened the door, and she seemed to complain to herself mentally that her eyes are deceiving her. She tried to rub her eyes and re-focus her sight on to the 'visitor'!

And then.. a beautiful smile with a huge shock.. probably like a rainbow during the rains! Yes, a very rare expression on her face!

She asked me " so you are the 'visitor' you were talking about ? " while gently patting me a couple of times with love!

"Shocked as well as surprised that you came", she told me.

Exactly 24 hours earlier to this, I was dillydallying the decision whether to go home or not!
My left "mind" questioning me  whether spending a solid 13k for travel for just about 5 days at home was worth, and simultaneously my RIGHT "mind" telling me to do just the RIGHT thing! Ya, it suddenly put a huge list of advantages that this journey would gift me with! Right from getting my speakers and camera, to eating home food, to car driving, and getting some food stuffed back to hostel : everything suddenly seemed to suggest me that i have no alternate but to travel!

With an act of "detachment" i asked my left mind to be 'LEFT back'!

Thus, it took a final 2-3AM in the morning for me to book tickets!

Now my left "mind" wanted to become a bit 'right' so that it does not get 'left' out! It suggested me to carry out a small prank on my mom!

"How about throwing a surprise to her ?" - asked my left mind.
"Good idea Mr. Left Mind!", said the right mind, rather sarcastically, and which continued " But! Dont you see there's a big flaw in your foolish idea!?? "
" Uh ?"
"We can't control our hunger and we will be reaching at 11PM+, and you want amma to cook something for you then, when she should actually be hitting the bed!?? "

I interceded the 'divided minds' and assured that i would take care, thanking them for their inputs!
Next day morning, mom as usual calls up, and after getting to know that i have holidays, said, " had you known you had some 4-5 days of leave earlier, you could have booked your tickets to home.. anyway, no problems..".

The trio(the left mind, the right mind, and i) chuckled with pride in the super-surprise that was to be delivered to my mom!

"ya mom.. true that.. anyway.. "

And then my right mind poked me,  " dude, what about food ?? tell her to cook something!"
That's when i told her that " Ma, my friend is coming to our home.. please cook a bit extra for that guy, of whatever you cook!"

My mom told " ok i am gonna make chapathis for the night, as its 'Sravanam' day".
"arrghh! chapathis :/ " - retorted my right mind silently.

"Ya sure ma.. anything would do.. make 4 Chapathis for my friend, ma!"

My mom suddenly seemed to start do some CBI work and started asking "my friend's" name and phone number. I convinced her that I would give it to her in the night and told her that "he would reach only by 11PM".

Thus ended the drama's prerequisite!

I ensured not to tell anyone of my visit to make it entirely a big surprise! The following days, my relatives called me up congratulating me of my plans to trounce my mom's boredom of the previous days, when virtually no one was at home with her!

Surely, she would be charged on for a few more days with this surprise package! :)