THE BLISS OF HIS PRESENCE
 

Mr. Maharaj Krishen Kaw, IAS, has held many prestigious positions in the state and central governments of India including Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Himachal Pradesh; Joint Secretary (Public Sector) in the Department of Defence Production (1990-93); Additional Secretary in the Department of Revenue (1993-94) and Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation (1997-98). His last assignment from which he superannuated was Secretary, Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development. He is also a keen poet and has penned five volumes of poetry in English and two in Hindi.

IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officers are also human beings. It is but natural that quite a few of them have been attracted to the Sai Avathar. Baba himself told me once that there was an intimate connec­tion between him and the IAS. Many persons who are serving him are or have been in the IAS. Sri Chakravarthy, earlier Registrar, Sri Sathya Sai University and now Secretary of the Central Trust is one. Sri S.V. Giri, former Vice-chancellor of the University is another. Sri P. Sitapati, former PRO is a third. Baba says half in jest: "The same three letters form both SAI and IAS."

		A Special Blessing for Anurag My first darshan of the Avathar took place in 1973, when I was Deputy Commissioner of Solan dis­trict in Himachal Pradesh. Baba was enroute from Chandigarh to Shimla and was passing through Solan town. The local devotees were electrified into activity and organized an impromptu halt for him. The S. P. (Superintendent of Police) and I stood at the main crossing to ensure that Baba was not mobbed. Soon, the cavalcade arrived. The car was a white Ambassador and Baba was seated in the middle of the back seat, with one person on either side. Devotees surrounded the car and tried to persuade Baba to descend for a few minutes. Baba finally relented and stood briefly in the car itself with the door open, so that people could have His darshan.
Mr. Maharaj Krishen Kaw with Swami in Prasanthi Nilayam

Before the devotees could realize what had happened, Baba had gone inside, the door closed and the car raced away towards Shimla.

We were all disappointed. My wife especially, as she was in the bhajan group a few yards away and had not even got a fleeting glimpse of the Avathar. When we reached home, another story unfolded itself. My police orderly had picked up Anurag (my one-year old son) in his arms and was standing by the road­side, when Swami's car stopped, Swami came out and placed His hand on the child's head to bless him.

That was the beginning of a series of miracles with special focus on this child. All along, one could sense the active interest Baba took in his welfare, education, health, marriage and so on, till this day. Anurag also has a special love for Swami and wherever he goes he is soon discovered as a natural leader of the local bhajan mandali.

My daughter Iti has many great qualities. The only defect she has is her temper. She gets irritated too quickly. Then the decibel count of her voice increases sharply, her tongue acquires pungency. Whenever she meets Baba, He tells her the same thing: "You are a very good girl. Control your temper." It has come to a situation where she has become highly sensitized to the weakness. And she tries. I am sure that one day she will overcome the weakness.

God Gives Concentration

My son Anurag is a wonderful person. His sole problem used to be a disinclination to study. In Shimla, we would often see him looking at the deodars outside for hours, attention not at all on the open book before him. In 1988, my wife complained to Swami, "Baba! Please do something to tighten his concentration." Swami said: "Why can't he remember? He remembers film songs all night. There is nothing wrong with his brains. He does not pay attention. That is all." Anurag took the hint. Today (Nov, 2001), he is studying for the M.Ch. programme in Cardiac Surgery. My wife Raj is a tremendous per­son in every respect. Baba diag­nosed "too much attachment" as her malady. "She worries too much about you and the children." Over the years, she has acquired a lot of calm. Now she complains that she cannot meditate because she can't concentrate.

Baba says: "Why meditate? Do your work. Only don't distinguish between work and workship. Don't say that this is my work and that is God's work. Take everything as God's work only. That is real meditation."

Baba gives much practical advice to each member of the family. When my mother once threatened to come and live in the Ashram, He said, "No need to come here, Amma. Your duty is to serve your husband. Do that." And she did it till the day my father died.

How The Divine Works!

I would like to narrate a few miraculous events, which took place in my own experience. One evening, I was at the Delhi airport, waiting for a flight to Hyderabad. The flight had been delayed and I had a few hours to kill. After walking up and down for some time, I thought I would request for Baba's help.

I sent an inward prayer to Swami, "Baba! Please create some drama. Let my waiting period be enlivened somehow." As I opened my eyes, I noticed a young man pushing a wheelchair, in which an old lady sat. He obvi­ously had a problem. I saw him go from functionary to functionary, but no one seemed to be in a mood to help him. I decided to intervene. As he passed by, I called out, "Excuse me, Sir! Do you have any problem?" He was obviously relieved. He was from Bulgaria. His mother had can­cer. He had brought her to India for treatment. He found that the pedestal of the wheelchair had bro­ken loose. Without it, his mother could not keep her feet on a pedestal as the wheelchair moved. He wanted someone to repair the pedestal.

Where would I find a repairman in the airport departure lounge? The problem seemed insoluble. I decid­ed to try the constable in-charge of security, who was x-raying the hand-baggage. 'No, Sir', he said, "There is no such facility of repairs available in the airport."

I turned back. Suddenly his companion who was looking at the incoming baggage shouted, 'Sir, wait!’ I was tensed. What now? The cop held an offending piece of baggage that had crossed his x-ray screen. "What is this?" he demanded. A meek looking person claimed own­ership. "Please open the bag. Sir, we have to search it." The man was puzzled, but complied. The bag was unzipped. From its entrails, the cop took out what looked like a tool-kit. "What is this?" he wanted to know. The man said, "It is my set of tools." "Does it belong to you?" the cop asked. "Yes", said the man. "Can you use these tools?" the cop enquired. "Yes," said the man. "Can you set this wheelchair right?" asked the cop. Again the mand said, "Yes", after look­ing at the pedestal in the young man's hand. The man suited the action to the word and within a few minutes had set the wheelchair right. The cop gave him the bag and the man moved ahead. When I looked for him a few minutes later, he had van­ished! Meanwhile, the youth had struck a conversation with me. I wanted to know which doctor was going to treat his mother. "No, not a doctor", he said, "All doctors have said there is no treatment". "Then where are you going?” I asked. He was looking for one Sathya Sai Baba.

I was intrigued. He was going to Sai. "Who is he", I asked him, now enjoying the fun. "How did you come to know about Him?" He said he had friends who had been to India. They said that Christ had been reborn in India and He could heal incurable diseases. So he had started for India. Did he know where Baba lived? "No", he admitted, "But they said when you reach Hyderabad, someone will tell you."

I looked in my purse. A few months back, Baba had in an inter­view given me one of His materializations - a visiting card with His pho­tograph and full address. It was a treasured possession, but did I need it? I decided to give the card to him. On the reverse, I wrote a letter to a friend, "If you are in Puttaparthi, do guide this gentleman."

A man standing next to me whipped out a railway time-table. "You will get a train for Puttaparthi at such and such time tomorrow afternoon," he volun­teered and wrote out the details on a piece of paper for him. Another man asked, “Where are you staying?" "I have no place", the young man admitted. The man said he knew a good hotel, reasonably priced, located near the railway station. "And as I am passing that way, I can give you and your mother a lift up to the hotel."

Our flight was announced and left some minutes thereafter. Later, I learnt from my friend that the Bulgarian had been given an interview by Swami, and the mother's cancer was cured.

Overwhelming Omniscience

A dramatic instance of Baba's omniscience was exhibited one day, when in a long interview with Him we had exhausted all the family sub­jects. As Baba showed no impa­tience, our courage grew. My mother said, "Baba, there is a neighbour of ours. He has got paral­ysis recently..." Before she could finish, Baba said, "Yes, Amma. A sad case. He lost his young son when he was only 25. The trauma was so much, he developed hypertension. He has had a paralytic attack, but he will recover. Only his right leg and hand will remain affected for life." I asked, "Swami, Mr. X has been diagnosed for cancer of the pros­trate." "Yes", said Baba, "They operated upon him but the cancer was dis­covered too late. They have removed the cancer, but the roots are still there. I will give vibhuti...." Then I said, "Mr. Y is embroiled in a litigation." "Why are you pleading for him?" Baba replied, "If he had not been a fool, he would not have got involved with that lady. He has only himself to blame. Anyway, let him not worry. Nothing will come out of the case." A remarkable illustration of instant communication and divine intercession in three unconnected cases of strangers!

Further Life for Father

Let me now narrate the story of my father's illness in 1976, which really brought us into intimate con­tact with the Sai miracle for the first time. My father had jaundice which had been diagnosed as infec­tive hepatitis and treated as such by very good physicians in Delhi. His doctor declared that he was cured and could travel to Dharamsala, where I was posted then as Deputy Commissioner.

Hardly a month had passed, when suddenly Papaji (affectionate name for father) developed high fever with severe rigor. His tem­perature shot up to 105 ° and he shivered so much we were fright­ened out of our wits. The local doc­tors first thought it was malaria, then viral fever, and finally, some unknown dreaded disease which they would not name. One day, Dr. Jha, the Chief Medical Officer took me aside and said, "I strongly advise you to remove your father to Delhi at once. After three days, you may not be in a position to shift him, even if you wish to."

		Overnight, all arrangements were made. We rushed by ambulance to Pathankot, boarded the train and were received with an ambulance at the railway station, Delhi. Papaji was admitted at once to the AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) where the doctors struggled with his daily rises and falls of temperature. On the third day, the doctors held a conference. I was told, "Your father has hepatitis. We suspect it is obstructive hepatitis. If we operate on him, his chances are 2%. If we don't, he will move into an irre­versible coma. Please decide." Naturally, I chose surgery. We prayed to Lord Sai day and night. When he was taken to the OT, Mr. Chaman Lal smeared some vibhuti on his forehead. The operation was successful. Five minutes later, he had cardiac arrest. He was revived. He had res­piratory failure and was put on a ventilator. He had black motions. His kidneys stopped.
Mr. Kaw with his family in a private interview with Swami

One by one, all his systems collapsed and came back. Doctors said he might survive, but he would be an invalid all his life. Two months later, he was attend­ing office! He lived a near-normal life, except for the usual symptoms of old age, for another 25 years.

My mother had promised herself that if Papaji came out of the ordeal alive, she would take him to Baba at Puttaparthi. What with one thing and another, the visit kept on getting postponed. In 1988, we finally went to Puttaparthi. As soon as Swami saw my moth­er, He exclaimed, "At last, you have come. For years you had the desire to bring father here. Now you have made it! How is he now?", thus con­firming that it was indeed He who had answered my mother's prayers in 1976.

Bhagavan is today the focal point of our family. His portrait adorns every room. He is the central topic of our spiritual discussions. He is the resident of our hearts.

- Courtesy: ‘Sai Prem’, Mathrubhumi’s supplement in 2001