In the summer of 1965, which, to me, was the first of my sixteen spiritual summers, I was in Bangalore once to visit a friend. During an informal conversation one morning, my host asked me whether I would like to see Sri Sathya Sai, who was to address a meeting at Malleswaram, in the heart of Bangalore City, the same evening. I had heard about Sri Sathya Sai and also read about him in some Bombay newspapers, but had never seen him before. I had, till then, no particular urge to read either his biography or discourses. My immediate response to the question from my host, therefore, was somewhat casual and uncertain. However, on second thoughts, I felt that I should attend the meeting and so, later in the day, accompanied by my wife, Sarla, I went to Malleswaram where a mammoth gathering was listening to Sri Sathya Sai with rapt attention. We sat in a remote corner of the big maidan. I was swayed by a nameless feeling, a strange inquisitiveness or curiosity, as though I was adventuring into the unknown. Then suddenly, the sky became rather dark with thick clouds fast gathering overhead. The large crowd became visibly restless, as people feared an impending rain. We ourselves were in a quandary and my host hastened to take us back to his car. Just then, we saw Sri Sathya Sai raising his hand and saying something aloud to the crowd in the local South Indian language which, however, I could not grasp. My friend said that he was asking the crowd to sit down and that he was assuring them that it would not rain. As he said this, we saw that the rain clouds started disappearing and the gathering darkness was giving way to bright sunshine. I remained spell-bound. I could not believe that one could disperse moisture-laden heavy clouds by a mere wave of his hand. And yet, our eyes were a witness to this strange phenomenon, the like of which I had read about only in Puranic stories.
Source: "Sixteen Spiritual Summers" (by Indulal Shah) Published by Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust.
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