My bond with Guruji is only a year old, but during this period He has given me a lot and protected my only son.
A couple of years ago, a pundit had predicted that danger would befall my son in his eleventh year. The pundit had even written down the month, date and time of the calamity - July 20, 2015. But by divine grace I came under Guruji's
sharan and relaxed.
As the date neared, I was scared. But, with His inspiration and blessings, I held a
satsang in my house on Guruji's birthday. That day my son wore Guruji's locket, and I was very happy that Guruji was with him.
The next day when my son returned from school I saw a big scar on the locket. I was alarmed and asked him if he had fallen or hurt himself. He hadn't been injured in any manner and had no idea how the locket had been marked. I knew instantly that it was Guruji who had taken whatever had to befall my son upon himself. I thanked Guruji, but found myself tense as July 20 neared.
A day before the date, I prayed and offered
kada prasad as
bhog at home. The family saw the sacred mark of His blessings, OM, written over twice on the prasad. 20
th July came-and went by peacefully with Guruji's blessings. I thank Guruji for being with me and my family and protecting us always. I love you, Guruji! Jai Guruji!
Guruji preserves mom's dignity despite surgery
Year 2013 gave us a great shock when we suddenly lost our father. Our mother lost the zeal to live and became unlively. Our efforts to pep her up - we are four sisters - were to no avail.
A year later, in June of 2014, Mummy complained of pain near her nose and right cheek. We took it lightly, thinking it was due to a cold; but, the pain increased and we took her to the family physician. Medicines for the cold didn't help and X-rays were taken. The reports needed to be seen by a neurologist and, luckily, one of my elder sister's friends was on hand. She advised an MRI, which showed an aggressive tumour, growing rapidly on her cheekbone.
We were advised to take Mummy to a hospital in Delhi. Without wasting a day, my sister took Mummy to Delhi. She was shown to doctors in three hospitals, and the prognosis was the same: The tumour was very large and growing rapidly. It had already affected the upper jaw and, at its rate of growth, it would affect her eyes and skull. A quick operation was mandatory.
The doctors at one of the hospitals appealed to us the most. The doctor who was to operate on Mummy explained the situation to us. As the tumour was large, he would have to access it by cutting open her cheek. The cheekbone, on which the eye rested, would also be removed. Resultantly, after the operation Mom's face would be deformed, with the cheek losing firmness and the eye drooping. Mummy could also lose her vision. The doctor wanted to do the operation on the following Thursday, three days later.
We were heartbroken. Our mother, even at the age of 74, was very conscious of her beauty; she would be hurt when we told her of the necessity of the operation.
When we talked to mom, she was silent. That afternoon my younger sister who stays in Noida heard about Guruji from her aunt, who talked about the many miracles He had brought about. We decided to take mom to Bade Mandir on Monday itself.
Everyone's morale was boosted by the positive vibes at the Mandir. All of us surrendered to Guruji. Since Papa was no more, Guruji was the head of our family, our dad, our grandfather . . . . We all subscribed to one thought: We would do whatever Guruji wanted and His answer would come through mom. If she would say yes to the operation, we would go ahead with it; otherwise, not. After returning from Bade Mandir, mom said she was ready for the operation.
We prayed hard to Guruji for the next three days.
The day of the operation came. Mom was admitted, and we kept a small
swaroop of Guruji under her pillow. On the bed, she requested the doctor to try a laser surgery. The doctor gave her a nod, but told us definitively that since the tumour was very large, laser surgery was impossible.
The operation was to last for four to five hours. We decided to donate blood in the hospital, while my younger sister, who was pregnant, waited in the lobby.
Soon she received a call from the doctor, asking her to meet him outside the OT, upstairs. She informed us between sobs and we thought it was all over. But outside the OT, the doctor met us with a smile. He came forward and hugged my younger sister. He said he was amazed: It had been a miraculous surgery.
Just before he began the operation, he had got an X-ray done which showed that the tumour looked really large. But when he saw it, he told us, the tumour was one-fourth the size. He could use a laser! The doctor had no clue how the tumour reduced by itself, but we knew that it was the grace of our beloved Guruji.
The doctor removed the tumour as well as half of mum's upper jaw and cheekbone. He padded these areas, but expected the eye to droop after the material was removed.
Mom came out fine from the surgery. She was talking and her face was perfect. The day the padding was removed, another miracle came to pass. The eye was in its place - without any support - and mum's vision was intact too. The doctor was surprised, and we were happy and once again thanked Guruji.
Many more miracles happened with Mummy. She survived for 10 months after the surgery. By Guruji's grace her vision, her face was perfect: Her cheeks retained their form minus a cheekbone, and her eye remained intact without support.
This was only because of Guruji. We are thankful to Guruji that He did not allow mom's face to be disfigured. Jai Guruji!
[Following section added August 2024]
Swaroops shield husband, son from blaze
I had gone to Cuttack from Bhubaneshwar for a satsang held on July 4, three days before Guruji's birthday. Just before the
shabads were to conclude, at around 6.15 in the evening, the phone through which they were being played via a speaker, fell down. The host's daughter tried to start the it again, but it wouldn't come on for more than a few seconds. The phone was put on a charger, but the speakers remained mute. Meanwhile, the
Chaupai Sahib began playing on the phone. We heard it till it was time for the Mantra Jaap. I asked all the devotees to play the Jaap together on their phones. After a minute, the host managed to find a small speaker over which the Mantra Jaap and
aarti was transmitted. We then proceeded to cut Guruji's birthday cake.
Hardly had the sacred celebration finished that I got a call from Bhubaneshwar: My house was on fire, and I needed to call the fire brigade. I went numb. I took
aagya from Guruji and rushed back to Bhubaneswar, a journey of around 30 kilometers that took nearly an hour.
Outside my house, there were three fire brigades and a crowd. My son and husband told me that the fire had spread over the entire house. Our home is three-storeyed; the second floor has two bedrooms, and the sitting place in its middle is the sacred space reserved for Guruji. The walls have big swaroops and a cabinet where Guru Nanak Devji, Guruji's
Charan Swaroop, Shivji, and Nandi-ji are kept. I light a
diya at this mandir every morning and evening, and when I'm out of my house our domestic help does it.
Since Guruji's birthday was on the 7
th, I had already kept a
chola, swaroops, and gifts in readiness for the upcoming celebrations in this area on the third floor.
That evening at around 6pm or 6.15pm–around the time the shabads had stopped playing at the Cuttack satsang and devotees had listened to the Chaupai Sahib–my house help had lit the diya. It is very likely the matchstick fell on a sofa seat while she went to downstairs to the first floor, clueless that the sofa had caught fire. The fire spread quickly. My son and husband tried their best to put it off, but it was uncontrollable. The fire spread up to the third floor to the Mandir. Guruji's swaroops on the walls got burnt, the cholas, the gifts, everything was gone in minutes.
But when I went to the house the following morning, I was amazed at the extent to which Guruji had protected us. The two rooms next to the Mandir that had caught fire were intact. Smoke had not entered inside them, though the doors were burnt, and our cupboards with our clothes, cash and jewellery were safe. My husband's face had been singed by the heat and the smoke, but this was nothing compared to what could have happened.
Guruji had borne the brunt of the fire through His swaroops. Guruji must have really felt a lot of pain when His swaroops caught fire. I thank Guruji for saving us from a bigger mishap and keeping my family safe. Since then, my faith in Guruji has grown. Just as a father saves his children, Guruji saved us all. My eternal gratitude to Him!
Deepa Gupta, a devotee
August 2024