An astrologer had predicted that my son would never be able to settle abroad. But Guruji blessed him, and he went to the US for his Masters of Science (MS) in Biomedical Engineering in 2006. I was working in a government job at the time and had to take a loan of Rs. 20 lakh for his studies. He completed his MS in December 2007. A month later, in January 2008, the US was reeling under a severe recession.
I had to repay the loan in five years. The monthly installment, with the interest added in, amounted to Rs. 35,000. But my son had not yet been able to secure a job for himself and was facing a tough time abroad. I was constantly telling him to pray to Guruji. Loan repayment was a continuous source of worry. Though it was very difficult to fork out the huge installment every month, I managed to do so from my salary.
However, I was to retire in June 2008 and had already withdrawn all my savings from my provident fund for loan repayment. I repaid the five-year term loan in about two years, thinking that not only I would have one less liability to manage but would also incur less interest on the loan. But what I would do after retirement—with all my savings gone and no source of regular income?
We were coming regularly to Guruji, and used to pray in our hearts to Him to help us and guide us.
Guruji ends our financial worries
In the last week of May 2008, a month before my retirement, one of my friends from Bangalore called me up. He asked me regarding my plans after retirement. I told him that I had no plans and that after 38 years of service, I wanted to rest for a few months and then decide on what to do next. He ignored my reply and asked me to send my CV by email. He also told me to get in touch with a particular person. I would do it after June, I told my friend, but he insisted and pressured me to mail my CV that day itself. I sent in my CV by email, and the very next day I received the interview call.
I appeared for the interview and was selected. I was asked when I would be able to join the new firm. There was still one month to my retirement, and I replied that I would rest for at least a month after that and then decide upon the joining date. The position, however, needed to be filled urgently and I was told to join at the earliest after June. I gave my consent to join on 7
th July, Guruji's birthday. My letter of appointment was prepared immediately. I was reluctant to take it, as I could accept it only after my retirement in June. The interviewers emphasized that since they had confirmed my appointment, I should take the letter as an offer of appointment. It seemed so unbelievable: even before retirement, Guruji had taken care of my worries. And I was being offered a salary three times the one I was getting in my present job!
I had been worried that I had spent all my money in repaying the loan. But Guruji blessed me and took all my troubles away. With Guruji's blessings, I did not have to be jobless for a single day. In fact, even after two years, I am still continuing with my job and doing well by His grace.
On the other side of the equation, my son remained very disturbed in the US because he had not secured a job six months after completing his MS. We suggested that he come back to India and look for a job here, but he was unwilling. Throughout, our advice to him was to pray to Guruji. My son has firm faith in Guruji and has even set up a small mandir at his US home. Guruji would surely listen to him. During those days, we regularly went to Empire Estate and received Guruji's blessings. We were also going to Bade Mandir whenever sacred functions took place there.
During one such visit to Bade Mandir (on 7
th July), which was also a Monday, a devotee who had first told us about Guruji, Dr. Jethra, enquired about my son. When I told her about his predicament, she suggested that we should start coming to Bade Mandir on Monday, since that day is specifically associated with Lord Shiva (Guruji). Many devotees come to the Mandir on Monday and one can listen to
satsangs and receive Guruji's blessings. We did as told, and the next Monday, i.e., on 14
th July we came to Bade Mandir.
Within four to five days of the visit, my son got two job offers. Unable to decide on which company he should join, he asked for my opinion. I asked him about both the companies and then suggested he join the smaller company. However, he joined the bigger company, believing it would give him more exposure and better opportunities.
Twenty days had hardly gone by when he started complaining that he did not like it there and wanted to change. I forbade him from doing so, pointing out that he had got the job after great difficulty and should not leave it so soon. Two months went by and he was quite frustrated. I asked him to pray to Guruji and to meditate on Him.
During this time he started getting job offers and one of them was of his choice. But it came with a problem: The new job offered a salary half of what he was getting while the expenditure in the city (where he would have to shift if he took the job) was double. He was in a real fix. The company where he was employed had come to know that he was planning to change. The firm offered him a permanent position and an increase in the salary; they also promised to apply for an H1-B visa for him. But he just did not want to continue. He was hesitating to decline outright because the firm had increased its offer substantially. On the other hand, the company that he wanted to join was very small and offering much less by way of salary. He couldn't think of a way of getting out of the situation. Moreover, he had been given just two days, which was till Friday, to join.
My son sat in front of Guruji's photograph and prayed to Guruji all night. In the morning, he received an email from his boss expressing the present company's inability in increasing his salary and keeping the promises made. Due to the recession, the company would not be able to file for an H1-B visa till for at least three months, the email added, and if he wanted to leave he was free to do so. Guruji's grace had wrought another miracle: my son's boss was expressing what my son wanted to, but could not.
Two days before he was to be relieved, his boss called him and offered that he work part-time for their company. His boss also suggested that he could work along with the new job in whatever spare time he got-all this at the same salary he was drawing as a full-time employee. In this way, Guruji solved his twin problems—managing with half a salary in a city that had double the living expenses.
The One who has Parvati by His side
Once, my son had Guruji's
darshan at night. He saw that Guruji had come to our house and he asked Guruji: "Who are you?"
Guruji replied,
"Main hunn parvati nu har waqt apne naal le kar ghuma (Should I always have Parvati by my side so you may know I am Lord Shiva)?" Guruji then waved His hand and the very next moment Goddess Parvati was sitting next to Guruji. Guruji asked Parvati Ma if she had given phal (special blessings) to my son. She said yes and then went into
samadhi.
Guruji's durbar is a place where the
sangat can meet the One who is above all gods. The
sangat can see God in His manifest state as Guruji. Leave everything to Guruji by surrendering to him completely, without any ifs and buts in the mind.
Our sacred myths tell us about saints who would go to jungles or caves to meditate for hundreds of years. What was their aim? To become one with God! And we have Mahashiva in the form of Guruji right in front of us. We don't have to do any such thing. We just have to surrender at the lotus feet of our Guruji and He will take care of everything else. Many devotees can attest to this. So many have experienced that Guruji grants them even casually thought-of or wished-for desires.
I would like to tell all devotees that to get Guruji's blessings and the dust of His lotus feet, they should visit Bade Mandir regularly and try to get as many new people as possible to His path.
Every devotee who has sincere devotion towards Guruji has been blessed with Guruji's divine
darshan. All their problems have been taken care of by Guruji. We, as humans, are always running after materialistic benefits and that is what we ask from Guruji. But hardly anyone asks for the real thing. I pray to Guruji that He give us the strength and sensibility to be truly attached to His lotus feet and be able to surrender to Him. JAI GURUJI!
D.N. Dua, a devotee
June 2010