A blessed diary
Guruji called me to His
sharan in July of 2018 when I had gone to Delhi from Birmingham, UK, where I live. On my very first visit to Bade Mandir, I felt Guruji's presence and found my queries and petitions being answered. I realized soon enough that every day is a
satsang when you are in His sharan and had innumerable experiences of His grace. But I was not sure if Guruji wanted me to pen them down or narrate them during our frequent monthly satsangs in the UK. A few months ago, I petitioned Guruji, saying that if He would bless me with a diary, I would consider that He had indicated He wanted me to compile my satsangs.
That prayer got a wonderful response. I had a vacation planned in mid-September to Dubai and India and I got in touch with the Dubai
sangat since I wanted to participate in as many satsangs as I could there. I came to know that there was a trio of satsangs for the duration of my visit and happily confirmed my attendance. The Dubai devotees wanted me to share my satsangs and that made me jot down key points as an aid to memory. I also reminded Guruji, as I sat before His
swaroop, that my wish for a diary was still unfulfilled and that I really wanted to write down my satsangs—if He consented.
In the evening, I attended a satsang, where a lady devotee, Joy, told the gathering how she had felt impelled to buy a diary for me at Guruji's behest. Guruji even told her to decorate it for Madhu, that is me, and title it "Mahima of my Guruji by Madhu Di Madan". (Di in Hindi, meaning elder sister.) I was spellbound.
An enjoyable Karwachauth
I shifted to England nearly two years ago. Each Karwachauth there had been boring because I could not do the group puja, which I had adhered to for the last 20 years. I prayed to Guruji that He make Karwachauth 2019 fun-filled, blessed and memorable.
My prayers were swiftly and beautifully answered. A lady devotee whom I am very close to and consider my mom in the UK, Avinash, gifted me a red purse with Guruji's swaroop in it. That purse matched the suit I intended to wear for Karwachauth.
Two days before Karwachauth, I tried on a new suit that had been gifted by my sister-in-law. I found that the red
dupatta that came with it was plain and that an alternative golden dupatta I had was nice but too heavy to carry. This golden dupatta had in fact been used to deck Guruji's swaroop in a satsang. At a loss, I fell back on Guruji, wondering how He managed the heavy golden dupatta!
A day before Karwachauth, Joy came to my house with a big
sargi hamper with Guruji's swaroop on it. I was so pleasantly surprised. I told Joy the meal hamper was not needed; she pronounced that it was "
Maikey ki sargi from Guruji". I felt so blessed. If this was not enough, I found that the hamper came with a dress. It was a bright red, golden-bordered dupatta, apt for my Karwachauth dress. I was amazed: after all, Joy had not known the colour of my suit. Clearly, Guruji had made her get that for me.
On Karwachauth, I went along with three lady devotees to a parlour in Sparkhill (in the inner-city area of Birmingham) to get our
Mehndi applied. While leaving home, I carried an applicator cone from Guruji's sargi hamper and another one I had from India. It is hard to get a parking spot at Sparkhill, but that day we got it and were at the parlour early. My daughter Arushi was the first one to get Mehndi, and then it was the turn of the devotee driving us back. When I sat for my Mehndi, I noticed that the colour of the Mehndi was different. I asked the beautician if the cone was different and it turned out she had used the one that came from Guruji's hamper. It was as if Guruji wanted me to use His cone for my mehndi.
Later in the evening, my lady friends came over to my home for the group puja, followed by fun and games. Guruji made the occasion more celebratory than I had asked for.
Birthday with the sangat
When last year began, I looked at the calendar to check the day on which 31
st October would be falling. It was my birthday and I wanted to celebrate it with Guruji by having a satsang. It was, however, a Thursday and I was disappointed since it was a working day. Many times during the year though, I wished that I could celebrate my birthday with Guruji.
A week before I again requested Guruji to allow me to celebrate my birthday with Him. The
sangat did not know about my birthday, so I had no hopes that I would manage to have a satsang on that day. But Guruji is kind and loving. Two days before my birthday, Mohit, a devotee from Wolverhampton (central England), posted a satsang invite for a satsang on 31
st Oct. I couldn't believe it. Mohit-ji hosts a satsang every month, and this time, he could only do it on the very last day. The sangat got to know that it was my birthday from social media. Wishes full of love and blessings kept pouring in from our Guru Parivar and in the evening I got to cut the cake in front of Guruji with His sangat in His satsang. I felt that was the best birthday of my life. I felt truly blessed while cutting the cake. What more could I have asked for?
He brings warmth to our home
In March of 2019, we noticed the heater in our drawing room wasn't working. The room was cold and uncomfortable. I told my husband to complain to the property owner, but it didn't help. Then summer came and the issue waned.
In September, my husband reminded the property owner and was assured of action. Nothing happened. I took matters in hand and talked to the property in charge. Technicians came and concluded that the heater needed to be changed. I was assured that an order had been placed for a new heater and it would be delivered within a couple of weeks.
Winter was upon us now, but the heater did not materialize. I inquired with the property manager and was told technicians needed to visit my home again to measure the dimensions required for the installation. I wondered how the order for a new heater could have been placed without this information. Were they fooling around?
I asked the technician to come on a day I would take off from work. But he didn't come as the field calls took longer than expected. I was furious and brought the matter up again. I was told to take a snapshot of the heater's label so that they needn't physically check its specifications. This charade kept up till November.
One evening, after returning from work, I sat in the drawing room with my husband. It was biting cold and we were shivering. I was sitting in front of Guruji's swaroop and requested Him: "
Guruji, heater kab theek karogey? Bahut thand lagtee hai." (When will you get the heater repaired? It is very cold.)
The next morning, the technician appeared and wanted to check the setup again. In a few minutes, he had actually repaired the heater. I was amazed. The heater was supposed to be replaced, so how did a technician come to our house to check on the old one again. We hadn't even sent a reminder. Undoubtedly, it was our dear Guruji who could not bear to see His daughter shivering, so blessed us by repairing our heater. Since then, our room has been perfectly cozy.
Just goes to show how Guruji takes care of even our minor issues.
Share your problems with Guruji, sitting in front of His swaroop and He listens and resolves them. Love Guruji and He loves you and protects you like a father.
Joint pain vanishes after langar and sewa
Last July, my joints pained so hard that I could not even hold a knife in my hands. I nearly lost the ability to grip things. I searched the net and was distressed to know that this was most likely due to calcium deficiency and that I should increase the consumption of leafy green vegetables and milk as well as milk products. My husband, in India at the time, came back with some medicines. My daughter insisted and took me for blood tests. Doctors asked me to get an X-ray done, a few more tests, and take a heavy dose of calcium for at least eight weeks.
I used to cry out of helplessness in front of Guruji's swaroop. While praying to Guruji, I never asked Him to cure the pain because I believe in "
Mango nahin, maano; hamein mangna nahin aata." (Don't ask, obey; you don't know what is correct to ask for.) I asked Guruji to give me courage. I wanted to talk to devotees and asked Guruji to guide me to whom to talk to. In my mind's ear, I heard in Punjabi: "
WhatsApp khol, jo is waqt online dikh raya hai, onde naal gal kar." (Get on WhatsApp and talk to the sangat available.) I found Shaila aunty online and was glad that Guruji chose her to talk to me because she is considered a pillar of strength because of the way she fought cancer and came out strongly. I called her, chatted with her and as expected got my dose of strength and courage from her.
A few days later, on 27
th July, we attended a satsang at Shri Mohit's house in Wolverhampton. I was quite sure that Guruji would cure me. That morning, I felt much better. Later in the evening when I went to the satsang, I was amazed to get
kheer and
sarson ka saag in the
langar. The fact that I was getting what was medically required as a diet further strengthened my belief that Guruji would heal me completely during that satsang. Sure enough, I was completely cured with the
langar prasad. Since then, I have never had any pain in my joints. Imagine that I never took any medicine, but got cured with His blessings as manifested through His langar prasad.
Another thing I noticed recently was that since last year, I have been getting
sewa of making
rotis. Almost for every satsang that we took part in, I had been getting this sewa, which undoubtedly made me happy. However, I did wonder why I was getting one specific sewa. It so happens that though I try to knead enough flour for the rotis I always fell short of flour by a few
chapattis. Every time I would end up kneading more flour. Recently, when I was kneading the flour a second time, a strong Punjabi voice said to me: "
Eh karaa key mein tera joint pain theek kitaa hai." Guruji was saying that he had healed me of my joint pain via roti sewa. As I heard this voice, the
shabad that was being played also was on the theme of sewa. The
kirtani was emphasizing how sewa, whether big or small, is very powerful and that there is always a specific reason behind the type of sewa we are given. These can't be co-incidences, as Guruji himself used to say.
Guruji guides me to a new job
I had been working at a position that did not complement my experience. I shared my concern with Guruji, knowing that He was aware of my qualifications and experience and letting Him decide the matter.
A few days later, a vacancy came up in our company through an internal email. It was a dream job, but I had not even completed 18 months in my current role as of year 2018, so I knew I was out of the reckoning. I took courage and spoke to my boss about my interest and how demotivated I felt in my current role. My boss, as anticipated, said that he couldn't let people vacate a role so early.
The matter was still on my mind, and I told Guruji to stop teasing me. Then I thought of trying and talking to my boss again. However, I wanted Guruji to indicate that this was the correct course of action. I decided that if a colleague walked up to me and said I was good for that opportunity, I would go ahead. The next day, an Indian employee, Gursharan Singh (working in the department that had the vacancy), asked me if I had applied and I told him of what had transpired. He thought I was an ideal candidate and was sad that I had been turned down. We discussed the issue and both agreed that there was no harm in me trying to convince my boss.
Surprisingly, this time my supervisor was positive and supportive. Filling in the application was a task in itself. But it so happened that there was a systems outage, and I found the time to fill the form. I felt Guruji was guiding me.
The next week, I was shortlisted along with less than 10 candidates. They all had the natural advantage of being British, being experienced as well as skilled. I still advanced to the next level. The company emailed us on November 15, 2018, to prepare a 5-minute presentation on a topic we were passionate about. I immediately remonstrated before Guruji: "Naya presentation ka naatak," I told Him. I was not comfortable giving presentations, but instantly Guruji told me that the presentation was to favour me. I was relieved. I had to choose the topic and Guruji suggested one that was strong, apt for the position and which I was passionate about. I kept getting positivity from Guruji.
My interview was fixed for November 23 for a competency-based discussion. I summed up the numerals of the interview date, which added up to seven (Guruji's number), and Nov 23 was also Gurpurab—I was overjoyed. I was now confident that Guruji was with me and I would get the job.
However, I had not prepared for the interview till two days before it. When I reached home the day before, I was too tired and sleepy. I asked Guruji for His help; then I set the alarm so that I could have an hour's nap. During that time, someone in a strong Punjabi accent asked me various questions and advised me on how to answer them. Though I slept soundly, the dream preparation was vivid. I still got up 40 minutes before the alarm went off, fresh as after a deep sleep. I still don't know how and in what manner I got this guidance. I just can't explain it. I found myself all ready for the interview.
On November 22
nd, an inner voice in Punjabi (I am sure it was Guruji) told me to learn the definition of IBP (Integrated Business Planning). I replied, saying this was not a technical interview, but the inner voice kept reminding me to learn the definition till I did.
On the day of the interview, I dressed myself in a very professional attire, as per Guruji's wishes. I felt as if Guruji was inside me. During my interview hours in the UK, my husband was in Bade Mandir. This was very reassuring. A half hour before I was to be called in I actually sang Guruji's
mahima before an Indian colleague. He had seen Guruji's swaroop in my locket and inquired about Him. I felt confident and blessed. Yet Guruji kept reminding me to revise my IBP definition. Sure enough, when I was being interviewed, I was asked to define IBP.
I felt as if a strong inner energy was driving me to shine during the interview. And, of course, I got the job with Guruji's grace.
My heartfelt gratitude to our loving and most caring fatherly Guruji. I am forever thankful for His infinite blessings. I wish to keep doing selfless service,
simran, and satsang and give thanks to Him till I remain in existence.
[Following section added July 2020]
How Guruji set up His aasan in our house
When we settled down in the UK a couple of years ago, we bought two three-seater sofas of my husband's choice. There was no single seater or two-seater sofa in that style. When we held our first satsang at our home in March, we made Guruji's holy seat, or
aasan, on the long 3-seater sofa. It was the same for the second satsang. I felt that we should have His
gaddi on a single-seater sofa or chair.
This year, the lockdown had the sangat ingeniously using technology to do satsangs. Every Sunday as the satsangs would run virtually, I would make
chai and karha prasad, light a
jyoti and do
aarti at home. After one such Sunday satsang I asked Guruji mentally if He actually came to my home when I offered this service to Him. To my surprise, I heard Him speak: "
Tu sab kuch kardi hain, par meri gaddi tey laandi ni. (You do everything, but you have not got a chair for me.)" And it was true: I used to do aarti in front of His big swaroop and
charan kamal, but had no aasan or gaddi for Him.
For the next Sunday satsang, I took a chair from my daughter's study table set and set that up as Guruji's gaddi. I apologised to Guruji for the discomfort that would present Him, but told Him I had no single chair for Him. In fact, when we hosted a satsang at our home this July and live streamed it, we still used the three-seater sofa. After the satsang was over, I told my husband that I wished to have a single-seater sofa to set up Guruji's holy seat.
Soon a devotee messaged me. She was leaving the UK and wondered if I would take a single-seater sofa from her. That sofa, she said, had always been used to set up Guruji's aasan whenever she had a satsang. She underlined that she was selling off everything but that sofa, which had strangely not been picked up for sale.
She confessed that she had always wanted to give that sofa to a devotee, as she felt it had been blessed by Guruji. For the last few days, she had been sitting in front of Guruji's swaroop, praying that it go to a devotee and every time she would see my image in her mind's eye. She could not take Guruji's hint, until the day she wrote me. I recounted my part of the story. We were both amazed at how Guruji had arranged for His own aasan.
Always present, always protective
During the Christmas season of 2018 my daughter insisted that she go to Dubai, where we had lived for 13 years, for her vacation and meet her school friends. My husband still travelled to Dubai for business, and she wanted to go with him. She asked me to come along as well, but as I had not applied for leave from my office, I couldn't. I asked her to drop the idea because I feared I would be left all alone in the UK. She did not.
I prayed to Guruji, and asked Him to be with me and protect me during the 12 days they would be away. "You are my father, God, brother and everything, Guruji," I prayed with ardour, "You must make sure that I don't feel lonely and I am engaged during these 12 days." Guruji, as kind and caring as ever, proceeded to answer my prayer.
The first evening when I returned from office, my drawing room was redolent with many fragrances. The room has a big swaroop of Guruji, and I spend most of my time in it. I had never smelled such fragrance inside the room. Since the smell was not of rose, I thought its origin must not be divine and took the occurrence casually. However, it did make me feel that Guruji was around. I spent my evening time reading many satsangs of Guruji, which I love going through.
Upon my return from office the next day, the welcoming fragrance was again present. I was soaked in that scent. I wondered aloud if it was Guruji. I rationalized though that the drawing room heaters, that charge up during the night and emit heat during the day, could be emitting the fragrance. This theory was eliminated when the fragrance lingered during the weekend, when the heating cycle changes.
The fragrance stopped the day my family returned. It was then I realised that it was Guruji's presence actually. For the 12 days my husband and daughter weren't at home, Guruji's divine presence, in the form of the scent, kept me positive, spiritually active (as I got to read inspiring satsangs) and fearless. Thank you, Guruji!
Madhu Madan, a devotee
July 2020