Meera meets Guruji and becomes His

When Meera met Guruji she had an acute problem in her spinal cord. The vertebrae had fused together, creating gaps within the cord. She felt as if a nerve was being pressed from the spine to the right leg, causing great pain. Doctors also noticed that her right leg had started weakening, losing muscle weight. Meera began wearing a belt to support her back, but even then she could not sit for more than 15 minutes at a stretch.

During initial visits to Guruji, Meera would carry some pillows with her so as to be able to sit for the entire duration of the sangat. However, Guruji noticed her bringing the pillows and asked her not to do so. She tried to smuggle in the pillows, but was reprimanded sternly. So, she sat down on the floor - and found she could do so for hours together.

Meera met Guruji on 3 April 1995 at Greater Kailash, New Delhi. Guruji asked her what her problem was and what she wanted cured. Apprised of the problem, He immediately said, "Let's do the operation." Meera was frightened. Guruji only took her to a room, placed a spoon on the affected body parts and bent her neck with great force to the left and to the right. Meera felt agonizing pain. As she recovered, Guruji said He would treat her leg in Jalandhar.

After Guruji's treatment, Meera's spinal cord problem vanished. But she still had pains in her joint. The fingers of her hands had swollen and the joints looked like big knots. Meera told the Satguru about the problem one day. Guruji talked to her and began rubbing her hands. Meera, engrossed in talking with Guruji, did not notice this. She kept on talking about what a problem her hands were. Finally, Guruji interrupted her and told her to take a look at her hands. They were all that she could have wished for: the fingers had become lean and tapering, the joints were not paining - and all this had occurred without her noticing it!


Guruji had once told Meera that He would not let her die; He had given her 10 years more of life. He would keep saving her and would transfer her diseases. His words have proven true innumerable times.

Removing a stone-filled gall bladder

Meera suffered from severe pain in the abdomen. A medical investigation revealed that Meera's gall bladder was packed with stones. The large ones were more than half an inch thick. Doctors started her medication, but told her that surgery was the only lasting solution.

Guruji was in Jalandhar and advised Meera when she went there to hold back the operation till He returned to Delhi. She told Him she could not bear the severe pain. Guruji put His hand on the spot and the pain stopped. Holding on to her Guru's word, Meera waited for Guruji to return to Delhi and then got the surgery done. Her gall bladder, filled with stones, was removed successfully.

But, a host of health problems afflicted Meera. Her sugar level remained in constant flux, going up and down whimsically. As a result, her left eye began to get affected and there was significant vision loss. Meera went to the Sir Ganga Ram hospital and got an angiography of the eye done. It showed leakages. The doctor said the eye should be operated upon within a week. It was a Tuesday and Meera, not wishing to take any step without Guruji's approval, told doctors she would ask her husband about the date. The attending doctor said it was her eye that mattered, not the husband's.

But, steadfast Meera went to Guruji. The Satguru picked up one of the many garlands lying at His lotus feet and gave it to her. When her eye was tested, the doctors were stunned. It had healed of its own accord. No further tests were required; there was no question of surgery.

Cancer patches on X-ray disappear the morning after

Guruji's grace fell on Meera's husband, too. There was a white patch inside his mouth. Doctors strongly suspected cancer, but waited for a biopsy to confirm the diagnosis. The couple meanwhile went to the Safdarjung Hospital, where doctors said more or less the same thing. Meera hurried to Guruji with her problem and He said: "Mauj kar" (Be carefree). Meera was a little surprised, but Guruji's words were meant by way of giving a blessing.

When the biopsy was done, Meera and the doctors were stunned to note that there were no patches in the mouth. Yet, the previous X-ray, done at 2 am the night before, still showed the patches. Doctors were confounded: the patches had disappeared overnight. Meera's joy knew no bounds. Guruji does everything immediately for her, says this lady of faith.

A return to consciousness

Her husband, Mr Kapoor, who runs a wholesale garment business, had to travel to the Punjab to collect some payments. He booked his to-and-fro ticket for travel on the Shatabdi. However, when he reached Jalandhar railway station with money in hand, there was too much fog. He abandoned his plan to travel by train and decided to take a bus to Delhi. He phoned up his home and said he would reach by 10:30 at night.

The next phone call that Meera received was from the Kashmiri Gate Police Station. It was 1 am at night. The policemen said her husband had been found lying unconscious inside a bus that was going to the depot. Meera asked her brother-in-law, who was with her, to confirm the identity of the caller. The policemen said Mr Kapoor was in no condition to talk to her and they were taking him to Hindu Ram Hospital.

When the distressed family arrived at the hospital, they were disappointed at the care being provided. They decided to shift him to a private hospital. But, he still did not gain consciousness.

Meera approached Guruji, who told her that nothing had happened to her husband and that she should not worry. After the Satguru's statement, her husband showed the first faint signs of response at the hospital. It was noticed that he was trying to speak a few words. Thereafter, doctors tried to shake him up. When he regained consciousness fully, doctors told Meera to stay by her husband's side for three months continuously, as he could have temporary black-outs.

Meera knew this was an impossible request to meet because she had to be at the garments shop they ran. Guruji, however, told her that she was not required to be at his side and that her husband was fully ok. So it was: he suffered no black-outs at all.

It turned out that Kapoor had been befriended by a fellow passenger on the bus. The passenger had given him some biscuits and had some himself, too. The next thing Kapoor knew was the hospital room.

The family was disappointed that they had lost a lot of money. But Guruji said their problems had gone and they shouldn't worry, He would provide more. Meera says time has proved that His munificence has exceeded expectations and met more than their needs.

Miracles coming from and going to Guruji

Kapoor, Meera and her mother-in-law were going to Chandigarh to have Guruji's darshan. They reached at night and Guruji told them to return that same night. They left for Delhi at around 2 at night, apprehensive because of the prevailing terrorism. Their anxiety increased as the Chandigarh-Ambala stretch of the highway had been closed and they had to go through Panchkula. It was an eerie night with not a soul being seen on the dark, unlit road which cut a swathe through the fields.

Meera prayed hard to Guruji for directions. Her mother-in-law was mildly caustic, wondering how Guruji could help them out in the middle of nowhere. Just then two men emerged out of the fields. They were on a motorcycle and had huge beards. Meera asked her husband to stop the car so that she could ask them the distance to the highway.

They said it was just 13 km away. Meera protested that there was no signboard and it was such a lonely road: how could the highway be only 13 km away? She asked the question again. To her and her mother-in-law's fear - the latter was suspecting these men to be terrorists - one of the men came quite close to Meera and repeated in a deep voice that it was indeed 13 km.

Hardly had they travelled more than 200 metres when they came across a signpost, saying 13 km. And exactly 13 km later, the road came in front of Prince Hotel and they were on the highway.

Who had came out of the fields in the dead of night to tell them the distance to the highway?

Guruji goes to have chaat

Though Guruji's help can be obvious at times, mostly He works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform. It is quite futile to cudgel your brains to understand His actions or His words. The following experience shows that His outer actions are connected to working out His disciples' karma - at least that is what He would have us understand till now. Who knows what He truly does!

Guruji had asked Meera and Mrs Subberwal to go to Bade Mandir, a distance of around 20 kms from Gurgaon, where they lived. They were doing so regularly. One evening as they were travelling to the temple, they noticed that Guruji's white Contessa car was parked outside the Bristol Hotel.

Instantly, they rushed over to Him. Guruji seemed to be in an affable mood and they pressed their advantage, talking to Him for over half an hour at the spot. Then Guruji expressed a desire to have chaat, and the sangat was taken to Manesar to fill themselves up with the spicy helpings at Haldiram's, a popular eating joint.

Guruji chose to rest on the lawns at Haldiram's. He lay down, with the sangat making quite a fuss over Him. They took out their handkerchiefs and fanned them over Him; a chunni became His pillow. A doctor, standing nearby - such is Guruji's sport - came over to the group. He wanted to know if the group needed any medical help for the man lying on the ground did not seem okay. He was assured that everything was all right and turned away.

Meanwhile, chaat had been brought. As it was being rapidly consumed, Guruji called Meera to her. She remembers till this day being questioned quite closely and in great detail about all her family members. Where were her daughter and son-in-law? When were they expected back? She told Guruji that the couple were in Manali and would return soon.

Soon, the excursion was over and everyone went home happy. It was a month later that the real reason for the Haldiram visit became known.

Meera's daughter and her son-in-law had an accident while their new car was at a red light. A truck rammed into the vehicle from the rear. The car was smashed. Meera's daughter called her mother up and informed her of the details of the accident, praying that she communicate the mishap to Guruji.

Meera rushed to Empire Estate late at night. She found Guruji standing inside the hall as if waiting for her. She told Him that an accident had occurred and Guruji told her where it had occurred - at a Greater Kailash roundabout. She told Him that her son-in-law was being taken to AIIMS, when Guruji gently reminded her that they were going to the Vasant Kunj-based spinal cord injuries centre - as indeed her daughter had called up to tell her at the last minute. A worried Meera was slow to realize that it was Guruji who was giving her all the details of the accident!

The omnipotent Master had let no hurt come to His devotee's children. Though her son-in-law's face had swollen, he had no pain and there was no internal injury.

Meera was told that at the time of the accident, Guruji kept walking inside His room. She says He took her son-in-law's pain upon herself. And He told her: "I am with you; don't be afraid." Meera says that Guruji had foreseen the accident a month ago during the chaat excursion and that by merely asking about her family He prevented certain disaster.

Queer appearances at a garment shop

Guruji puzzled Meera by showing up at their shop in Karol Bagh. He came to take away their troubles or to give them something, but never did He come in the form they so loved. He took money to take away bad karma and He showered prosperity on the devotees. To Meera's never-ending consternation, they could never recognize Him.

The Kapoors ran their wholesale business from a shop at Karol Bagh. The shop is at the first floor. One morning, a stranger came in. He offered his visiting card and said that he wanted some change. Meera, who was sitting at the shop, said they were wholesale garment dealers and didn't keep change. However, Mr Kapoor decided to help out and sent one of his employees to a nearby bank with a Rs 6,400 cheque that was to be encashed. The man went inside the bank; the employee waited outside. And he kept on waiting, returning only when the guard at the bank told him that he had never seen the man go in.

The employee returned to the shop. When he gave out the details, Meera felt exceedingly foolish that they, being businessmen for such a long time, had been cheated by a stranger. She told Guruji, who said their problems had been taken away. He even admitted that it was He who had taken away their money.

Another time, a tall man whose head nearly touched the ceiling, came and preened inside the shop. He was wearing a rough belt on his waist. Taking him for a vagabond, Meera asked him to go away. Her employee said that he looked like Bholenath - the Lord of the Innocent, a title of Lord Shiva - and Meera deigned to give him two rupees. She repeated her command that the man go away. He did. The entry and exit of the stranger went unnoticed by the guard.

In the evening, when Meera went to Guruji's, she was embarrassed. The Satguru told her that she had given Him only two rupees when He had come to her shop!

It was Guruji's hukm that Meera sit at the shop. Though she felt she was not trained to do so, she followed His order. Later, Guruji went to Jalandhar. Meera would remember Him a great deal and weep in front of His photograph. She also used to read the holy Shiv Purana and chant upon her beads, repeating two mantras - Om Namah Shivay, Shivji Sada Sahay and Om Namah Shivay, Guruji Sada Sahay. Whenever they would feel Guruji's typical rosy fragrance pervading the shop's interiors, the couple would get a change of clothes from their house nearby and leave for Jalandhar.

During one such visit to Jalandhar, Guruji told her not to remember Him so much and not to cry. He also advised her to do more of the Shivji Sahay mantra. Thanks to her constant remembrance of her Guru, Guruji continued to visit her shop.

Once a man, dressed like an ascetic, came to her shop. He said he wanted to give her a rosary or mala. When she put out her hands, he asked her to bow her neck and put the mala on it. He also advised her to always keep the rosary with her.

Later, when her grandson was born, Guruji paid another visit in disguise. This time it was to give a bangle for the newborn. He gave a similar bangle to Meera.

When Meera had started going to the shop, she had put up Guruji's photo there. But, Guruji had not allowed it, she says, and she had put it back at home. After five months of her going to the shop, He allowed her to put the photo in her shop.

Meera says their shop started doing really well and their earlier losses were all made up.

Guruji even helped Mr Kapoor keep his word. One day Kapoor promised a certain man that he would pay him the Rs 3 lakh due to him that day itself. Meera pointed out that the shop didn't even have one-sixth of that amount in cash, but her husband said that he had also been promised two payments and they would make up the sum required.

Kapoor himself went to collect the money. One man asked him to come back a week later; another postponed the payment for a day. Money-less, Mr Kapoor petitioned Guruji while walking in front of the Karol Bagh Gurdwara. He told Him that if he couldn't keep his word, it would be a matter of disrespect for Guruji, not him. Firmly turning over the matter to Guruji, Kapoor returned to his shop.

After some time, the shopkeeper above their shop sent them a customer. The man was from Jalandhar and needed certain things. All these were to be found in Kapoor's shop, and the customer happily made payment of these without even bothering to check the raw material that he was buying. The sum easily covered the payment Kapoor had to make and he didn't have to go back on his promise.

That evening, when the Kapoors came for the sangat, Guruji addressed Meera. "What's the matter", Meera recalls Him as saying, "Your husband prays to me on the footpath!"

With rose garland, shop is fireproofed

Once when Meera had gone with her sister-in-law to Guruji's place, He asked the sister-in-law to pick up a rose garland from the heap of flowers offered to Him. He then instructed her to sanctify some water with the garland and sprinkle the holy water all over the shop.

But, the next day was a Monday and the sister-in-law was loathe to open the shop for the express purpose of sprinkling some water on it. But, Meera told her that it was best to act as directed by Guruji rather than applying their own logic to it.

A month later a fire raged over the Karol Bagh market. All the shops were burnt. Meera says the flames singed the shop below them; the blaze was so fierce that the ceiling fans melted. But, the devotees' garment shop was safe. The fire had seemingly recoiled from near the garment shop, as the wind started blowing in the opposite direction. The rose garland, blessed by Guruji, had protected their shop.

Kapoors switch business on Guruji's advice

The Kapoors' business wasn't doing so well. Mr Kapoor had a plan to turn his fortune around. He wanted to import material from China, which would help him cut costs. Guruji was approached for approval. Guruji told him not to start right away and that He would tell him the right time.

After three months, Guruji gave Meera prasad of cardamom seeds and misri (crystallized sugar lumps). He told her to eat it while sitting inside the shop. They were also permitted to start the new business after giving the name of the man in China with whom they wanted to do business. Guruji said he was a good man. Mr Kapoor says they have done business worth crores with this man sitting in China over the last five years and till date they haven't met each other. Neither has there been any loss.

Another time, Mr Kapoor was in Chandni Chowk, one of the busiest and most congested areas in Delhi, with a great deal of money in his briefcase. He kept the briefcase on top of another car while trying to enter his own vehicle with ease. Then he came home.

At home, he discovered that he had not brought the briefcase with him. He was distraught since it contained a lot of money. He immediately went back though he knew that the briefcase would have disappeared by now. To his amazement, the case was still there on top of the very car that he had put it on.

When in the evening, he met Guruji, the Master simply said: "Did you find the bag?"

Reaching out with Grace

It was not just Meera who benefited from Guruji's care and protection. Her family did, too. So did a worker in a nearby shop. So did the head of a department of medicine.

The Kapoors had gone to a nearby shop and they started doing satsang. Guruji's tales so impressed the worker of the shop, a devotee of the Mother, that he made up his mind to go to Guruji, who was then in Jalandhar. He took directions from the Kapoors and after shop hours, set out. He reached Guruji, who wanted to know who had sent him. After He was told of the same, Guruji hugged him - for reasons best known to Him. He then sent the man back to Delhi.

Now, this man led a troubled domestic life, as his brothers fought among themselves. When he came back home, he told his wife that he felt as if all his problems would go away. And that was what happened. The brothers who were squabbling over property did exactly as he suggested. A locker which contained the family jewellery was opened and the treasure divided among the brothers.

The shop-worker found a pearl garland. A brief note attached to it said it should be given to one who most deserved it. The worker immediately thought of Guruji. He went one day to Jalandhar and sat at the sangat, wondering whether to give the garland to Guruji or not. He was quite vexed when Guruji came before him and asked why he was vacillating. Guruji then asked him to hand the garland over to Him!

Every one had been impressed by Meera's quick recovery from her joints problem. The doctor who was treating her, a head of the department of orthopaedics in Safdurjung hospital, had seen the recovery take place.

She suffered from joint pains. The pain was so severe that she found it difficult to do her rounds. Meera suggested that she go to Guruji. She did and returned with His blessings.

Soon Meera heard from her. The doctor was calling her up to tell her that she had just taken a round of a ward without feeling any pain. The doctor said she was still wondering whether it was she who had taken the round!

As Meera tuned in to Guruji, she found that her entire family was getting blessed. Her sister-in-law was among the first ones to benefit. She had a tenacious cold that would usually be accompanied with a migraine. Even her ears would give off water. Her hearing had already been damaged.

Meera and she went to Guruji together. And the cold and the migraine vanished; her hearing improved.

But, at the same time, the sister-in-law's son Ankur was losing his vision. He was only four years old. The problem was put before Guruji and He gave His blessings. He asked Meera's sister-in-law to put honey in Ankur's eyes. The mother knew that applying honey to the eyes hurt a lot and was reluctant. She was prevailed upon and to her surprise found that Ankur felt no pain at all when the honey was applied.

Guruji instructed that Ankur's eyes be tested. Sure enough the eyesight had improved by leaps and bounds.

One who grants God's darshan

Meera's brother had retired from the Army. A devotee of Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa, he used to visit the saints with only one hope in mind: that they grant him darshan of the Lord.

After Meera had been to Guruji, she called him up and told him about the Satguru. He willingly came to the sangat. Guruji immediately called him 'mama' (maternal uncle) and asked him to wish for something. The spiritual aspirant asked for Guruji's meher or grace. Guruji again insisted that he ask for something, and the aspirant revealed his great desire to see God. Guruji merely said okay.

Three days later, Meera's brother had a vision at home. His lifelong quest was realized. He had seen God.

At a devotee's mere request, Guruji was able to grant him the darshan of the Almighty. Who then is He?

One answer comes from Meera's father himself. Meera reports that her father used to say that Guruji is not an ordinary Guru or saint who gains control of some powers (siddhis) and then displays these to astonish the world and win over devotees. Guruji is a form of divine light.

Mr Kapoor too had Guruji's darshan. Kapoor who was educated in Banaras, the city of Lord Shiva, saw in a dream that he was at Benares's Vishvareshwara temple. The door of the temple opens and he sees Guruji. His gaze falls to His lotus feet, where he sees Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh.

Guruji was told of the dream. He simply told Kapoor that the devotee had had His darshan.

Master of Home Affairs

Certain experiences that Meera had again and again, showed that the Satguru was not bound by or limited to His physical form. He was here, there and everywhere. He saw and heard conversations at Meera's home; He could even touch His devotee.

Meera had been living all the time in a joint family in their Karol Bagh home. But Guruji insisted that the Kapoors move to Gurgaon. So on 25 March 2003, she did. She wondered whether she should have a religious ceremony to sanctify the new house, but Guruji did away with all that. The Satguru simply asked her to enter the house with His photograph first.

Since then, His presence has been more than amply felt in the Kapoor household. The very first time it happened was when Meera was complaining to Guruji in her mind about the fact that she was lonely. Though her maidservant had told Meera that the neighbour just adjacent to her flat was interested in striking up a relationship, Meera did not make the first overture.

However, the neighbour came in one day and they started talking. As usual, the drawing room conversation veered around to and then focused on Guruji. Soon, Meera had a friend.

Guruji was in the know of what was happening. He immediately asked Meera on her arrival at the sangat whether she had made a saheli or lady friend. Meera was amazed that Guruji knew what was happening at her home.

And it was not just the drawing room that was visible to Guruji's omniscient eye.

Once Meera and her husband were having an early morning yet entirely normal dispute over some trivial matter. In the evening, Guruji phoned up the couple. He spoke to Mr Kapoor at first, asking him why he had fought with Meera in the morning. Before a stunned Kapoor could frame a response, Guruji asked that the phone be given to Meera. Guruji then spoke to Meera and reprimanded her for quarreling with her husband.

Meera says it was a minor disagreement that they were having. Yet, Guruji had pounced on it, proving how intimate His knowledge of home affairs was.

Time and again, Meera felt His presence, as if Guruji was reassuring her every step of the way in her new home. Once she was sleeping when someone pressed her shoulder blades strongly from behind. She turned her head to look back - no one was there. Another time, she was doing her puja, when she felt someone touch her from behind on one and then the other shoulder. She was frightened and wanted to dismiss it as the working of her imagination, when she saw the curtain in front of her puja move ever so slightly - as if a breeze had passed through it.

She asked Guruji mentally whether it was Him. Sure enough, in the sangat He told her not to worry, it was Him.

Snakes in the house

Meera was thrilled every time by Guruji's visitations, but she reached her limit when she found snakes in her bathroom. It is a highly improbably occurrence for the Kapoor home is located in a modern apartment complex beside the main road that cuts through Gurgaon and leads up to Jaipur. All the three bathrooms are tiled and no one has ever reported sighting snakes in the area.

Yet, day after day, as soon as Meera would go for her bath in the tub, the snakes would be there - very small ones, nearly four of them every day. She was terrified. She would pray to Guruji before stepping into her bathtub, but the snakes would still come. And she would stamp them out.

She wanted to get the bathtub removed and asked her husband to do it. And there the matter hung. So, she mentioned the affair to Guruji, who said she was a very lucky person. She replied that she was a very frightened person. Guruji then asked her what she wanted. She said she wanted to remove the bathtub and the snakes to disappear.

With Guruji's permission, she ordered the removal of the bathtub. Those who came to remove the tub were cautioned that there were snakes inside the bathroom. They laughed it off. Meera kept checking to see whether the snakes were appearing as the tub was being removed.

But, the snakes had completely disappeared.

The phenomenon has not been satisfactorily explained to this day. How come there could be snakes in a modern housing complex? Why did only Meera see them? What did their appearance suggest? Where did they go?

Only Lord Shiva knows.

Meera Kapoor, housewife and businesswoman

July 2007