I, Nakul, came to Guruji's
sharan after we came to know about His divine presence in year 2001. My Mamaji (maternal uncle) had undergone a kidney transplant at AIIMS in New Delhi that year. The kidney was donated by my maternal grandmother (Nani), but after the surgery, Mamaji's body began rejecting the kidney and his health began deteriorating by the day. A friend of my Nani told her about Guruji, and she immediately went to Empire Estate to seek His blessings.
On that very first visit, Guruji called my Nani and asked her to bring Mamiji to Empire Estate. Both went there, and Guruji blessed a
lota for my Mamaji. His health improved significantly and, today, he is doing great and living in New Jersey.
Guruji has blessed our family umpteen times since then.
My wife, Neha, came to Guruji's sharan after meeting me. She had always been a
bhakt of Wahe Guruji and Shivji. When I told her about Guruji and how He has blessed our family, Neha got intrigued. But not till she visited Bade Mandir in 2012 did she realize the immense magic of Guruji's presence.
Neha had applied in 2012 for an H1B visa in the US through her employer, but it was rejected. As a result, we decided to marry sooner so that I could apply for an H4 dependent visa for her. We got married in July 2012, and I immediately filed an adjustment of status for her. Three months later at the US embassy in Toronto, my H1B visa got renewed as did Neha's H4 visa.
But we were in for a surprise while crossing the border back into the US from the Niagara Falls' port of entry. Immigration stopped us at the port of entry. Officials informed us that Neha would not be allowed to enter the US, since her H1B visa had been rejected in April 2012 and she was considered 'out of status'. We were taken aback, more so because our immigration attorney (practicing at one of the best law firms in the US) had not mentioned this eventuality.
We pointed these facts to the immigration officials and urged them to grant us permission to enter the US since we had followed the attorney's advice throughout. Four hours went by. The officials were short-tempered and convinced Neha was trying to enter the US illegally. Things were not looking positive. I exited the immigration office for a few minutes and prayed to Guruji.
When I returned, the officials had come to talk to us. Once an H1B visa is rejected, they pointed out, an individual can legally stay within the US for 180 calendar days. We had crossed into Canada 179 days after Neha's visa got rejected. Had we been late by two more days, the officials said, they could have banned her entry into the US for 10 years. Saved by a hair's breadth — with Guruji answering my prayer instantaneously.
Getting the green card and playing cricket for US
Neha was able to secure an H4 visa, but couldn't legally work in the US. This was frustrating. She prayed to Guruji so that she could get another H1B visa, but given her history with H1B visa rejection, we were not hopeful.
Guruji, however, had bigger plans for us.
A few days after the Niagara incident, Neha got a call from Cricket USA. They wanted her to play for the women national team — a dream come true. Cricket USA would also sponsor her permanent residency, as they considered her an asset to the cricket team. This was a miracle! Neha's chances of securing her permanent residency were an estimated 15%; we could have never imagined that Neha would get sponsored.
Neha accepted the offer and her permanent residency process was initiated by Cricket USA. It wasn't an easy journey for us, since US immigration requested evidence twice, demanding a huge amount of documentation. But we had faith in Guruji: if He had opened this path for us, He would take us through successfully. After weeks of back and forth with immigration, we were granted our green cards within a year of starting the application process.
Before Neha's dream of playing cricket could come true, however, she met with a severe accident in Sacramento in 2015, where she worked. She was riding a bicycle on the road when a car turned into her. Her left leg was injured and had compound fractures. The mishap came just weeks before Neha was to go to Chicago to participate in the selection camp for the national team. Had all gone well there, Neha would have had her first opportunity after she received her green card to represent Cricket USA against the Pakistani women cricket team, in Florida. Instead she had to undergo extensive reconstructive surgery. The doctors estimated recovery in 8 to 12 months; a huge setback.
But Guruji made recovery much easier.
We do not have family in the US. But the
sangat in Los Angeles was incredibly helpful, bringing food, taking care of Neha while I was out to work, and giving us lots of love and positivity, By His grace and thanks to the sangat, Neha was up and running within a year. After the surgery, she not only qualified for the women's national team, but also went to Australia, England, Scotland and the Caribbean to play for the country. The accident could have been much worse, but the worse did not happen because of Guruji's blessings.
Saved on the road again and again
Neha was working in San Francisco, and I was working in the Midwest. We were both returning from a vacation in Puerto Rico, and I had an interview in Los Angeles on the day of our return. Neha was to drive to LA to spend time with me after my interview, since my flight back to the Midwest was the next day. Unfortunately, the night before Neha was going to see me in Los Angeles, her paternal aunt passed away.
As a result, she was disturbed, lacking sleep, and exhausted, when she began driving to LA in the morning. Halfway through the six-hour drive, she fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into an 18-wheeler truck. She escaped unscathed and, fortunately, there wasn't any traffic coming from behind, so her car did not get rear-ended. She called a friend for help to tow the car. As soon as the friend arrived, he looked at the damaged car, severely dented on the passenger side, and said "Tujhko toh Guruji ne bacha liya." (Guruji has saved you.) Our friend did not know of Guruji. He later told us He made the pronouncement because we had a
swaroop of Guruji stuck on the rear windshield.
Guruji had saved me on the road many times, too. I owned a motorcycle, much more prone to accidents compared to cars, since most drivers in the US don't look out for motorcycles on streets or highways. I strongly believe that Guruji's blessings were with me every time I rode my motorcycle. There were many small incidences in which Guruji saved me from a motorcycle injury, but one incident stands out.
I was returning from work to my apartment in the evening when I approached a traffic light. The light turned green and I throttled the bike ahead. A car coming from the opposite side made a left turn towards me. I didn't have time to react, but suddenly, I experienced a strong force that manoeuvred my motorcycle away from the car. All of this happened within a split second. Guruji had saved me.
Dream gets rid of abdominal ache
In the year 2017, I had a severe ache in the abdomen. The pain was initially intermittent but then occurred regularly. One morning, while I was in a meeting with my supervisor, I developed such severe pain that I couldn't speak a word. Neither could I drive my car back, so I had to take a taxi back to my apartment.
A couple of days went by, and when the pain did not subside, I went to see my primary care doctor. The doctor ordered an ultrasound since she suspected an ulcer. The ultrasound showed polyps in my gall bladder, but since polyps can develop regularly, the doctor concluded, they couldn't cause my pain. The doctor then put me on strong painkillers and ordered a CT scan, scheduled a couple of days later. Even with painkillers, my pain did not subside, so Neha and I decided to go to a hospital's emergency room.
As we drove in, we continuously played Guruji's
mantra jaap in the car's audio. By the time we reached the hospital, my pain had decreased and we returned home — all the while playing the mantra jaap in the car and at home. I administered the painkiller and slept. The next morning, my pain was gone. That is because Guruji had come in my dream.
In my vision, I was at an event organized for Guruji. I was sitting close to a big stage decorated for Guruji. He was sitting on the stage and there were thousands of devotees in front of Him. Suddenly, Guruji got up to leave the stage and decided to exit from where I was seated. He kept His hand on my head for support and got off the stage. I was stunned and couldn't move from my position. Then Guruji came back towards me, again kept His hand on my head and stepped on to the stage. In the dream, I went to a
sevadar and requested seva. The sevadar said: "Aapki seva to ho gai." (You have already done your seva.)
Guruji had blessed me in my dream. The next day, I went for my CT scan, and it was clear. My primary care doctor could not explain the progression. In fact, she said that someone up above, God had weaved some magic. Guruji, as always, had showered His blessings on me!
Neha and Nakul Anand, devotees, Anaheim, California
June 2020