My Sai - An Experience From A Christian Faithful

Sai Sister Chandini from India says: Dear Team, I want to be referred to as Chandini Martin. I am from Bangalore and married to an Army officer Major Martin. I have a four-and-a-half-year-old son. I work for a Life Science Company in Bangalore. I am a Christian, I love Sai Greetings dear Sai devotees, I am in awe of my dear Sai, I am Christian protestant and I have not had any exposure to any other faith. Many times I wonder how I fell in love with my Sai, trust me I look up to Him so much.

In the year 2008, I attended a naming ceremony of my friend’s son, who had a baby after a lot of prayers to Sai this is what she told me. I received a return gift, when I opened it at home it was a small statue of Sai. I was surprised and also frightened how I would keep it at home.

But I liked the look of His face and I never held a statue in my life so I was amazed and at the same time worried if anybody would see it in my room. There was an activity at office about Indian culture, and I took the statue with me and kept it as a decorative item and with an intension of leaving it there so someone can take it if they want. What I did was abandoning the statue.

After a few days I peeped to see if it was there, but it was not. I was glad someone took it, but somehow it left a deep scare in my heart and mind that I abandoned something I owned. I did not feel nice of what I did. In the year 2012 I got married, my husband is an Army officer and 2013 I delivered a baby boy.

On Aug 14th 2014 in Allahabad, my son developed high fever with seizures. My husband and I literally ran carrying him to the Military hospital, he gained consciousness. Later we took him to a bigger hospital.

I remember sitting in the jeep, with my son on my lap a distressed mother and worried mother knows no religion but demanded her son wakes up healthy and normal, I was fighting begging God. I turned to see a Picture of Sai hanging in the jeep.

My eyes met Sai’s eyes, my guilt of abandoning Him few years back came to my mind, but I said to Him, can You please do something for my son please, my son recovered after a few days in the hospital. Since then my mind was on Sai, those eyes, that picture.

Few days later, while dressing up on a Thursday morning I wore an orange dress the moment I looked at myself in the mirror I remembered one friend of mine who used to wear orange every Thursday as she was a Sai devotee, then a voice I heard in my mind saying “today you will be in front of Me at 8:00 PM” I wondered who said that or was I just dreaming. That evening coincidently we had to go to a Mandir for a family event (Army), I was looking around in the Temple seeing Idols and Photos, suddenly I found myself standing front of a portrait of Sai, checked the time it was 8:00 PM.

I was stunned, I walked off and that night narrated everything to my husband. (2015) A big Sai temple was close to our house in Allahabad. One day I told my husband, can we just go in and see, it looks nice. Like a magnet slowly I walked into the temple, removed my slippers, the chillness of the marble touching my feet and my eyes meeting Baba’s statue, by then I knew I am getting closer to Sai, that day I knew the journey has begun. In the year 2015, I noticed developing lumps in my arm pits, I was obviously scared thinking of the worst, took treatment for a few days in Bangalore and I had to go back to Allahabad.

At Allahabad, I went to a hospital and found myself sitting front of a big portrait of Sai, I felt good. The Doctor wanted me to undergo a biopsy, I was worried and tensed. The day before the biopsy I went to the Sai temple mentioned above, and just prayed Baba can You heal me, be with me please. The results came after a few days, I was totally nervous and it was non-cancerous fatty tissues that were developed, Doctor said nothing to worry do yearly mammograms.

This experience, then Sai’s portraits in the hospital my visit to the Temple, really stuck deep into my heart and mind. I felt He was around me, He was following me and I was following Him somehow. By then I felt like saying thank You to Baba.

Thereafter, I started going to the Sai temple, I felt nice lighting lamps. Standing front of the Dhuni, and the cooling effect of the marble under my feet I just kept falling in love with devotion to Sai. Daily habit became reading about Sai, researching about Him, reading devotee experiences and I found myself on this blog, trust me I need to read it daily it brings me solace, it tells me that despite the problems we face, there is someone who wants to help us and listen to us.

I am now in Bangalore, at Allahabad nobody knew about me going to the temple except my husband and made him promise he does not tell anyone nor get judgemental of me and what I am doing as I do not wish to justify to anyone. Then started the regular dreams each Thursday mornings of me in Sai’s temple and offering flowers to Him. I used to be stressed out thinking what to do? But I chose to follow my dreams, I found a Temple. I go visit Him each time He tells me to in my dreams.

One of the remarkable event that made me believe Sai is watching over us, was when our little son that time 2.5 years very naughty, my husband and I were shopping around buying footwear for our son, I got engrossed looking at footwear for myself, suddenly our son ran out on the main road and a speeding car stopped and we turned around to see him next to the car, I swear the way I felt that time was terrible, by the time we caught our son he ran and another auto stopped therefore he missed it twice. People around shouted at us, ridiculed us for being so careless.

I just hugged my son and looked up the sky and said thank You God and angles for having mercy on us, suddenly I thought of Sai and realised it was a Thursday. At the time of this situation, our son was giggling and laughing that he chased us and we found it hard to catch him. The innocence in our son’s eyes, made me wonder how was it that he did not get scared of what just happened?

Sai helped our son from danger, the journey towards devotion continued. I am grateful to Sai for that day. I wonder how I fell in love like this with a Saint with so much devotion being from a different background religiously. Each time I see His statue I feel like crying, there is some mental connect, I cannot describe this to anyone in my family for I will be ridiculed I fear. But I love Him, I have fallen neck deep in the ocean of devotion to Him, I rather just sink in His love than swim out. Recently I felt the need to have that same little statue that I once abandoned.

I went to a temple in Bangalore and purchased it. It has been secretly kept in my cupboard. The day I bought the statue it brought me peace within, I felt like a reconciliation for what I did. I like holding it in my hands. The moment my family visits me, first thing I do is to lock my cupboard hide the keys then open the main door for them. What is He to me today? He is in my mind, His Name on my tongue, His Image in my heart and mind.

He is like a mentor to me, my Guru, all that He taught or spoke were nice, nothing that I should not admire Him, I found nothing wrong in looking up to Him as my mentor. I pray to Him, I know He intercedes for me. Sai loves me, I enjoy communicating with Him. This is my first post, many more to come, just spacing it out due to the length.