Family is saved, healed, and nurtured in Guruji's sharan

Captain Suresh Kumar Thakur, I.N., July 2011
My family and I came to Guruji's lotus feet during the second week of May 2005 and had the good fortune of having His darshan at Empire Estate. It was Commander Vimal Nagpal, my friend and well-wisher, who brought us to Guruji. Guruji was wearing shirt and trousers when I first saw Him. He sat so casually that you could have mistaken Him for a normal man. Yet, the spiritual light and fragrance emanating from Him gave me strong belief in Him at the very first visit.

Guruji saves us from accidents

Sometime after that visit, towards the end of May 2005, I was travelling back, along with family and relatives, to Ropar from a visit to the Naina Devi shrine, the Bhakra Nangal Dam and Gurudwara Anandpur Sahib. As we approached Ropar via a narrow road, my car crashed into a small truck. Iron rods were protruding out of the truck and they pierced through the car's left side, tearing the doors into two pieces. The impact was severe; the doors would not open. Though the car was damaged badly, not one of us suffered even a single scratch. Guruji had saved our lives.

Three or four years ago, Guruji saved us again. We were returning after attending the marriage of my brother-in-law's son in Kaithal, the bride's home. We were returning early in the morning, to Ropar, with the groom and his bride, my wife Kavita and I in one car. The road was enveloped in fog. My sister-in-law's young son, Sanjeev, was on the wheels. Visibility was negligible. None of us had been able to sleep during the night; everyone was sleepy. But Sanjeev felt confident about driving us back to Ropar. Sitting alongside him on the front seat, I did my best to keep him awake and watchful, keeping the music system and some banter going. I enquired whether he was fine with driving. He said yes, but as we were approaching Patiala, he stopped the car and asked me to take over. I felt uncomfortable, but there was no alternative. I requested Sanjeev to keep talking to me and not to sleep. He agreed. To my dismay, as soon as he slumped down on the front seat, he began snoring.

I prayed to Guruji, requesting that He kindly lead me and get us safely to our destination. I tried to keep awake while driving. We had just crossed Sirhind, when I felt the car was going down a slope on the road . . . suddenly, I found myself being woken up from sleep—to see the car coming near a fully-ladened truck just ahead of it. I don't know for how long I had slept. I knew it was Guruji's blessing and grace that saw us drive home, even though I had fallen asleep at the wheel. After the incident at Sirhind, sleep left me; I was awake throughout the trip. With the grace of Guruji, we all reached Ropar safe and sound.

Grace soothes my daughter's burns

Some six years ago before meeting Guruji, on 6 May 1999, my elder daughter Shilpa had sustained severe burn injuries (around 45 per cent of burns) during a fire in the Arjan Vihar building where we were staying. She was admitted to the Research & Referral Army Hospital, where she received specialized treatment. She had gone through many skin graftings and plastic surgery, too.

After we came to Guruji's refuge in May 2005, the medical treatment for my daughter changed. She still went to the R&R hospital, but the doctor who suggested further surgery on the chin and the left arm, went back on his advice at the next meeting. This was due to Guruji's blessings.

We understood that Guruji is fully aware of devotees' problems and exercises His spiritual powers to heal His devotees. As such, no problem needs to be brought before him verbally, so we always hesitated in talking to Him about our daughter. Yet, I was keen on my daughter being specifically blessed, especially since I had seen many healings take place through Guruji blessing a copper tumbler. Perhaps this was the divine's wish, too.

We again turned to Commander Nagpal, who in turn, spoke to General Kapoor about our problem. This was during the first-ever major satsang held in Gurgaon in January 2006. My daughter's case was put before Guruji, who directed her to come the following Thursday to Empire Estate with a copper tumbler.

That Thursday, Guruji was not in. He had gone to bless a marriage party in Delhi. We had langar and returned, but went again to Empire Estate the following Thursday. After taking langar, while seeking His permission to leave the sangat, my daughter kept the utensil in her hand. We didn't know how to talk to Guruji regarding it, and sat down along with the rest of the sangat. Upon seeing us, Guruji beckoned my daughter and me. He asked me: "Kitthon aya hain? Kinne bhejya ha tainu?"( Where have you come from and who has sent you?)"? I was so nervous that I couldn't reply, and Guruji addressed my daughter: "This is for you. Tell me your date of birth." Shilpa did so, and Guruji blessed the vessel. Shri Singla, another devotee, told us how to use the tumbler. Since then, Shilpa's recovery has been constant and speedy.

During this time, my daughter had completed her graduation from the University of Delhi. She wanted to do an MBA, but was not getting admission into a good institution despite performing well in tests and interviews. Again, with the blessings of Guruji, she got admission in the Indian Institute of Planning and Management at New Delhi. Soon she was hired on campus by a Chennai-based company.

She stayed in a PG hostel and completed her remaining studies and thesis at Chennai, because the company required her there. My wife and I wished she would return to Delhi, as we wanted to find a good bridal match for her. Her company wished to retain her at Chennai though a couple of her batchmates had left for Delhi or been transferred. My daughter was eager to return, too. I told her not to worry: if Guruji wanted her to come back to Delhi and knew that the return would benefit her, she would surely come. We debated the issue within the family, and she resigned on 1 Oct 2010. She had to serve a two-month notice and booked her air ticket for Delhi for 30 Nov 2010. Two days before she was to leave, the company management asked her to withdraw her resignation. They were considering transferring her to Delhi. With Guruji's blessings, my daughter ultimately joined the Okhla office in December.

Guruji grants me a new life

On 24th February 2010, my wife Kavita and I along with another couple who our friends were travelling to Dubai on a leisure trip. The flight time was three and a half hours. After dinner, I started feeling restless. I knew my blood pressure was coming down and tried to compose myself. I did not want to worry my wife, but she could tell from my face that something was wrong. I felt that I was sinking, but I made out that I was trying to sleep and rest. I prayed to Guruji to take care of me and do the needful with His blessings.

The next thing I remember is being woken up with the air hostesses shaking me vigorously. I had blanked out for a few seconds or minutes. There was still about half an hour left for the flight to land and no doctor was onboard. My wife was worried. But there was no need for a doctor, as my Guruji was with me.

I was given some lime juice and the crew tried to put me at ease. The crew sent a message across to Dubai airport, where a medic was in attendance. He came onboard when the plane landed and checked my sugar and blood pressure. Everything was normal. Jai Guruji! I was feeling good. Still I was taken on a wheelchair to the airport dispensary, where my vitals were checked again. I was given a few medicines, which I was advised to repeat the following day. The following morning, at the hotel, I felt that I was a thousand per cent fit. Guruji had given me a new lease of life. That too when we were on a flight headed to a foreign country, where things could have become worse. My wife and I returned happily to Delhi on the first of March.

Thank You, Guruji, for my new life.

My job stays put in Delhi

I have a transferable job. In fact, I had come to Delhi from Kochi in Jan 1997. As I have related, my elder daughter was undergoing treatment for her burn injuries at the R&R Army Hospital, and I wanted to stay put in Delhi. I did so for many years. On March 2010, I was sounded out about a transfer to Visakhapatnam or Hyderabad.

I did not want to go, because my younger daughter was doing her second-year B. Tech studies from a university in Noida as a day-scholar. Also, my elder daughter had returned from Chennai just about then, and we wanted to get her married. We couldn't manage all this if we moved away from Delhi. Also, the completion of my younger daughter's studies required that we stay for another two years in the capital. I, therefore, requested the authorities to keep me in Delhi for a couple of years. It was quite impossible that they accede, so I was worrying a lot even as I prayed to Guruji to do the needful. And, lo! though I was transferred, I was only moved to a new unit in New Delhi. Such are Sadguruji's blessings.

Captain Suresh Kumar Thakur, I.N., a devotee

July 2011