Page 352 - Light of Divinity

Light of Divinity

As I was waiting for my work permit and making preparations to
leave, I received an invitation card to a marriage reception of one
of Guruji”s devotees. The envelope that contained the card had the
word ‘England’ written on it by Guruji himself. When we went to
seek Guruji’s permission just before we left, my wife was going to ask
Guruji’s blessings about her father and her sister (a Down’s Syndrome
patient) while we were away. But even before she articulated her
concern about her parent, Guruji said, “Sadde toh vadda parent kaun
hai (who is a bigger parent than me)?” and we realized that we had
secured the maximum reassurance that we possibly could in this
matter.

On my arrival at the site (Blackpool near Manchester) I was told
that there was a distinct possibility of the assignment even ending
in four months instead of six. However, by Guruji’s blessing, not
only did the deputation last out its full duration, my contract was
further extended for another project at the same site. This project
lasted for 10 more months, and when I was all set to return to India
in August 2004, I was relocated to a different location (Telford near
Birmingham) within the UK itself for another assignment, which
lasted for one more year. Midway through this assignment we were
relocated to Nottingham where my child was born just as the project
completed. As we were making preparations to travel back to India
in September 2005, I was transferred to London on an assignment
at the prestigious BBC site in London. The initial deputation was for
three months, but I have been here for nearly two years and it is still
continuing.

Transfer to Nottingham

I was on deputation at a small town called Telford in Shropshire,
England when my wife conceived. It was a nice and quiet place to
live in, but seemed quite nightmarish in terms of medical facilities
relating to pregnancy care. The obstetric unit in the local hospital
was run by midwives and did not have a consultant unit. More
complicated cases were referred to a bigger hospital at Shrewsbury
which was located around 16 miles away, and it took more than
half-an-hour each way by taxi (apart from the journey being
excruciatingly expensive).

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