Journey with faith

Vinod Bagai, November 2008 हिंदी
In early 2006 I went to Nabha, my hometown in the Punjab, and then headed out for Guruji's pind (native village) in Dugri. I first bowed my head in reverence to Guruji, sat for a while, did satsang with the sangat and came back to Nabha in the evening. At night I came to know that my maternal aunt, settled in Morocco, was trying to phone me from Morocco. She had mailed me an invitation to come to Morocco and settle there.

The next day was a Thursday, a day for the sangat to gather, and I went to Guruji's at Empire Estate in Delhi directly from Punjab. Upon reaching the mandir at Empire Estate, I received chai prasad. I was listening to the Gurbani being played when Guruji just nodded His head to indicate that I had come. After langar, when I went to take Guruji's permission, I told Guruji about the invitation to go to Morocco. Guruji forbade me to go out, saying: "Bahar nahin jaana; bacche bahar jaake bigad jaate hain" (Don't go to a foreign country; children get spoilt there). I returned home silently.

The next day I went to the embassy for the visa, but my application was rejected as I was thought to be too young and officials feared I would not come back after the visa expired. We tried a lot but in vain. After 20-25 days I visited Guruji's pind again and went to Nabha. There I came to know that another invitation had come.

The next day when I went to Guruji, I told Him about it. Guruji said, "Ja, Ja" (go, go). I thanked Guruji and made another trip to the embassy for the visa the next day. The official, who had rejected my application last time, smiled at me. He was surprised at my pleasant demeanour. After the rejection of the application, anyone would have expected a rather tense approach. But having obtained Guruji's clearance, I was assured of a positive outcome.

With Guruji's blessings, my passport was stamped with a visa that was valid for two months. Thereafter, I visited two countries and came back to India after exactly two months. It is not mere coincidence that the number 'two' was common to both the duration of my visit and number of places visited. After all, Guruji had told me to go twice ("Ja, Ja").

An uncle, who had left the country before me, had been made to wait for nine hours at the airport and called me up to warn me that stringent checking was going on at the airport and I should be careful. I told him that I was coming with the blessings of Guruji and that there was no cause for worry. Events turned out true to my faith: I was not made to wait at the airport even for nine minutes and reached my destination safely and comfortably. It was all thanks to Guruji.

Guruji makes some 'special arrangements'

Around November 2006, I went to visit the Vaishno Devi shrine along with my friend. With Guruji's blessings we had a safe and comfortable journey. There is usually a lot of rush for darshan and it can take more than a day for the same, but luckily we had darshan two days before our date of departure. But since it is very difficult to get train reservations, we had booked the return tickets in advance. And since we had already had darshan, we decided to advance the date of our journey.

We went to the ticket counter to get a fresh set of tickets and cancel the earlier booking. The fresh tickets had a RAC number of 89, which meant a half-seat allocation. We would only get to sit down for the course of the journey. Since I was a contractor for the Railways in Delhi, I called up someone I knew in the Railways. But I was told that it would not be possible to get the tickets confirmed due to the heavy rush at the time. I told my acquaintance that I would now request the supreme authority of this world, Guruji, for the seats. My companion also wondered how we would get out of our predicament. I told him not to worry and that with Guruji's blessings everything will be all right.

I looked up towards the sky and prayed to Guruji. I said that while coming we had full seats, but while returning we would have only half a seat. Please, Guruji, I prayed, continue to shower your blessings on us! A voice from inside me told me to go to the station. When we reached the station, we found that all of 89 seats had been confirmed-a rarity. Astonished, I went to the stationmaster. To get accurate inside information, I showed him my identity card, told him that I was from Railways headquarters and wanted to know what had lead to such a huge list being accommodated. The stationmaster said no special arrangements had been made. Not by the Railways perhaps, but surely my Lord, Guruji, had made special arrangements for His devotee! We had nothing to worry over now, as our reservation had been confirmed.

Soon after boarding the train, I fell asleep and Guruji gave me His blessed darshan. He said, "Haan, mil gaya poora fatta, chalo aish karo (So you got the full seat, now enjoy!)" I opened my eyes and to my surprise got Guruji's divine fragrance. When I went to Empire Estate for Guruji's darshan, Guruji indicated with His eyes that all was well.

We have been truly blessed by Guruji, and I pray to Him that He continue to shower His blessings on us all for ever. Jai Guruji!

Vinod Bagai, a devotee

November 2008