Aniruddha, How Indebted I am to You!
- Nitin Mirajkar, Kolhapur
When one reposes faith in Bapu and when one has unwavering devotion towards him, during the times of crisis, Bapu comes forward to offer his timely help. This experience would let the reader know that Bapu does not differentiate between two people from a family, be it a devotee or a non-devotee.
Mag Jo Gayee Vadekode, Majhe Charitra Majhe Povade II
Tayachiya Me Mage Pudhe I Choheekade Ubhachi II
Aniruddha Bapu
I am Nitin Ramakant Mirajkar. I work for the Central Bank of India. I am a follower of Bapu since the year 1999. My father is 86 years old. The left side of his brain receives only 15% blood supply whereas the right side of his brain receives only 55% blood supply. He is on a constant medication for his ailment. One of the tablets among these medications is for inducing sleep.
At around 10:30 pm on November 6, 2010, we noticed that he stepped into the washroom to answer nature’s call. There was nothing unusual about this because it has been his habit to go to the washroom before hitting the bed. Soon after, I fell off to sleep.
My wife woke up feeling thirsty around 12:30 am. While she was going towards the kitchen, she saw that the TV and the light in the drawing room were switched on. When she entered the hall, she did not find my father on the bed. On checking the washroom, she found him lying there. She immediately woke me up. It was not possible for both of us to lift him and bring him back to the drawing room. With the help of my son, we lifted him and got him to the drawing room. We made him sleep on the bed.
My head was spinning with all kinds of negative thoughts. My mind was overtaken by such thoughts. In fact, my son lives outstation for his education. He happened to be home for Diwali. Had he not been there, one can imagine what could have happened. From 10:30 till about 12:30, that is for almost two hours my father was lying in the washroom. How could he have stayed there? During one’s advance age such as his, one’s bones tend to become somewhat brittle. One can fracture a body part easily. These thoughts made me spend a sleepless night thinking about what was to come in the morning the next day. In the middle of all this, the next day was Diwali and therefore, finding a doctor was going to be a Herculean task in itself. I was perplexed thinking about where I could take him. I was worried about the transport etc. In the midst of all these thoughts, I must have fallen off to sleep.
I woke up quite late at around 7:30 am. As soon as I woke up, I first wanted to go and check on my father but to my surprise, I found out that my father had finished all his morning chores and was sitting sipping his tea in front of the TV watching morning news. I asked him if it was aching him anywhere and if he had swelling anywhere. On imploring him, he asked me the reason for my curiosity that morning. He had no memories of the incident that had taken place in the night. On informing him about it, he did not believe us at all.
On seeing him hale and hearty, I calmed down quite a bit. I chanted Bapu’s name. I said to Bapu, “No one can possibly do anything even remotely close to what you have done. You always look over us. You give us so many evidences of this fact. Let your loving grace be with us always.”
In spite of my son, wife and I being a Bapu devotee, my father is vehemently against all of this. He just does not believe in this. Therefore, even though I am a Bapu follower since 1999, it was 2008 when I could perform Paduka Poojan at home for the first time. Even today, he is not wholeheartedly involved in Paduka Poojan or any activity that our Sanstha performs.
Nevertheless, my Bapu had not only provided support to me but he had also extended it to him. It is a fact that Bapu who is all pervasive, can come prepared with the right help even before one can contemplate a crisis or a calamity. However, one must have an unflinching trust at his lotus feet.
“Bapuraya, let me be a Vanarsainik at your lotus feet. I ask only for this from you.”