Bapu, My Savior!

- Meenakshi Kulkarni

It is only because of Bapu that my family and I even exist.

Bapu is my only savior!  At every step of the way, Bapu is watching over me.

Bapu, My Savior! The year 2007 has been the most horrible year in my life. It almost came closing in on me. However, Bapu himself ended this terrible period in my life.  It was the end of July, to be precise and the dawn of July 30, 2007. My husband, Milind Kulkarni who works in the town of Shirvane, used to come home late on the 30th, 31st and the 1st of every month. Likewise, he got late on the 30th of July that year.  I would always tell Bapu to protect him since he would travel home late. That day, it was almost 1 am but he had not reached home. I was constantly praying to Bapu to protect him. A negative thought crossed my mind. I thought, ”what if he is mugged in the night?” However, in my mind, I left that responsibility upon Bapu to fulfil and went off to sleep. In the wee hours of the morning, I had a dream in which I saw myself lighting a lamp before the Goddess Saptashrungi. At that moment, in the dream itself, Bapu told me that my husband was safe and secure. Surprisingly, while returning from work that night, some muggers had assaulted my husband and his friends. The other two were badly hurt and even though Milind’s cell phone and chain were taken away, he did not get hurt at all. In fact, that day he was not feeling quite up to it. He was unwell.  I sat before Bapu’s photo, weeping profusely and kept chanting Shri Ghorakashtodharan Stotra continuously. He came home the next day in the afternoon. As soon as my husband came home, he fell sick. However, it felt as if Bapu had alerted me in my dream because later, after some investigations, my husband was diagnosed with Leukemia. It almost felt as if someone had pulled the rug out from under me.  I have an eight-year-old son. However, somewhere deep inside, I felt that since Bapu was my savior, he would ensure that such a fatal disease is cured. My brother-in-law made some quick decisions. We then took the treatment for the disease at the Tata Memorial Hospital. My husband felt better right after the first chemotherapy. I was continuously chanting Bapu’s name and I also felt that Bapu was with me all through the hospital visits. I had made my husband wear the Tripurari Trivikram Chinha locket before his admission into Tata.  I used to apply the Udi on his forehead every morning and evening. Bapu was giving me the wisdom and the inspiration to act in a particular way and I was simply following that. Subsequently, my husband was cured. Before my husband was admitted, I had gone to take Bapu’s darshan on the day of Gurupournima. While I was standing in the second row from the last for darshan, Bapu looked at me. I still remember that Bapu had blessed me in my dream and therefore, I was quite sure that my husband would be cured of this disease. My husband would get quite disturbed due to chemotherapy but I was confident that Bapu had blessed me and therefore, nothing could go wrong with my husband. He was completely cured within six months and resumed work. Bapu has saved me from each of the calamities in my life. My ship which had my family on board was about to sink. However, Bapu brought it ashore, back to safely. He is my father and I am utterly grateful to him. I bow to the lotus feet of Bapu and ask him not to allow me to forget the path of devotion that leads towards him.