Wherever I go, you are my companion

- Anandi Ansingkar, Aurangabad Vehicle Shraddhavans who are under the tutelage of one’s Sadguru would always invoke one’s Sadguru before beginning any endeavour. One requests Bapu to accompany while they step out each single time. Even if one were not to request Bapu to accompany one, he does go with his shraddhavans every single time and one experiences his presence every step up the way. My name is Anandi Ansingkar. I am a resident of Bajajnagar, Valunj, Aurangabad. I have been following Bapu since the year 2003. Right from that year, I am not only experiencing peace, calmness of mind but also in all moments of happiness and sorrow, I experience his presence in my life. Several obstacles and difficulties come up in front of me but before I realize them, they just wither away in thin air without giving me any hint whatsoever. I keep experiencing his divine interventions; small and big, at all times. This is an incident that took place some time ago. My brother has built a home at Bhum. He was inviting me to visit to see his new home. I somehow could not spare time to visit him there. During the same time, my daughter delivered at Pune. My sister-in-law, Mrs. Bhavana had to travel to Pune for that purpose. My mother has lost her eye sight. She did not have any company. Therefore my daughter, Dhanasharee informed my sister-in-law that she would ask me to go to Bhum so that I would get to see my brother’s new home as well as give company to my mother. This way the issue of cooking for someone would also be solved. Bhavana was thus very happy with this arrangement. I felt happy momentarily. However I became quite tense soon after. My brother is quite short tempered. He always needs an elaborate meal. He simply cannot eat Chapati and Bhaji. He needs an elaborate breakfast then for lunch he needs chapatti, bhaji, dal-rice, and freshly made chutney every day. He does not like to waste food. If the bhaji is not well done, he would cook it himself. It was a different matter otherwise because in a household full of people, even if the Bhaji turned out to be not so good, somehow it would be consumed by many people. However, now it would be only three of us - mother, my brother and I. In the midst of this, mother and I would fast on many occasions. That meant we had to cook very little for my brother. I had to cook keeping in mind all his demands. To top it all, at the age of sixty, I had slowed down quite a bit. I had lost touch with everyday cooking by then. Due to all of these, I became quite tense and finally invoked Bapu to come with me to his place. After my brother’s phone call the next day, I began my journey to Bhum. After I left home, I had to change the bus four times but that was no hassle at all. The day I reached, I had food ready there. My brother had cooked the meal for all of us. I had to take control of the kitchen from the next day. I had Bapu with me as I put the pressure cooker on the stove. I had to cook rice for him separately since he liked every grain to be separated. I had to cook rice separately for me and my mother since we liked it moist and soft. I had to cook Varan (dal), Bhaji, 4 chapatis and 2 Bhakaris. First day went by very well. Second day went by very well. Soon it was three weeks. With Bapu’s grace no food was wasted and nothing went wrong. Every two days my mother would say,”how do you manage to cook so little every day? Nothing remains extra and nothing falls short. You seem to have the perfect judgment of how much is needed.” I would say to her,” Hey, I am not able to decide all this. My Bapu is doing all this for me. Since he is with me, I am able to manage...” I knew what I had said was true. Later I got a symbolic proof that he indeed was with me. It so happened that once my mother asked me if I would go with her to Alamprabhu since she had not been there for a long time. Alamprabhu is a place of worship of Lord Dattatrey. It is on top of a hill at a distance of about 3.5 kms from where we were. People go there for darshan every. Whenever I travel to my home town, I ensure I visit it, in the least, once before I return from my home town. I decided to go there early morning along with my mother since she specifically talked about it. We took Darshan. I was chanting Ghorakashtodharan stotra. While we were doing Pradakshina, all of a sudden, I saw Bapu in front of me. It was a picture of Bapu sitting there along with Adimata Mahishasurmardini. I could not imagine seeing Bapu’s picture there so far away. That meant Bapu had reached there much before me. How Baba tells Shyama who was leaving to go to Kashi and Gaya that he would reach there much before him. In reality as Shyama reached there, he sees Baba’s picture at the house of Gayavala. Baba had reached there before Shyama. I felt exactly the same at Alamprabhu, the way Shyama would have felt looking at the picture. In my tense moment, I had asked Bapu to accompany me to my native home. My Bapu also came with me to a village like Bhum. He not only came with me but also ensured he made me cook every day the appropriate quantity of food. This is how my Bapu is! He comes with me where I go. He holds my hand and makes me walk on the path of life. Bapu, truly, we really do bother you a lot. I am Ambadnya! Here is another experience from the year 2005. My father was an ardent Sai devotee. Therefore, my maternal home is called Sai Nivas. In the generations that followed, whenever a child was born, my father would put a Sai locket on the baby’s neck on the 12th day. I have experienced it myself. my brother has continued that tradition. My brother had a boy after four daughters. My father considered it as a prasad from Sai and thus he named him Prasad. He also has Sai locket but albeit one made in gold. It was tied in a back thread around Prasad’s neck. Since my father was unwell, I had gone home to visit him. My younger sister lived closer to my brother’s home. Her son is also a Bapu devotee. Whenever I went there I would tell my parents about Bapu. Since my father was unwell, one day, I had made plans of making Idli and chutney. My brother and his children came to my sister’s house and had their breakfast. Just his son, Prasad alone had not come. He loved Idli a lot. After a long time, he came closer to me with a dejected look. On prodding him, he informed me that he had lost his locket. He said that he looked all over the place but he had not found it. He also informed me that Appa had scolded him. Just as he told me about it, I said why worry unnecessarily. Please tell Bapu to help you find it for you. I just said this to him and wondered about it in my mind. I know my Bapu. How would this child know about it? I keep telling the elders about him but they never believe in Bapu. How would this kid of 12-13 know? After thinking this way, we closed that discussion there. After wrapping things up, I along with my sister left for my brother’s home. It was the month of Shravan. Therefore, it was drizzling the whole time. The road had become really slushy. There was quite a lot of traffic on the road. My sister and I were walking fast in order to reach home. In between, I happened to look down and voila! Prasad’s locket was right in front of me. We were quite surprised! Prasad had looked for it there but he had not found it. I was drawn toward it and saw it in the nick of time. The faith that I had expressed to Prasad had turned out to be true. In fact, Bapu proved it to me. Ek Vishwas Asava Purta Karta Harta Guru Aaisa Let my faith be steadfast at Bapu’s lotus feet! That is all that I pray for.