|| Hari Om ||
On the mid-night of November 7, 2008, I was travelling with my family from Satara to Kolhapur. We had to take the Kolhapur-Satara National Highway and had to cover a distance of nearly 200 km.
We were 10 of us traveling in a Maruti van including women and children. We traveled comfortably for the first one-and-half hour, but as we were approaching Pune, which was 40 kms away, our left tyre got punctured and the vehicle turned towards the left side of the road. In normal circumstances when the car is in speed and a tyre punctures the car usually turns turtle in that direction. But, in our case we were fortunate that the car just got pulled in the left direction and did not topple. This was possible only with Bapu’s grace. By that time it was already 2 am.
We were stranded on the highway amidst biting cold and pitch-darkness. To add to our woes there was a swarm of mosquitoes around us. We kept waving at each passing vehicle, but all our efforts went in vain. We had a stepny in the car but no spanner. Since we were traveling in a Maruti van, we needed a spanner of a Maruti van itself. The headlight of each passing car was blinding us so we could not see the car until it can very close to us.
Not a single vehicle or person stopped on the way to help us. Moreover, there was fear of highway robbers. In such a pitch-dark night, we couldn’t even locate a village in the vicinity.
All the family members were continuously chanting Bapu’s jap. Bapu was our only hope in this crucial and critical time. We were 108% sure that our Bapu would not leave us in lurch on the deserted highway.
It was around 3.30 am when a Maruti van suddenly from nowhere halted in front of our car. We immediately rushed towards the car and to our astonishment the first thing we saw was my Bapu’s photo on the rear screen of that vehicle. Before even we could explain our problems to the two passengers in that car, they got off the car with a spanner and walked towards our car. Within 5 minutes they changed the tyre which normally takes about 15-20 minutes. We were spell bound and before we could even thank them, the two men smiled at us and left in their car
We were stunned. All this while we were waving out at passing vehicles for help. No one came to our rescue and then suddenly a Maruti van comes and pulls up before us. Even before we could talk to the men about our problem, they come, change the tyre and leave. It was unimaginable…simply inexplicable!!!!!
This has once again proved that whenever His bhakta is grappled in trouble Bapu comes for his rescue in any form. For us, the two men were none other than our beloved Bapu and Suchitdada.
Such is our Bapu. He is always eager to serve us. He always keeps his promise,- ‘I will never forsake you’… He is ever willing to serve those who consider Him their closest, their dearest one. All He wants is that His children be happy.
|| Hari Om ||
