A miracle during a long drive

Last month, my wife and I had driven down to Pondicherry from Bangalore, on a holiday. The drive was splendid and we took turns driving. I even notched a speed of 150 km/hr for a while. It was a welcome break for us after a very hectic period in our professional lives. Two days before the journey, we had bought a lot of plants and transported in our car and refurbished our garden. This was the beginning of a new change for the both of us, we thought.

We reached Pondicherry, checked into our hotel, and then went for a drive into the city. Finally late in the night, tired we drove into the car park of our hotel. Just after I had switched off the ignition and opened the door, I saw to my huge shock a frog perched on the music player of the car. It was one of those ‘tree frogs’, the kind that can cling onto a tree or a plant. How did this frog get into the car! Then a realization struck me, it had got in with the plants two days earlier. It had been in the car all through this journey.

A watchman who was standing outside helped me get it out of the car. I was racked with a million thoughts. What if we had seen it while we were driving. A moment’s loss of concentration could have resulted in anything. Both my wife and me are not great fans of reptiles and one seen at such close quarters would have had disastrous results while driving. It was nothing but a miracle, that I got to see it only at the end of the day, after I had switched off the ignition.

Charanam Sharanam Ramambike
Charanam Sharanam Thrayambake

I chanted the mantra and mentally thanked the Divine Mother.

Jai Matha

Protection

My cousin Indu had just joined her first job as part of the medical staff in a reputed hospital in Kerala. Every day her job would wind up at about 8 p.m. and she would return by taking a path through deserted areas of the city to reach home. For Indu, traversing through those areas became an everyday nightmare. The area was frequented by young hooligans at night who would tease women passing through.

One day in a conversation on the phone, she confided her difficulty to me. I told her to chant Mother’s divine mantra while traversing on her way back home.

Charanam Sharanam Ramambike
Charanam Sharanam Thrayambake

I re-assured her to submit all her worries to the Divine Mother and to go about her life with a spring in her step.

A week later, Indu called me back and in the course of the conversation, I asked her if she was facing any trouble on her way back home. At this Indu gushed with excitement, ‘A day after I started chanting the mantra with vigour, an internee approached me and asked me if she could also join me on my way home. She apparently stays a few blocks away from my place. Nowadays I have her company and we travel peacefully engrossed in our small talk.’

I was thrilled and relieved to hear this. Thank you Divine Mother. Thank you.

The Anchor Within…

As a mentor and trainer in theatre I have many students of diverse age groups. One of them was a bright and talented girl. She was very passionate about theatre, but she lacked confidence in her abilities. When I got to know her closely I realized that her mother had died when she was a small child. Her father stayed away with her step-mother who did not like her and did not want the daughter to stay with them.

This girl consequently was living a life of a nomad. She was pursuing her college education funded by him and was staying with a cousin who was working. The theatre, I was sure would help her tide over her emotional shortcomings. However, there are moments when nothing can prepare us for what life throws at us.

One day, in panic she shared that she may not have a place to stay very soon. Her cousin was expecting another relative to join her and when that happened, she would have to find her own lodging. Immediately, I told her about the Divine Mother and the Charanam Mantra. ‘Mother will take care of you. Please trust in her and chant the mantra with all your faith.”

She must have prayed very hard, because very soon the magic unfolded. Her father, who watched her performance on stage was moved by it. He must have realised what was expected of him. Incredibly, he left his wife and moved into a house where the daughter joined him. Today, the girl is very happy and contented. In life, she has an anchor – but within she has an eternal anchor – the anchor of divine love.

Jai Mata

A street brawl

In 2006, my wife was just mastering driving, when my family comprising my mother, aunt, uncle and me decided to drive down to a temple in the outskirts of the city. She was driving through a rough part of the neighbourhood when a scooterist overtook her from the left suddenly. Her reflexes were not quick and the car slightly touched the scooterist.  Nothing happened to him, but he screeched to a halt, blocking our path. 

I was furious. Here was a guy who had ignored the very prominent ‘Learners’ board which we had put up at the rear of the car, (warning motorists that the driver was learning), and gone ahead and swerved dangerously from the left which only a seasoned car driver could anticipate. I gestured at him with my hands raised saying that he was at fault. Within seconds the guy had jumped off his scooter and came running towards our car. I opened the door to confront him. My folks in the car, immediately ordered me to get in and shut the door. I did that in the nick of time, because just then he came charging and punched into the side window where I was sitting. It was shocking and scary. Nothing happened to the window.

I chanted the Mother’s mantra even as my heart was beating faster. A passerby who was walking down that road with his family immediately came to my rescue. He stopped the man from inflicting any damage to my car, by holding him, and then told him that it was his fault in the first case and that he had been riding dangerously. The scooterist argued with him and before our very eyes started beating him. His family came rushing and pulled the unfortunate gentleman away, telling him that he should have minded his own business. 

Then within seconds, the scooterist just turned away started his scooter and sped away. My wife immediately started the car and drove away. The entire incident got over in less than a few minutes. I felt sorry for the poor gentleman who had helped us and prayed for him. 

On reflection I was amazed at how Divine Mother created a diversion for that man’s anger. The focus suddenly shifted away from me and to a complete stranger! 

Jai Matha

When the city closed down…

Late last year, my wife Shridevi and me were travelling to Thallaserry by train to visit the Ashram, when I received the news that the next day was a ‘hartal’ in Thallaserry. ‘Hartal’ or a ‘bandh’ is a form of protest adopted by political parties in Kerala where all commercial establishments, schools & colleges and transport services stop functioning (usually for a day). People generally stay indoors on such occassions to avoid political violence.

I was momentarily confused. We were going there for a day and this was certainly very bad news. I chanted fervently for a solution. I certainly didn’t want to change my travel plans. We got off at Calicut which is a 2 hours drive from Thalassery and stayed at my relatives’ place. I got mixed suggestions from there. While some said that it was very unsafe to go there, others said that we could still try travelling by train.

We decided to go. Thallassery was a ghost town. Empty streets and a chilling silence greeted us. Shridevi, my cousin (Darshit) and me walked the few kilometres distance from the station to the ashram. It was an eerie feeling. I couldn’t appreciate the sense of adventure as I was busy chanting. We safely reached the ashram.

On our way  back to Bangalore, we were a relieved lot. This was nothing short of a miracle. Thank you Mother.

Jai Matha.

How I heard of the mother

In 1996 and in my first job. Barely had I settled into the Times of India as a rookie in marketing when my boss came upto me with a not-so-strange-request. He wanted admission for another colleague’s son who had just been transferred to Bangalore. My clients were educational institutions in Bangalore and with a subtle threat that my progress would depend on whether I was successful in this venture or not.  

I was terrified. This was sometime in August-September. All admissions in all schools were closed. Getting an admission even if you had all the contacts was practically impossible. I was very depressed. I went to my scooter mechanic just to organise my thoughts. Jagannath Auto Garage is a one-man operation. Mr.Jagannath the proprietor appears more like a sage than a mechanic. There is a spiritual aura in his garage. Devotional songs are always played. Incense sticks are always burnt, and he is very sincere in his work. I found a lot of peace just going there and spending some time with him.

Looking at me, Jagannath suddenly asked me, ‘are you religious?’ I muttered something to the effect that I prayed occassionally. He told me, ‘I will give you a mantra, chant it at least 4000 times and whatever you want will be given to you. Go about your usual work but keep chanting it in your mind. Don’t keep count, but you will know when you get your result.’

Charanam Sharanam Ramambike
Charanam Sharanam Thrayambake 

For a drowning man a piece of floating wood is a god send. A life line. I started my scooter and started chanting the mantra. As I chanted I could feel a new energy within me. My worry disappeared. It was a great moment. I did something strange. I chanted with all my senses. I allowed the mantra to take me wherever it had to. I was riding the vehicle and there was peak traffic all around me. I was not conscious of anything. (I don’t think that till date I have chanted as deeply as I had chanted that day). I didn’t know where I was driving. I found that the vehicle was being steered towards Indiranagar area. I knew now which school I had to approach. 

It was a public school in Indiranagar run by a couple. The husband was a stern man. I entered his room chanting in mind all the while. When I shared with him that I wanted an admission, he sighed and before he could speak, the phone rang. This was his conversation, ‘how many times have I told you that there is no admission. You may have the minister’s recommendation letter, but can I put a separate bench for your son outside the classroom? It is too late. Nothing can be done. Let your son study wherever till next year. Next year we can see. Please don’t disturb me now..Okay’.

Listening to this conversation my spirit was crushed. He kept the phone down and looked at me. ‘See, it is very tough sitting in this chair. So many people keep calling regarding admissions. Okay! so you wanted admission. Do one thing bring the boy’s father tomorrow and meet me.’

I couldn’t believe my ears. This was magic. Incredible! I wanted to dance. Sing. Celebrate. 

I don’t know what the Divine Mother did to convince him. But that boy’s parents including my boss were happy and relieved. As for me, my stock in my company went up after this incident. No one had really expected me to succeed. For me, it was the beginning of a wonderfully spiritually enlightening journey. My life looked up. Thank you Mother. 

Jai Matha.

A Warning

Some time last year I was walking to my parked car along with my friend Shivraj. A group of children from the nearby workers’ colony was playing right next to the car. As we approached, I observed that all of them ran away. We got into the car and I looked through the rear view mirror to see if any of the children were around because I needed to reverse the car. 

Suddenly I felt a warning within me – Don’t start the car. There is somebody behind! I was shocked. I turned back and looked. I couldn’t spot anybody. Shrugging off the feeling, I was about to start the car, when again I had this strong warning in the form of my thought – There is a child behind! 

I told my friend to get out and check if there was a child behind. He too looked through the rear view mirror, then turned and looked from the window and told me, ‘no there is nobody..you can reverse’. I felt uneasy. ‘No, I feel there is a child behind the car.’ He said, ‘I was observing, all the children ran away. You can drive’. And just when I was contemplating, I saw two small hands stretching lazily onto the back of the car! There was a small child who had been leaning on the car all this while, making it impossible for us to see him from the rear view mirror! He slowly got up and ran away to his friends. 

Both Shivraj and me were thoroughly shaken up. This whole incident would have taken not more than a few minutes. It would have been very easy to reverse the car, ignoring the voice within. Divine Mother stepped in and protected me from a horrifying tragedy. Even now when I think of that moment I shudder and thank Mother for her infinite kindness. Jai Mata.

The Spirit against the ’spirit’

My uncle has been an alcoholic for very many years now. Matters took a turn for the worse when my aunt called us two days ago in tears. He had not been going to work for over three weeks now, she said, and had been at home lying all day unable to take in any solid food.

My mother who had on numerous occassions earlier asked her to chant the Divine Mother’s mantra asked her to do it once again. She said that if there was any hope, then it was in Mother’s mantra. Something must have clicked, because she took her advice very seriously this time.

Today afternoon, my aunt called my mother again and this time she was overjoyed. ‘My husband has got up today and he started eating and he is back to his usual happy self. It is so reassuring’. It was truly stunning, because I had thought that he would need medical care having gone over the brink this time, this was nothing short of a miracle.

But as my mother said, ‘This is just the beginning. Keep praying, Divine Mother will never foresake you.’

A midnight call

It was about 2a.m when I received a call from my wife’s mother. She was panting and having a tough time breathing. ‘I can’t breathe, my chest is paining… please take me to a hospital.’ Her husband was away in Delhi on work and she was all alone at home.

My wife and I rushed to her place which was a good 45 minutes away. We were panic-stricken. Both of us kept chanting Divine Mother’s mantra. On the way, I called up the ambulance service of a leading hospital hoping they would reach her before us. (Matter of fact, they didn’t)

We reached her place and miraculously found her looking calm and on her feet. We immediately rushed to a hospital where doctors said that she had come in the nick of time. They said she was on the verge of having a heart-attack.  She had two blocks in her arteries and underwent an angioplasty soon after. Today, nearly four months after the ordeal, she is fit and goes about her life with ease.

Divine Mother gave succour and support to an old lady when she was all alone and gave us the courage and strength to go through this ordeal.

When the thieves came visiting

This incident took place a few years ago. I was a bachelor and had just started seeing my wife-to-be, Shri. One night, Shri happened to be alone at home since her folks had to travel urgently. After our regular phone call,  we decided to hang up so that she could retire early.

A few hours later, I was woken up from my sleep by a call from her. It was midnight and Shri was whispering on the phone – “I think I heard a noise on the terrace.” I asked her, ‘what kind of a noise?’ She replied, “I think there is somebody on the terrace.” I was panic-stricken, “Are the doors securely locked?”

She replied in the affirmative. I told her to relaxe and that I would rush to her place immediately. Shri’s home is a good 45 minutes from my place. She switched on all the lights inside the home and then as an after-thought told me that maybe she may have imagined this in the first place. Anyway, she didn’t want me travel in the middle of the night.

Unable to decide what to do, I chanted Divine Mother’s mantra vigorously. Mother protect her and enable a swift solution to this problem, was my prayer. Shri hung up after a while when she firmly told me that she must have been imagining things. However, I couldn’t sleep a wink after that.  I was chastising myself for not leaving as soon as I got the news.

About 45 minutes later, Shri called me again. “The cops just came… I was right, there were a group of thieves who were on the terrace. They had scaled our boundary wall and gotten there…from there they had moved onto the neighbourhood, probably when I switched on the lights…somebody in the neighbourhood had seen them and called the Police…”