A miracle took place. A child’s faith resulted in fulfilment of a desired demand within seconds and without even a pause. The narration below is from my daughter Bindu who was studying in St. Thomas school and had been admitted there only a few days back.
It all happened a very long time ago. I was in my mid teens in High School. I had changed my school and the environment was new to me. The previous school I had attended had all my sisters and cousins, about 7 of us and the entire faculty knew who I was. The classmates and batch mates had been a part of my life ever since I went to a play school. The new set up was unfamiliar and I was unsure of myself, uncertain about my acceptance by the faculty and batch mates, unaware of even finding my way around.
It was my first week of attending school. I joined school a month late. One morning, I found out, sitting in my hindi class, that we were getting a surprise test. It so turned out that it was a question on one of Kabir ji’s ‘Dohas’ –
‘dharti sab kagad karoon, lekhani sab banrai,
saat samudra ki masi karoon, Guru gun likha na jaye’.
We had to explain what Kabir ji was trying to convey.
I had not yet purchased the text book as it was unavailable in the book store and just stared at the black board thinking where to start. I was almost at my wit’s end and nothing seemed to come to my mind. I was totally clueless on where to start. So, I closed my eyes. And remembered Bapu. (Guruji) and prayed to Him for help. I saw Him with my eyes closed was His benevolent self. All merciful. And so charming. Looking at me with His eyes full of love. Commanding me to begin writing. I opened my eyes, picked up my pen and began to write. Words flowed out of nowhere and I started writing, not thinking anything. Just writing whatever He told me to write. I wrote about the dynamics of the Guru- Shishya relationship. Indicating the all encompassing quality of the Guru and how Guru guides His Shishya to delve within and discover the true essence of life.
I wrote about how Guru is limitless. And how His compassion, His generosity, His patience, His love for His devotees, His kindness, is limitless as space and can not be described even if the entire landmass of this earth is used as a canvas and all the oceans as ink to write it.
I kept writing and words flowed out and I filled few sheets of paper.
Moving on. I submitted my answer sheet.
Next day,
I went to school as usual, prepared for another awkward day, where I knew no one, another lunch by myself, another day of being lonely amidst over few thousand kids around me. To my surprise, I was greeted by every other girl who passed me by, smiles from teachers and an unexplained warmth in the air.
As I wondered about the sudden change, I turned around and saw my answer sheet pinned on the pin board in the classroom.
Just describing the greatness & kindness in few words had rewarded me so. I had been accepted by the students & faculty and was now, one of them. Merely writing few words about the ‘Master’ had benefitted me so tremendously.
I do not know if the readers will be able to relate to this incident. But to me, it is fresh in my memory like it just happened only recently.
The most important thing is that I closed my eyes and prayed Guruji for help, which I received in bulk. The second important thing is that I wished for a place in the lonely and suffocating environment which I didn’t understand as to how to get. Needed badly a recognition amongst the students & the teachers which I got without doing any effort.
The Vast, the kind, always ready to agree to give and as approachable as Lord Krishan to Draupadi, such is my ‘Super Master Guruji’ Maatha tika-hi-rahe,
Hey… ! Guru Dev.