‘YOGAKSHEMAM VAHAMYAHAM’

Thus declared the Lord in the Bhagavad Gita, “I shall ensure the safety and well-being of my devotees!” And He keeps his word, without fail. The youth of Mumbai will swear by it, for such was the experience that they had recently!

The Sai Youth of Mumbai are well known for their service activities. With Dharmakshetra as their headquarters, they carry on the mission of spreading Swami’s Love by serving the underprivileged people of Mumbai and the surrounding rural areas. Ajay Nair, an engineer with an MBA and the leader of this enthusiastic group had come to Prashanti Nilayam for Seva in the month of September and that was when he shared with us at the Studio, their incredible experience.

As part of their service activities, they had identified a village named Burujwadi and six surrounding villages which suffered from drinking water scarcity. There was enough rainfall during the monsoon, but come November, the water sources dried up. Taking inspiration from Swami’s Water Project, they decided to construct a water tank at Burujwadi that would serve the needs of seven villages with a population of 1200.

On the 22nd of August 2004, a group of hundred boys and elders, all Swami’s devotees, went to Burujwadi to lay the foundation stone for this project. They went there in a bus and a few cars. A huge tent was erected on the top of a hill. About 800 villagers attended and they conducted Narayana Seva.

Later, Shri Ramesh Sawant, state president of Maharashtra Sai Organisation, was addressing the gathering on this happy occasion. As the speech was in progress, a four feet tall framed photograph of Swami standing in the tent toppled and miraculously fell on its feet. The Vibhuti, kum kum etc. which were kept in front of the photograph spilled and fell onto some of the youth seated in the front row. The whole sequence of events was very strange and everyone was left wondering what this could mean.

By evening, the programme came to an end and everyone was on their way back to Mumbai. While most of them were aboard the bus, five of the youth, including Ajay Nair were leading the convoy in a Scorpio (it is a spacious sports utility four wheeler). Ajay was driving the vehicle. The road was good and the Scorpio picked up a high speed. Suddenly, there was a sharp curve and Ajay lost control of the vehicle. It overturned, fell with a big bang and skidded on the road for 100 metres. It then banged into a stationary car on the side of the road and came to a halt.

The people coming behind in the bus were shocked. They quickly came running to the Scorpio expecting the worst. People had gathered around the vehicle by then. One by one, the youth slowly came out of the upturned vehicle. Not a scratch. Not a drop of blood. They just walked out as if nothing had happened. The onlookers could not believe their eyes, especially after seeing the extent of damage to the vehicle (see pictures). But Ajay and his friends were not surprised. They knew that Swami’s Invisible Hand had protected them. They were doing His work and He had to take care of them. They returned to Mumbai with the others, silently thanking Swami for His Grace.

Generally, in accidents like these, though there may not be any external injuries, there could be severe internal injuries. But that too did not happen here by Swami’s grace. Whereas three boys including Ajay did not sustain any injuries, one boy had muscle trauma and the other boy had a rib fracture. Both of them have recovered very quickly by Swami’s Grace, says Ajay Nair.

Yes, the Lord indeed lives up to His Words: ‘Yogakshemam Vahamyaham.’