Sacrificed (Tyaaga) Cardamom yet He blessed me with it

We had a Saibaba picture at home, but I didn’t know who He was for the majority of my early growing years. All I knew was that it was eye-catching and drew me towards it. But I was not aware of His stories or leelas at that stage.

Later, when I was 14 years old, I spent time with my cousin who told me more about Baba. We used to visit the Saibaba temple every Thursday during our summer holidays.  During my 12th grade, I frequented the temple near my college as it used to give me an immense feeling of peace. I remember an incident in 12th grade which to me was the first of Baba’s miracles in my life. Our 12th grade results were out,  and having had a tough time with Physics, I fully expected to fail or perform very poorly. I held a small picture of Baba in my hand as the lecturer called out the results and prayed constantly.

Miraculously my grades were quite decent and I was overjoyed. My faith in Baba for the remainder of my life was rooted in that incident. 

 When my father had some tough issues at his office a colleague gave him the Sai Satcharitra. He brought it home and this started my habit of reading Sai Satcharitha everyday. Sai Satcharitra is a medium through which I learned about Baba’s life and simple teachings. The writing style is simple enough that anyone can understand easily. I believe that reading it has helped me live my life in a wholesome manner.  

Another miracle was that ever since my childhood I had always wanted to visit California.  I married my husband who was working in California and this was the start of a new chapter in my life. 

I was addicted to eating cardamom throughout the day!

In the Sai Satcharita, Cholkar’s sugarless tea story inspired me and I decided not to eat cardamom until we got our green card. By Baba’s Grace, we got our green card without any problems. When we visited India, I went to Shirdi to give thanks and had His darshan.

While returning to the US, I started to crave cardamom very badly, but there was no way I could get it hundreds of miles in the air, in the middle of a long flight!. When we were served lunch, I opened the foil on my tray and saw a cardamom arranged on my food. No words could express this small miracle! It was like Sai had blessed my meal. 

I feel like whenever a miracle happens to me, it’s always because of Him. Everyday my connection with Baba grows stronger in a way words cannot express. Everything that I have achieved and learned in my life is because of His miracles, teachings, and lessons. 

Sai Ram!