The Gift Of Sight (Contd...)

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I could not control my tears as I recalled all my hopes and aspirations. I was just four and a half years old when I lost my mother, and since then, I was literally brought up by Swami. I had been eagerly looking forward to serving Swami after completing my studies but here I was, blind and dependent on someone else. Was this to be my fate for the rest of my life?

I was totally shattered and literally cried myself to sleep. The next thing I knew was that someone was knocking the door of my room. I said, "Please come in." I turned and saw [without actually realising it then] that one of my students had brought coffee for me. I said, "Oh, it is you Sridhar. Have you brought coffee?' The boy exclaimed, "Sir! You can see!!" That was when I realised what had actually happened. Overwhelmed, I said, "Yes, I can see clearly!"

During Darshan that morning, Swami came straight to me and asked, "How are your eyes?" I had no words to offer. My eyes took over and washed His Feet with tears. As I looked up with misty eyes, Swami said, "Go to Bangalore and get yourself a pair of spectacles. Always wear them in the lab; and be careful the next time!"

I got myself a pair of spectacles, and took great care to wear them as commanded. Four years passed. I was in the lab and engaged in an important experiment. Suddenly, my spectacles slipped, fell down and broke.

I could not afford to stop my experiment; if I did, it would mean that the work of the past two months would all go waste. So I decided to continue with my experiment, telling myself that I would be very careful. I prepared some hot chromic acid, poured it into a sintered funnel, and, to finish the work quickly, connected the system to a vacuum aspirator - it was a brand new machine that had just arrived from Japan. Nothing happened for a while, so it seemed. I went near the apparatus to have a close look, and just then the flask imploded, tipping about 30 cc of hot chromic acid into my eye. There it was, the second time! I shouted 'Sai Ram'.

The acid streamed down my face on to my shirt, eating it up. I was assisted to a nearby tap (this time, the tap was mercifully not dry!), and water was continuously splashed on my eyes and face. Even after 45 minutes of washing, the burning sensation was just unbearable."

Once more I was taken to the same General Hospital - this time the doctor was there but the little that she could do was to bandage the two blind eyes. Then...

'As I sat for afternoon Darshan with my bandaged eyes, many thoughts raced through my mind. "Had not Swami warned me clearly and explicitly? Why on earth did I have to disobey His command? What would He say now? Would He be angry with me? Am I, after all, destined to be blind all my life?"

There was a hush. I knew Swami had come out to give Darshan. I could now feel His presence near me. And then I heard His sweet voice, "Ravi, what happened?" Even as I tried to get up, He patted my cheek and said, "I told you to be careful the next time, did I not? Careless, careless! Here, hold out your hand." As I stretched my hand, He gave me some Vibhuti that He had materialised and said, "Eat this Vibhuti; Swami will always protect you; everything will be fine."

I ate the Vibhuti with much relief and joy. What an assurance it was to hear from the Divine Himself that everything would be all right! The following day, I went to the doctor to have the dressing changed. She removed the bandage, examined me and exclaimed with wonder, "Sai Ram! What a miracle!! Your eyes are perfectly OK!" Yes, everything was fine exactly as Bhagavan had said the previous day, and I could see clearly once more".