Leela-69
How amazing is Baba's Leela
by R A Tarkhad
Shri Chintamanrao Ramnath Satghare
is a gentleman from an old and distinguished family residing in Bandra, Mumbai.
He narrated this incident to me :
It was his practice for several months to light a lamp in front of Sai Baba’s
picture every evening. If for some reason he was expected to return late from
work, he would instruct his mother to light the lamp. His mother always did as
told and there had been no break in this ritual.
One Sunday, he left his house for some work in Mumbai. As he thought he would
return before evening, he did not think it necessary to tell his mother to light
the lamp.
His work in Mumbai took longer than expected and then at the insistence of his
friends, he went to see a famous movie. It was evening and the lights were just
coming on. Sometime after the movie began, the film snapped and while it was
restored, the lights in the theatre were switched on. Unexpectedly, the power
failed and there was darkness. The movie was not restored. Suddenly it struck
him, that he had come to see the movie, but had not told his mother to light the
lamp. Perhaps she too had forgotten, and Baba gave this indication with this
blackout. Baba must be in the dark too.
As soon as this thought crossed his mind, he left his friends in the dark
theatre and hurried towards the station. Luckily, he straightaway got a train
and soon reached Bandra. He rushed home, only to find that his mother had indeed
forgotten to light the lamp and there was darkness near Baba’s picture.
Chinatamanrao told me, “Babasaheb, you may say anything, but I am a small,
ignorant child. This experience has overwhelmed me and I shall never forget it
in my life. Though Sai Mauli is no longer visibly present, he loves us and shows
it in many different ways through these incidents. We should feel deeply
obliged.”
Chintamanrao is a young man. While narrating this episode, he was truly
astounded and he became emotional. Seeing him in such a condition made everyone
extremely happy and all said, “How amazing is Baba’s Leela!”
(7 July, 1930) R. A. Tarkhad