Began my new year at my Baba’s home in Shirdi #Gratefulbeyondwords

 

I feel extremely blessed to have commenced this new year at my baba’s feet in Shirdi attending his Kakad Aarti. This is my first post in 2024 and I probably will witness the purest of the emotions I experienced right at the year’s start.

After I lost my mom and my dad remarried, I was introduced to Baba by a senior colleague who took me to Sai Aarti every evening after work. Whenever my heart cried and yearned painfully for my parents, I silently wept in front of Baba almost always requesting him to take care of my little brother who was struggling even more. Did not realize when Baba literally became my parent and adopted me as his very own child whom he never let down. Soon I relocated to Pune and for 8 long years, baba called me to Shirdi so often that I didn’t realise when it became my Maayka. 

Then I moved back to Delhi with my bag and baggage suddenly after a big surgery and did not get a chance to meet my baba and bid goodbye. Thereafter 5 long years passed and I wondered if my baba would ever call me again and suddenly this year he did and how. When I came to know there was a possibility that we ring the new year in Pune-Shirdi, I made every single odd turn in our favor and went running to him like a lost child having found a means to go back to his parents. The credit would go to my husband and my best friend Prashanti who has constantly pestered me to come back to Pune. She even cut short her annual family vacation to host me. How will I ever repay such unconditional love? May all her dreams come true. 

It was indeed divine to be on the fateful soil of Shirdi again. No wonder it has improved so much in the last 5 years in terms of infrastructure but the original pure innate vibe still remains intact. I did the darshan first and kept walking in the temple premises to reach my favorite window from where I could see Baba to my heart’s content and talk to him all that I am not able to say to the world because I know only he would understand. Some things can only be told to your mom and Baba is both my mom and dad. In the evening too I kept strolling through the streets listening to bhajans and getting a photograph of the darshan made as I wanted to document my Shirdi Visit on my husband’s birthday.

The next morning I got up at 3a.m. and showered to get ready and queue up for the Kakad Aarti. The next three hours were the most divinely overwhelming hours of my life. All the words of the universe put together will fail me to describe how I felt. I just chanted and moved in the rows with a heart full. At 5:15 I was made to sit right in front of Baba and as soon as I saw him tears started flowing down from my eyes and I could not control how overwhelmed I was. I have never got so much time to sit in front of him and talk to him, it was as if he remembered his forgotten child and invited her to sit right in front of him and talk to him which I did to my heart’s content. I kept looking at his face, his eyes though I had forgotten my specs but does that even matter. There was so much to say and listen to. It was the best kind of morning I have had especially because I am a 4am person forever. Prayers have such infinite powers, that I realized surrendering is absolute bliss. I have surrendered myself to my baba completely.

By seven I was back in my room a decent fairly new property known as Alaukik which I highly recommend to anyone travelling to Shirdi because the extremely loving baba Bhaktas run it. I then checked out and reached the airport to fly back to home sweet home. It has been 11 days away and Dilli ki sardi has taken over us since then.

I am still basking in the glory of the fact that I began my new year at my Baba’s home in Shirdi #Gratefulbeyondwords.