Bapu, you hold the protective shield of empathy!
- Aruna Dangle A sensitive body part such as an eye; a child unknowingly plays with it and it proves costly. His parents get immensely disturbed and feel their child might lose his eyesight. However, the ever-loving grace of one's Sadguru cures the ailment. My family and I began following Bapu in the year 1999. We used to go to the Upasana Kendra near our home. We have experienced our Bapu's grace and his 'interventions' on multiple occasions. One can sit for hours and narrate them. Our Bapu showers on his devotees his ever-forgiving glance. Bapu never differentiates between the rich-poor, the educated-uneducated, and the blessed-ordinary. When a devotee calls, he rushes with help – 108%. My son, Sagar Dangle, appeared for his 12th-grade exam and passed with a first-class. He moved on to FY.B.Com. The college started, and the classes had just begun. One day he did something unexpected. Without seeking our permission or, for that matter, without informing us, he bought contact lenses and began to use them. His vacations had begun, and he had taken up computer classes. At the time, we used to give him pocket money. He had saved some money from it and bought a pair of contact lenses. He did so, thinking that he could avoid using his heavy glasses, but the whole thing turned quite ugly. One day, he went to bed in the night without removing the lenses owing to sheer negligence. To our utter shock, his eyes were quite swollen in the morning. Looking at the sight of his eyes, I almost felt as though the ground beneath my feet was slipping. I called out to Bapu from my heart. My son's eyes were bleeding. Both of his eyes appeared infected as if they had accumulated pus. My son was experiencing excruciating pain. I could not watch his plight and felt like my grown-up son would lose his vision. However, I knew and believed that Bapu is always there by ourside. Therefore, I knew that Bapu would do something. I took him to the clinic. On seeing his condition, the doctor said that he could not help us in any way. He recommended that we take him to Hinduja Hospital to see a doctor. My son was scared of his father and kept pleading to me not to let my husband know about the incident. I was in a big dilemma as I knew that we could do something if I told my husband. Nevertheless, I could not keep mum because I was comparatively new to Mumbai and did not know much in and around the city. My son was almost rolling in the bed due to the unbearable pain. My husband, Milind Dangle, is a volunteer at Shree Aniruddha Gurukshetram. After his office hours, he goes directly to Gurukshetram for seva. I called to informed him about the incident and asked him to come home immediately. He was immensely shocked, and thus, he started from his office. My husband first took him to Gokhale Eye Hospital at Dadar. At the hospital, the staff took x-rays and also samples of the infected blood from his eyes. My husband then took the infected blood to Hinduja Hospital and was to get the report the next day. In the meantime, the doctors had prescribed some eye drops to alleviate the eye infection. Despite using those drops, my son had no relief from the pain. He was in acute pain all through the night. The next day, in the morning, we went to Dr. Suchit Dada's clinic (Shree Datta Clinic, Happy Home, Khar). Dada asked us to wait till the reports came and asked us to follow the doctor's advice. Along with this advice, Dada asked us to chant the ShreeDattaMangalChandika stotra nine times daily. We began to chant the stotra every day as per his instructions. The reports came the next day and were normal. However, by that time, the pupils in his eyes were not visible. There was a white curtain on both the pupils (black central part). My son was not able to see anything. Therefore, even though the reports were normal, the doctor said that it could not be conclusive. At Hinduja Hospital, as the doctor checked his eyes, he asked him to read big and small letters. He could faintly see the larger lettering, but not any of the smaller ones. By now, the following Thursday had dawned. I kept my son at home, and in that dire situation, I reached Shree Harigurugram. Since I am a volunteer, I was standing near the Charan-mudra. My duty was with the Bhaktiganga group (controlling the line of shraddhaavaans). I could not concentrate on anything. Bapu was sitting on the stage. He was looking at all the devotees with utmost love, and blessing them. I had tears in my eyes, and in my mind, I spoke to Bapu. I said, "Bapu, today I am disturbed as a mother due to concern about the wellbeing of my child. I'm sure you can understand and sense the pain of a mother, isn't it? If yes, please do something quickly. I was weeping and also talking to Bapu in my mind as I stood for the seva. On that day, I felt good that I could pray to Bapu because after that, for several Thursdays, he did not come to Shree Harigurugram. Two months passed, and I heard that Bapu was unwell. Devotees were disturbed too. Everyone was praying to Mothi Aai (Adimata Chandika) for Bapu's speedy recovery and eager to see him in person. After about two months, Bapu came to Shree Harigurugram. That meant Bapu had borne all the pain of my son himself. Yes, I firmly believe this. My Bapu healed my son, Sagar's eyes. He rid Sagar's eyes of those white screens that had accumulated on my his pupils. My son was able to see again. He loves Bapu so much that he keeps telling his friends that Bapu is his God. His friends are not Bapu followers. Why just that, the place where we live, our neighbours are not Bapu followers either. However, every household in my building is aware that Bapu's presence at my home brings about a lot of peace and happiness in our building. Whenever one of them suffers from a minor ailment or faces any trivial difficulty, each one of them comes to my home, stands in front of Bapu's picture and asks him to resolve their challenges. I pray to Bapu that he continues to bless everyone!