Power of Faith: How Sadguru Aniruddha Bapu Saved a Girl's Life from Fire
- By Hemantsinh Kawle
(Narration of Personal Experience)
On the 10th of May, 2010, around 6:00 am, Samirdada and I returned to Happy Home after our tour of Kankavali. As usual, Samirdada went to meet Parampoojya Bapu (Sadguru Aniruddha Bapu) on the 6th floor, where Bapu was having coffee in the living room. Vaibhavsinh Kalwadkar was sitting with him. Vaibhavsinh mentioned, "In fact, today Bapu had planned to sleep early at around 4:30 am. However, Parampoojya Nandai woke up for some reason, and Bapu spent about an hour talking to her." Samirdada briefly shared the details of the tour, explaining how everything had gone well. After this, Bapu retired to his room, and we left.
On the 10th of May, 2010, around 6:00 am, Samirdada and I returned to Happy Home after our tour of Kankavali. As usual, Samirdada went to meet Parampoojya Bapu (Sadguru Aniruddha Bapu) on the 6th floor, where Bapu was having coffee in the living room. Vaibhavsinh Kalwadkar was sitting with him. Vaibhavsinh mentioned, "In fact, today Bapu had planned to sleep early at around 4:30 am. However, Parampoojya Nandai woke up for some reason, and Bapu spent about an hour talking to her." Samirdada briefly shared the details of the tour, explaining how everything had gone well. After this, Bapu retired to his room, and we left.
The next day, our routine started at 11:30 am. After completing his work, Samirdada went home for lunch at around 4:45 pm. Between 5:30 and 5:45 pm, I received a call from one of the Shraddhavan driver. He sounded nervous as he informed me that the building where Dhrutiveera (Samirdada's daughter) attends her coaching classes, was on fire. As soon as he finished sharing the news, Samirdada came back to Happy Home and stood before me. I immediately shared this information to him, and he calmly called Dhrutiveera to check the facts.
She responded, "There is a fire on the 1st floor of the building, and we are stuck on the 2nd floor in our classroom. It's been 30 minutes. Smoke has filled the room, and we can barely see each other. The windows are near the bottom of the wall, close to our legs. When we tried opening them, more smoke rushed in, so we closed them again. Our eyes are burning from the smoke, and it's difficult to breathe."
Upon hearing this, Samirdada asked her, "My child, are you scared? Don't lose patience. Start chanting the Hanuman Chalisa as your uncle (Bapu) told you, and hold a wet handkerchief over your mouth."
After ending the call, Samirdada immediately went to meet Parampoojya Bapu, and I followed him. Bapu advised Samirdada to go to the coaching class right away and continue chanting the Hanuman Chalisa. Suchitdada, Sunilsinh Mantri, and I left immediately to go to the class in Vile Parle. During the journey, Suchitdada and Samirdada chanted the Hanuman Chalisa, and we were all encouraged to join in.
And then, a remarkable surprise occurred. We had barely reached halfway when we received a call from the driver, who said that the firefighters had rescued all the children safely! What had seemed impossible after an hour of effort became a reality within 5-10 minutes of chanting the Hanuman Chalisa.
We arrived at the scene within 15 minutes. Dhrutiveera was visibly shaken. Samirdada held her close, comforting her while enquiring about the incident. She explained, "The fire started due to an electric short-circuit on the first floor, and the smoke quickly spread to the entire second floor. We tried breaking the windows, but it was unsuccessful."
Afterwards, we returned to Happy Home. Suchitdada and Samirdada took Dhrutiveera to the Devghar (small temple at home) on the 7th floor. Nandai embraced Dhrutiveera, tears of relief in her eyes, thankful that the child had returned safely. Together, everyone prayed, and Nandai applied Udi to Dhrutiveera's forehead.
Once everyone had calmed down, Vaibhavsinh recounted an incident that had occurred earlier that same morning. At around 4:30 am, Parampoojya Nandai woke up suddenly. She told Bapu, "A fire has broken out, or a bomb has exploded, and 'she' is trapped inside. Please save her. Only you can deliver her from harm." At the time, Vaibhavsinh didn't understand the significance of this exchange. However, after hearing about Dhrutiveera's ordeal, we realized that Paramoojya Bapu had indeed rescued the child from the fire's grip.
She responded, "There is a fire on the 1st floor of the building, and we are stuck on the 2nd floor in our classroom. It's been 30 minutes. Smoke has filled the room, and we can barely see each other. The windows are near the bottom of the wall, close to our legs. When we tried opening them, more smoke rushed in, so we closed them again. Our eyes are burning from the smoke, and it's difficult to breathe."
Upon hearing this, Samirdada asked her, "My child, are you scared? Don't lose patience. Start chanting the Hanuman Chalisa as your uncle (Bapu) told you, and hold a wet handkerchief over your mouth."
After ending the call, Samirdada immediately went to meet Parampoojya Bapu, and I followed him. Bapu advised Samirdada to go to the coaching class right away and continue chanting the Hanuman Chalisa. Suchitdada, Sunilsinh Mantri, and I left immediately to go to the class in Vile Parle. During the journey, Suchitdada and Samirdada chanted the Hanuman Chalisa, and we were all encouraged to join in.
And then, a remarkable surprise occurred. We had barely reached halfway when we received a call from the driver, who said that the firefighters had rescued all the children safely! What had seemed impossible after an hour of effort became a reality within 5-10 minutes of chanting the Hanuman Chalisa.
We arrived at the scene within 15 minutes. Dhrutiveera was visibly shaken. Samirdada held her close, comforting her while enquiring about the incident. She explained, "The fire started due to an electric short-circuit on the first floor, and the smoke quickly spread to the entire second floor. We tried breaking the windows, but it was unsuccessful."
Afterwards, we returned to Happy Home. Suchitdada and Samirdada took Dhrutiveera to the Devghar (small temple at home) on the 7th floor. Nandai embraced Dhrutiveera, tears of relief in her eyes, thankful that the child had returned safely. Together, everyone prayed, and Nandai applied Udi to Dhrutiveera's forehead.
Once everyone had calmed down, Vaibhavsinh recounted an incident that had occurred earlier that same morning. At around 4:30 am, Parampoojya Nandai woke up suddenly. She told Bapu, "A fire has broken out, or a bomb has exploded, and 'she' is trapped inside. Please save her. Only you can deliver her from harm." At the time, Vaibhavsinh didn't understand the significance of this exchange. However, after hearing about Dhrutiveera's ordeal, we realized that Paramoojya Bapu had indeed rescued the child from the fire's grip.