The Guardian of the Night

A Divine Encounter in the Primary School Hostel

On 27th of September 2011, I visited the Primary School because one of my colleagues told me something amazing that his son, who was in the 4th class, had told him. What was that shall unfold in this piece, but it was compelling enough to make me drive down to the Primary school with my colleague. We entered the premises and my colleague requested to meet his son. The practice for the Annual Sport and Cultural Meet that takes place on 11th January was on and all the kids were headed to the ground. It was in this melee of kids that his son, K, was located. K came up to us, and he was happy seeing me. I made him sit next to me and simply started.
Me: Tell me, what happened last Friday.
K: Swami came to hostel. ('Swami here' refers to Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba)
Me: No! Tell me properly. What happened?
K: It was middle of night. There was no light. (There have been a lot of power cuts of late, as part of the strikes that people are doing in support of some KCR who are demanding for a separate state of Telangana to be carved out of Andhra Pradesh.) So, I got scared. I wanted to go to toilet. Then Swami came.
Me: How did He come? (It felt terrible interrogating the child, but I was really intrigued)
K: Just like that. He was there and He was wearing a white robe. He held my hand.
Me: Which hand?
K: This hand (shows me his right hand). At that time some yellow bumps also came on my hand. They vanished the next day. (He made me touch those places on his palm where the “yellow bumps” had appeared. The bumps were gone but the skin still seemed thick there, like how one gets due to constant rubbing on a hard surface.)
Me: Were the bumps painful? What were they?
K: I don’t know. They are not painful. Then He was singing, “Why fear when I am here.”
Me: Do you know that song?
K: Only little. But He sang the whole song. He held my hand and we walked towards the bathroom. When we were crossing the pantry, the light came on and He went away.
Me: How did He go away?
K: Like a flash. Very fast.
Me: Hey K! You know Swami is in Samadhi. What did you feel when you saw Him?
K: I was surprised at first. But I was scared and I wanted to go to toilet. So, I felt happy. Now I am not surprised.
Me: Why?
K: Because Swami comes everyday...
Me: Everyday? Did He come yesterday?
K: Yes. R had an injury on His knees. Swami came at night and patted him on his head and put him to sleep.
Me: Did R also see Swami?
K: Yes.
Me: So, only you and R see Swami every day?
K: No. On Sunday, we were all sitting in the class at night. Again, the power went out. So, the teacher went out to see. There was only one light - in the altar, there was a lamp. Because we were scared, Swami came and stood in the class. He was there till the teacher came.
Me: Who saw Him?
K: Whole class.
Me: Did you tell the teachers and head miss aunty?
K: Yes.
Me: And what did they say?
K: They said, “Very beautiful.”
Me: How was Swami standing? (K got up and showed me. Swami was blessing with His right hand and His left hand was pointing to His feet. This was exactly the pose of Sri Venkateswara, the Lord at Tirupati.)
Then K just ran away to join his friends with the practice. I have reproduced the conversation almost exactly as I heard it. But I was simply stunned. And K told the whole thing so simply - just like someone who had seen something happen in daily life. Nothing was exaggerated or told in grand terms. I was simply blown over.
I felt great joy in my heart. I remembered what Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” Here was the Lord coming to the children! I was reminded of some of the dreams I had in the past few days. In them, Swami had told me how much the little children from the Primary School make Him happy. Even after those dreams, I am thrilled at this little boy’s narrative. These children must have made Him really happy!!

Story Shared By: Dr. Sara Pravan, P. Nilayam