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IV.
Miracle Cures
The
Magic of Lord’s Blessing
A dumb and lame child is miraculously
cured
Mr. Russi Patel, a Parsi from Mumbai, had
an experience connected to his little daughter’s health
that was nothing short of a miracle. Howard Murphet had the
opportunity to met him personally and here is what Murphet
records:
At Prasanthi Nilayam in 1967 I met Mr. Russi
C. Patel, a Parsi of Bombay, and his wife. From them I learned
the story of their little daughter, Ketu.
At the age of 2½ years Ketu could
not speak, walk or even stand. She had been given various
kinds of medical treatment, including modern drugs and physiotherapy.
But nothing seemed to have any effect.
The source of the trouble was a mystery.
Some thought it was a matter of mental retardation, others
said that it was some unknown deep-seated nerve trouble.
This was the state of affairs in February
1965 when Mr.Patel decided to go to Puttaparti and see Bhagawan.
His wife, who was a very orthodox Parsi, was not in favour
of the idea, thinking it a waste of time and money.
Shivaratri festival was on when Mr. Patel
arrived at the ashram and huge crowds were there. Although
people urged him to seek an interview, he was diffident about
doing so – especially as he felt that Baba knew all
about his trouble and why he had come, without being told.
Several times he wrote a note, intending
to hand it to Baba as the latter passed through the crowd
near him, but each time, when he saw the little figure with
the luminous face, full of the light of understanding, he
decided that it was not necessary and tore the letter up.
"When Baba wants me, He will call me,"
Patel said to his friends.
But the days passed and he was not called.
Streams of people were going in to see the great saint, but
not Patel. Then one morning, some days after the Lingodbhavam,
it was announced that there would be no more personal interviews.
However, Baba came onto the balcony and gave
His blessings to all visiting devotees assembled there before
they went home. Mr. Patel felt the great compassion pour onto
the crowd and into his own heart. Yet, in the train on the
homeward journey his faith and spirits sank to a low level.
He thought of the days he had spent there and the chances
of speaking to Baba he had missed.
He thought of his poor little daughter still
unable to stand or utter a word. He imagined his wife's reproaches
about the time and money he had wasted. He arrived at the
door of his home very depressed indeed.
When he opened the door, the first sight
that met his gaze was little Ketu, who could not even stand
when he left, walking down the hallway to meet him, calling
out "Daddy, Daddy!"
He picked her up and embraced her; then he
embraced his wife, while both of them wept with joy over the
miracle that had somehow taken place. On checking the facts
with his wife Mr. Patel found that Ketu had first begun to
walk and speak on the day before he arrived home – just
after Sai Baba had given his blessings from the balcony to
the assembled devotees.
Some time afterwards Mr. Patel took his wife
and daughter to see Baba when the latter was on a visit to
Bombay (now Mumbai). In the midst of the many thousands that
crowd around him in that metropolis, Sai Baba saw them, and
in the words of Mr. Patel, "greeted the little girl as
if she was an old friend returned after a long absence".
He took her on His lap; materialised some
Vibhuti, and put it in her mouth. Soon after that, her speech
improved greatly and she began using longer words.
Reference: “Sai Baba:
Man of Miracles” by Mr. Howard
Murphet. Page: 121-122 (Paperback edition). Published
by Macmillan India Ltd, 1972.
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