K. K. Dixit - Shirdi Sai Baba: A Practical God

I t was the year 1968, when a new chapter of my life opened. I was working in a famous company that was engaged in importing research books as well as publishing high quality books. I was stationed at Ahmedabad as the resident sales representative, to look after the promotion of their books in the state of Gujarat. I rented a portion of a house situated just opposite the Shreyas foundation in Mithila Society on a monthly rent of Rs. 60. In that vicinity, at that time, there were only two bungalows; one was where I was staying and the other was a few yards away. Both the houses were surrounded by a vast area of open fields with tall, long grass, and were almost 500 yards away from the nearest residential area isolated, quite lonely and undeveloped.

In 1969 communal riots broke out in Ahmedabad. Because of the curfew, our activities and movements were confined to the boundaries of our houses. This was the time when I got an opportunity to come across the name of Sai Baba of Shirdi.

One day, the lady from the neighbouring bungalow, whom I addressed as dadi (grandmother), called me. When I reached there, she asked me to paint a Diwali rangoli with oil paints in front of a photo, which I was told was of Sai Baba of Shirdi. On an iron bed, beside the photo, was sitting an old man dressed as a sanyasi. He was Swami Sharnanandji, who had been in the service of Sai Baba for many years when the Baba was alive. He spoke a bit regarding Sai Baba and his life. The Swamijis original name was Vamanrau Patel. He was a double graduate in philosophy and had been the Principal in a college of Petlad. He said that before he met Baba, he was in search of a man who could claim that he had seen God, and then after a long search, found this man in Sai Baba. He remained in the service of Baba for a long time and ultimately accepted sanyas. This aroused in me a respect towards him and Sai Baba, and I expressed my eagerness to know more about all this. He gave me a book containing the life, preachings and miracles of Sai Baba. I read the book with all concentration and anxiety, and started feeling within myself a great respect for Baba and Swamiji, whom I called Bapuji.

From then on, whenever I would go outside, I would always feel the presence of Sai Baba with me. I would experience this feeling of unknown pleasure from within, which I was unable to describe in words.

One night I saw Sai Baba in my dreams, saying nothing, but having just a simple smile on His lips. In the dream, I saw a kachha house that I had to enter for what reason I do not remember. As I entered the house, I saw an old cot which was kept horizontally against the front wall. Suddenly thousands of tiny insects flew out from behind of the cot, and then I saw Sai Baba emerging with a sweet smile on his lips; he did not speak a word. Then I woke up and the dream faded, but it left a deep impact on my memory. The dream is fresh in my mind even today. At that time, I could not understand the exact meaning of the dream, but the more I thought about it, the clearer my situation in life became. My circumstances began improving and all my problems began fading away by the grace of Baba.

Though I did not have any feeling of strong devotion toward Baba, but the book had raised an anxiety to know more and more about Him. Baba seemed to me an extraordinary fakir (dervish), who not only respected all religions, but also never tried to distract the faith for any deity, which any devotee might have within ones heart. This attitude of Baba attracted me the most.

While reading the book I came across somewhere that there was another fakir who also stayed around Ahmedabad and was similarly secular; people from all religions consulted him for their problems. After a lot of research, I discovered that the place was Pirana (twenty miles away from Ahmedabad) and the name of the fakir was Baba Imamshah. Even today, He is widely known and respected for the guidance he gave to his devotees. A memorial was built in His name, but what is unique about it is that though it is the memorial of a Muslim fakir, it is being managed by Hindus for hundreds of years. Even now, visitors from all religions come to pay tribute to Him Baba Imamshah in their own ways of worship. I too started to visit this place regularly. At first I visited this place every day for 45 days, and thereafter frequently.

I was also frequently visiting Swami Sharnanandji, whenever I was in Ahmedabad. I derived mental peace in his presence. When I got my own house built in another area, far away from his place, Swamiji gave his consent to remain present at the