The significance of a Sadguru

I got back from the conference at Pune yesterday afternoon. Not wasting time, I dropped my bags at home and made a beeline to the ashram. Guruji was going to leave for Germany, and I wanted to see him before he left.

I got to the ashram a bit late but still was in time to hear Guruji speak before he handed over the mike to Rajita and Ajay Bagga. Rajita and Ajay were at the Taj hotel when the terrorists struck Mumbai. I could well imagine the trauma that the victims and their families had undergone that fateful 26/11, but as Rajita narrated her experience first hand, I could not believe my ears.

Stuck in a tiny room with several others, this brave couple came out of the jaws of Death, and were so grateful to Gurudev for that. Speaking about the hotel employee who was shot in the stomach, Rajita described how they helped a doctor push back the victim's intestines before suturing the abdomen. The terrified elders huddled up in the room were taught Pranayama to calm their frayed nerves even as many of them were losing bladder control.

A while later, Guruji called them and reassured them that they would be safe. Rajita spoke about a strange Force engulfing them after that.

When Rajita still trembled, Ajay consoled her saying that if Guruji was here in this world with them, He was sure to receive them if they had to 'cross over'.

An hour after Guruji's phone call, the NSG personnel entered their room and began to escort them out. On their escape route, they had to witness several people around them fall to the bullets. And yet, they managed to escape the hotel and the terrorists.

I returned home from the ashram witn a strange comforting feeling, partly because, like always, Gurudev had accepted my garland of roses with a gentle smile. Partly because Pitaji (Gurudev's father) had cradled my head in his loving hands for the first time, and blessed me. But mostly because, like Rajita said, a Guru such as ours will surely be there to receive us when we reach the Unknown Post...