At Baba’s Darbar

This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2Z Challenge 2023. 

Even though April 1; a day has ended for Indians, for me, two hours are still left to get over as I am writing from a different time zone; 2.5 hours behind Indian Standard Time, to be precise. This day was very special to me for the following reasons:

1) I always eagerly wait for the first day of any month to welcome all kinds of experiences to embrace, that the month is going to offer.

2) It was Utkal Divas; the day when the state of Odisha came into existence as an independent state. Being an Odia, I always feel proud of my mother tongue, Odia, customs, and culture.

3) It was a Sunny day with ample sunlight to replenish the depleted bank of vitamin D in my body.

4) After many months of my wait, I visited Sai Baba’s Temple at Espoo.

5) I received the letter that I wrote to myself (and scheduled it) from date 06.02.2023 and I am so happy that one of the things written in it has been fulfilled.

Out of all the reasons that I’ve mentioned above, the fourth reason is something that I am going to write about, in detail, as the title of this post suggests. I’ve been planning to visit Sai Baba’s temple in Espoo since the day I came to know about the presence of Baba’s temple in Finland, but for some reason or the other, my plan used to get canceled at the last moment. My most awaited wish got fulfilled today and it was because Baba called me. I had already envisioned preparing Motichoor ladoos as Prasad for Baba and I could successfully do it.

It took me around one hour to reach the temple and it was a very beautiful one. This temple reminded me of the one at Tsim Sa Tsui(TST), Hong Kong where I used to visit regularly after my office. Dhoop Arti is the evening prayer that began at 6:30 PM after which Prasad was distributed to devotees present there. I remember Dhoop Arti by heart and it’s no wonder as I’ve been singing them since Oct 2018. I was reflecting on my journey of being associated with Baba and it took me to the days of 2018. Ever since I randomly came across Baba’s prayers in the suggested playlist in Saavn App in Mysore, I got so mesmerized by it that I started listening to Baba’s prayers sung by Shankar Mahadevan and it became my companion during my daily commute to the office. These sets of prayers accompanied me everywhere by occupying my playlist from Mysore to Lucknow to Bengaluru to Jatni to Bhubaneswar to Delhi to Hong Kong to Finland; literally, everywhere I went from 2018 to till date. As I look back, most of the time, I traveled alone. There have been a lot of ups and downs and insecurities after 2018 but by feeling his presence, all my troubles seem to have eased down. There’s indescribable peace in the prayers and an assurance that Baba is always taking care of his devotees. He’s omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. Things happen when he wills it, and that timing is the best.

I couldn’t have thought of a better way to start a month after taking his blessings for a great beginning and acknowledging everything that he has given me. I am ready for facing all challenges now!

Om Sainathay Namah!

Peace to all!

All Rights Reserved

Swati Sarangi

01.04.2023