Shirdi Sai Baba Stories,Leelas and Teachings.: Sai Baba and mystery of railway tickets.

Dear readers,

Happy Baba's day to all,
The Following incidents are narrated by Shri C.M Mehta who resides near Kadia Kaveeswar pole ,near Bala hanuman house No 579,Ahemdabad Gujrat. He tells very interesting incidents which he witnessed in his life.

1. Manubai wife of Mr. Mehta went to Shri Sai Baba Mandir Therkanbhuvan along with her friends in Feb 1953.Her friends told her Shirdi Sai Baba fulfils the wishes of the devotees irrespective of caste, color or creed.

On the Coming Thursday his wife went with his younger son Mukesh to Sai temple. When the Aarti completed Pujari distributed prashad which constituted 5 types of things in it .Manubai received some groundnuts as prasad for which she was not very happy as she noticed other few devotees received pedha. Thinking that pedhas were given to selected persons, she was returning home via Kaveeswar Pole Naka. On the way, an unknown person approached her with a bag in his hand saying, “Your husband has sent this prasad. Please keep it in your bag!” He then put the prasad in her bag and went away.

When Mr. Mehta returned from office his wife told him about the prasad which he had sent through an unknown person. Mr Mehta was surprised as he knew nothing about it. Than they realized it was Baba’s leela to fulfill wishes of his wife. And they became devotees of Sai after this incident.

2. Mr Mehta had to arrange a sum of 50,000 for marriage of his elder brother Naveen Mehta in 1948. He was than already repaying the debt from his salary. Since his brother was not an earning member, nobody was willing to give their daughter in marriage to his brother and thus he was not married before Mr. Mehta.

Here is the interesting incident .Mr. Mehta's wife used to solve the crossword puzzle in the Gujarati news-paper Jansatta. In April 1953, she solved the puzzle no. 6 as usual. At that time, Mr.Mehta still had to repay a debt of Rs. 3,333/- out of the Rs. 50,000/- which he had borrowed.
By Sai Baba’s grace his wife won a prize of Rs. 3,333/- in the puzzle. Nothing less, nothing more! Was it not a miracle of Sri Sai Baba to relieve him from debt? Indeed it was.

3. In the Bhadrapad month of 1953, the annual shraddh ceremony of Mr Mehta's father and father-in-law came on the same day. As he had to attend the office, he could not visit in-law’s house that day. His children were at school. At about 4 p.m., a man who perfectly resembled Mr. Mehta's father-in-law visited their house with a khaki colored bag which he handed over to his wife and went away. The bag contained some raw vegetables, udi and Rs. 1.25/-.

When Mr. Mehta came home his wife told him about this he wondered, how his father-in-law who had died in 1950 in Jaipur could visit his house in Ahmedabad in 1953! Was it not the wonderful leela of Baba to fulfill his wishes?

4.In 1954, Mr. Mehta went to Shirdi with his family intending to stay for a day and return. But owing to heavy rains, he was forced to stay for three days in Shirdi. When he returned to Ahmedabad, he had the good fortune to meet His Holiness Sai Sharan Anand, Baba’s intimate devotee. There after they used to visit him now and then and soon became his staunch devotee. His wife would give daily bhiksha (alms) to the Swamiji.

5. In 1958, when Swamiji had gone to Mumbai, Manubai went to Shirdi via Dadar by herself. At the railway station, there was a big crowd and she was not in a state to get a seat. At that time, an old man came and asked her for her chaddar (bed-sheet). Though she was in doubt initially, she eventually gave it to him. The old man disappeared into the crowd. After a while he returned as the train came into the station and told her to get into a particular compartment. When she obeyed, she found her chaddar there and the old man helped her to put in her luggage in the compartment. When she turned towards the platform to pay him, he went away without asking for anything. Wasn’t it indeed a miracle of Baba to help her in her hour of need?

6. In 1980, between the 10th - 15th of March, a man wearing a silk shirt and dhoti came and handed over a packet to Manubai, sometime between 2 p.m.- 4 p.m. Manubai asked him to wait; but he went away without saying anything. When she opened the packet, it contained four and a half railway reservation tickets from Ahmedabad to Manmad by Navjeevan Express with the names of all family members. When Mr. Mehta returned from the office, his wife handed them over to him. He was astonished to see them and upon inquiry at the railway station found them to be correct. He was sure that it was none other than Baba Who had given them. He asked His Holiness Sai Sharan Anandji. He advised him to proceed to Shirdi, as per Baba’s wish. Accordingly they went to Shirdi utilizing the tickets up to Manmad.

7.Once again in 1981, between the 10th- 15th of March, a man came and threw a packet in our house between 2 p.m.- 4 p.m. Mr. Mehtas's father opened it and there were four and a half railway reservation tickets from Ahmedabad to Manmad as well as udi. They once again visited Shirdi, as per Baba’s wishes, utilizing the tickets up to Manmad.

8.In 1982, for the third time, on 12th March, between 2 p.m.- 4 p.m. a man like a rikshawala came and gave a packet to Manubai and went away. When she opened it, she once again found four and a half reservation tickets from Ahmedabad to Manmad. They once again visited Shirdi by utilizing the tickets up to Manmad.

9. On March 15, 1983, Manubai and her daughter went for darshan of the Samadhi of His Holiness Sai Sharan Anand, who had expired on 25th August, 1982. They offered prasad to the pujari (sevak) there. When he gave them prasad from a white plastic jar which was there, a packet came in his hand which he handed over to Manubai. When opened, it was found that there were four and a half railway reservation tickets from Ahmedabad to Manmad with the date of journey 30th April 1983.
But this time instead of Mr. Mehta's name, his son’s name was on one of the tickets viz. Nitin C. Mehta. Mr. Mehta had utilized these tickets for the past three years i.e. in 1980, 1981, and 1982. This time he decided to retain these tickets as Baba’s prasad and came to Shirdi on April 30, 1983 of his own accord.

The following tickets were preserved by Mr. Mehta from March 15, 1983. Reservation tickets from Ahmedabad to Manmad by Navjeevan Express, compartment no. S13, seats from 55 to 59. Journey to commence on 30.4.1983.

Railway Railway Name Compartment
Reservation Fare No. S13
Ticket No. Ticket No. & Seat No.

1. 59083 3623 Nitin C. Mehta 55
2. 59084 3624 Manubai Mehta 56
3. 59085 3625 Vihangini Mehta 57
4. 59086 3626 Chaki@Anita Mehta 58
5. 59087 00453 child Baba (Rachit) 59

Dear readers, please think over the sort of help beloved Baba had given in this case.

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