Meeting with Lord Sai

The chapter

This chapter recounts Jyotindra Tarkhad’s first memorable encounter with Sai Baba. While walking from an Irani restaurant near Metro Cinema back to school, Jyotindra met a Fakir dressed in white and offered him a one-paisa coin. The Fakir identified the coin as an 1894 issue, blessed him, and sent him on his way.

At home, Jyotindra’s mother was suffering from severe migraine despite the family’s attempts to find relief. A household maid suggested that she visit Maulana Baba near Bandra Masjid. Maulana Baba said he could not treat her illness, but directed her to his “brother,” Sai Baba of Shirdi.

Jyotindra gathered the travel information and arranged the journey to Shirdi. He and his mother reached Dwarkamai, where Sai Baba was seated before the Dhuni. According to the family account, Baba immediately spoke about the guidance from Bandra and the mother’s headache, although she had not explained her suffering.

Baba applied Udi to her forehead and assured her that the pain would not return. He then asked Jyotindra whether he recognized Baba. When Jyotindra could not remember, Baba produced the same 1894 one-paisa coin from His robe. The coin connected the earlier meeting with the Fakir to this first darshan at Shirdi.

What this account invites us to reflect on

The chapter presents the Tarkhad family’s first meeting with Sai Baba as a movement from uncertainty to recognition. The coin, the guidance of Maulana Baba, the journey to Shirdi, and the experience of Udi are remembered as connected moments of grace. After this meeting, the family accepted Baba as their Guru and preserved the coin as an object of worship.

Editorial note: This page is a concise paraphrase for web presentation. It does not reproduce the complete chapter. Please consult the original PDF for the full account and wording.