How did I come into Swami's fold? That is, by itself, a long and detailed narrative and recounting it here would mean taking away pages from my grandparents' and mother's books. I will share my most cherished memories. My mother was a devotee of Swami even before she got married. I have been going to Sai Bhajans ever since I was born. My first darshan of Swami was when I was nine months old. Until my brother reached middle school, we used to go to Whitefield or Prashanthi so often that we lost count of it. I could feel Swami's love every time I went there though I never knew how to express it. Swami used to walk up to my mother and bless me by ruffling my hair, or pinching my cheeks or just placing His hand on my head, just like an aunt or uncle. When I was about two and a half years old, Swami wrote the primal symbol "Aum" on a small slate for me, thereby initiating my educational path. At that point, He became my Guru.

It was not until the age of twelve did I come to realize a fraction of the divinity within Him. Until then, Sai Baba was my best friend, some one whom I used to visit often and who was an integral part of our altar. When I was twelve, I got to sit with my mother's bhajan group and Swami gave us padanamaskar . I cannot ever relate or explain what I felt inside, but that day, I wept for several hours shedding tears of joy.

As a teenager, I had a craving to attend one of the summer courses. I found out that I would either have to be a VIP or a college student to actually gain access into the auditorium. Now, becoming a VIP seemed rather impossible to me. So I was determined to join Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Ananthapur. Though I had no aptitude for chemistry and physics, I decided I would learn them just to attend a summer course. I told Swami and my mother that I will be applying only to one institution for my Bachelor’s degree. I applied and took the entrance tests. The English examination was particularly very difficult. But wonder of wonders, my name was on the list of short listed candidates. I then attended an interview and finally got in to the prestigious Sathya Sai Institute.

During this period, Swami appeared every other day in my dream and would give me directions and darshan. This was the best phase of my life. While at Brindavan for the summer course, I felt the Divine Mother's eternal love. Although I am very attached to my mother, I never missed her even a single day during the summer course. On the night prior to the last day of the summer course, I was ill with a high fever. Swami came in my dream that night and said, "Go home". I did not quite grasp the meaning of it, but in that dream He also said, "I am your Mother and you are My daughter". I woke up with a jolt and realized that I was completely cured.

Swami's words came true; I was not able to stay on at Ananthapur and returned to Madras (now Chennai). I returned at a time when normally school admissions are already closed and academic sessions are are already a month underway. Surprisingly, that year schools were still accepting applications and the deadline was the day after I arrived in Madras. By the sheer grace of Bhagavan, I was accepted into one of the best schools and it as was the only school which offered a Bachelor’s degree program in mathematics without chemistry and physics!

I believe that if it were not for His Grace, I would not have gotten to attend the summer course. I still remember every single incident that happened there. Also, ever since I came back, I can feel Swami's invisible hand steering my life's boat in the right direction, like a true Mother - our Divine Mother.