Many of Amma’s devotee children have experienced HER “POWER” of making an “impossible”, “possible” and most “unexpected” as “expected “. When they revert back to AMMA expressing their gratitude for her intervention, SHE used to simply brush away saying that SHE did not do anything and probably it was destined to happen in that way. However our inner consciousness clearly indicates that this was nothing but AMMA’s handicraft.
I recall some of such experiences and would like to share them with you.
I am one of those fortunate persons who got married through the Divine hands of AMMA at HER abode. It was the year 1981 and I was working with Hindustan Zinc Ltd as Sales Officer at Bangalore. Soon after the marriage we moved to Bangalore and stayed with our relatives at Rajajinagar (Bangalore) with an understanding that we would vacate within a month or so. However, months passed by and in spite of my best efforts I could not get proper rented accommodation within my prescribed allowance. Since the Bangalore division was just started with myself as the first employee I had no office of my own and I used to share space with our esteemed customer and also with our Warehousing Agency (where we used store our Zinc and Lead Metals) Though I was voluntarily contributing for certain expenses, it was leading to embarrassment on both sides for this prolonged stay. During this period, I had visited Jillellamudi for AMMA’s Darshan and was ushered immediately into HER room. Amma casually asked “Did you find the house Nanna?” | responded by saying “No Amma . I am not able to get any accommodation within my budget. Moreover, ten month’s rent as an advance is quite a burden on me. Still I am making my efforts”.
Having listened to me AMMA appears to have gone into contemplation. After a couple of minutes of silence SHE said ” It would be better if it is an Office-cum-Residence”. Understanding that AMMA is pointing at the involvement of my Head office, I replied that my cadre is not high enough to get this facility from the Company. AMMA did not say anything further and got engaged in conversation with a fresh batch of visitors.
Less than a week after my return from Jillellamudi, my Group General Manager from our Head Office located at Udaipur made an official visit to Bangalore. He expressed his dissatisfaction with the progress made though I did my best. I was very much disappointed and expressed my anguish in an aggressive manner. Raising my voice I told him how I do not have any place to stay and work, unable to set my family though recently married and still did my best without any staff. He was taken back and was totally surprised because no one ever dared to talk to him in that manner being a very highly placed, powerful officer and also a very tough person to deal with. His serious posture made me understand that I have invited his wrath and my career has gone down the drain. After a few minutes of silence he looked intently in my eyes and said “Ok. Ok. Look for some house where the front portion can be made as an office and the rear portion can be used as your residence. Also look out for a young man to assist you “. It was my turn. Within a month I could locate a suitable place and established my office and also residence. Only after a few months, I came to know that his proposal of providing Office-cum-residence for a Junior Officer like me was met with stiff resistance from not only the Finance Dept. but also from the Chairman himself, mainly because this will set a precedent and many other officers of my cadre will claim such a facility at all other centers in the country. Still without giving up he had fought tooth and nail and got sanction from the Chairman.
I am sure you can guess WHO” has inspired our Group General Manager to take such an initiative and cause so much trouble for a junior in such a big Organization.
In the year 1979 I was transferred from Visakhapatnam (Vizag) to Calcutta (now Kolkata). On receiving the Transfer Orders I reached Jillellamudi with an intention to obey the Orders and proceed to Calcutta after seeking blessings from AMMA. When I informed the subject matter to AMMA SHE replied in chaste Telugu “No Calcutta, Nothing. Stay where you are”. Though HER tone was soft, the firmness gave me no chance to prolong the dialogue. However I was not at all confident that I can avoid this shift of place under prevailing official circumstances.
I returned to Visakhapatnam and remained inactive on this transfer issue. Surprisingly the Personnel Department who monitors these movements and who do not miss anything after issue of Transfer orders remained silent. As the relieving date was just two days away, I approached my General Manager (to whom I was reporting directly) and reminded him about the Transfer Orders. He sharply reacted by saying “Who is sending you to Calcutta ? I am NOT relieving you. You better forget this transfer and concentrate on your work ” I protested saying that it will ultimately reflect on me and our Director Marketing at Head Office ( I am in Marketing division and Director Marketing is the ultimate Authority to evaluate me and provide growth in the organization) will conclude that I have avoided transfer influencing GM, Vizag. “Leave it to me” was the curt answer. Subsequently the words of war between GM Vizag and Directors at Head Office went on for a few days. Later I came to know that at one point of time GM Vizag had told Head Office personnel “I am NOT sending Ramakrishna out of Vizag under any circumstances & I do not want any other person in his place. Please post somebody else to Calcutta” His adamancy continued for three months by which time the validity of transfer order has lapsed. I happily continued my stay for next one and half years at Vizag with frequent visits to Jillellamudi.
Who is the DECISION MAKER? It is amply clear. Isn’t it?
On a Sunday morning my friend Mr Jayavelu called me and insisted that I should visit his house in the afternoon. I reached his house to find him amongst a group of people. After initial Greetings and courtesies, Mr Jayavelu asked me to join them for a short ride, destination of which was not disclosed to me. We proceeded in two cars and reached a place called Banaswadi (That was in the year 1986 and the place looked like an outskirt of the city whereas today it has turned out to be a very busy center). The cars stopped by the road-side and all of us entered into a vast vacant space which looked like residential plots in the offing. I understood that Mr Jayavelu and his friends were in the process of purchasing a property and thought that being his close friend he wanted my presence at this important event. After going through some papers Mr. Jayvelu turned to one of the persons and pointing at three plots said “This one on the left side is for me, the one on the right side is for my brother and the one in the middle is for my friend Ramakrishna. We will pay a token advance in a couple of days. Please ear-mark these sites and confirm. I was shocked by this sudden development as my finances at that time did not permit me for this kind of venture. I took Jayavelu by his arm and pulled him to some distance and said “What’s this Jayavelu? What are you doing? You know my position. I just can’t afford this and I cannot even deposit the token advance in such a short notice. Please cancel my plot” . In whatever manner I have persuaded Jayavelu, he did not budge an inch and said everything will be taken care of and did not allow me to utter a single word thereafter. After a couple of days he himself paid the token advance and informed me that the balance can be paid after 3-4 months and if there is any difficulty he will go ahead and I can reimburse whenever I can,maybe in months or even years. I would like to make clear to the readers that it was JUST HIS AFFECTION for me and NOTHING ELSE. Yes. It is very rare to come across such friends in the present days. To tide over the problem, I had applied for a Provident Fund Loan in my Company which was rejected on the grounds that such a loan can be granted for the construction of a house but not for purchase of a plot. I was dejected and at a loss to understand the next move to solve the problem.
In the meanwhile a Union Leader of our Company from Udaipur visited Bangalore for his work and wanted some small assistance from me being new to the place. I wholeheartedly supported him, more than his expectation. At the end of the trip he visited my office for thanksgiving and in his casual talk he expressed as to how he was impressed by the Bangalore City, its people and culture. He proceeded to say that one should make this city as a permanent place of residence. He enquired whether I had built a house here or not. I replied in negative and also informed how my attempt to buy a plot vanished in thin air, unable to get Provident Fund loan; that too from the portion of my own contribution. I expressed my disappointment for the treatment given to my request after serving the organization sincerely for over two decades. He was furious and no matter whether I come under his ambit or not (he was a Union Leader for Workers and not for Officers – I come under Officer’s association) he will take up the case strongly at appropriate level and do his best. Honestly I did not believe it because normally the Head Office does not entertain him when he takes up an officer’s case. As committed he represented the matter at the highest level, met with stiff opposition at all stages but still continued to fight for the cause. I was informed that he used the highest Ministerial influence, and even got the rules changed. Within a month & half I got my loan and that too, a non-refundable one. With great sense of relief I remitted the amount and became a property owner in this great city of Bangalore – which was totally unimagined by me.
If someone rates this as a coincidence I beg to differ. Then WHO is the MASTER PLANNER? Your guess is as good as mine.