Bobattoo and Birthday

 

It happened to be my birthday, October 25th and I came from Bangalore to Prashanti Nilayam campus on official duty. My family was away at that time and I received a box of sweets - a special preparation called in Telugu bobatt­oo (a sweet chapatti). Bobattoo is the favourite dish of every Andhrite - circular, brown in colour and bathed in ghee, so sweet it goes straight into the gullet and you will feel the sweetness till the evening. That is the height of its taste and I received six of them from Guntur (his hometown) to be specially consumed by me alone. But what happened was that my room was overflowing with devotees asking me about the latest miracle from Swami. Well I was talking, but my concentration was only on bobattoo. What was I to do…?

Somehow using all my intelligence, I chose Darshan time when no one would disturb me. I bolted the door from the inside, switched off the light, it was still dim, and started eating them, all six of them in quick succession, as an NCC parade salute - as quick as that. But I did not want anyone to notice this, so I took some cloves so that nobody could smell it.

I sat there for Darshan and usually Bhagavan comes and walks in a curve but that day He came straight to me - then I thought something is waiting for me. Then Swami came close by and said,

'Ah, safe, safe now; all the six are safe now. Why did you eat all six of them? Can you not distribute them to friends? Are six enough or do you want 60?'

Then Bhagavan smiled and said, 'I know today is your birthday' and He gave me Padanamaskar.

This action that I did secretly, in the dark without anyone's knowledge, stomach being the only witness, but Bhagavan starts to tell everybody there so that I felt very much embarrassed!

(From Prof. Anil Kumar’s talk delivered in the Divine Presence on the 13th July 2004)