I first came to Prem Ashram with my mother and sister in the year 1976 and had the Darshan of Sri Ma. Since then Mataji has been everything to me. She is the guiding light of my life. She has the ultimate say in every single decision that I make. It was She who decided the college I should attend and the career I should pursue. She also made the decision with regard to my marriage.
At the time of my marriage I was working with a nationalised bank and my husband was with a telecom major. We were living in Bhandup, a suburb in Mumbai (India). The building in which we lived was next to a graveyard. Also our parents lived in Thane, about seven to eight kilometres away. So we wanted to move out of that place closer to where our parents lived. Due to proximity to the graveyard there were other residents too who had put up their flats for sale. With no elevators in the building, and our flat being on the 4th floor, the chances of the sale going through seemed quite bleak. The situation was such that we were unable to pay for a new flat without the proceeds from the present one. I expressed my concern to Mataji. She simply said that, you will surely move into a good house soon. I had complete faith in Mataji’s words. A few days later one gentleman came to us with an offer for our flat. Though there were flats on the lower floors this gentleman was insistent on buying our flat. The deal went through and my family and I shifted to Om Sai Prasad Apartments at Mulund, also a suburb in Mumbai close to Thane. Indeed it was Mataji’s grace by which we got this house.
In 1998 my husband moved to the United States of America for employment. Though he had the mettle and the matter to make it, he never really could get a foothold there. After trying hard to give his career there a head start he finally gave up and returned to India for good, somewhere in the beginning of the year 2000. He had absolutely no intentions of going back as he had made no further applications for a job and had also placed a request with a relation to have his car sold. We went to Sri Ma to tell Her that my husband had come back for good. But when we met Mataji She said over and over again that we would lead a prosperous life in the United States. She also promised us that She would grace us by setting Her Lotus Feet in our house. She said that many people were calling Her to the United States and that when She comes there She would definitely come to my house. Mataji also told me to observe certain protocols in my house and to keep a room exclusively for Her. She said all this with a sparkle in Her eyes but my husband and I had mixed feelings of faith on the one hand and disbelief on the other. In the entire interview with Mataji neither could my husband nor could I tell Her that my husband had actually returned for good. On the way back home, I asked my husband why he didn’t tell Mataji that he had no plans of going back. He replied, “She reiterated that we were going to lead a prosperous life in the United States and I just couldn’t tell Her that I had no intentions of going back.” Within three weeks of this meeting, my husband got a call for an interview from a place where he had made an application earlier. He gave a telephonic interview, got through and went to the United States. I joined him in July 2001 while on a year long sabbatical from my job. In October 2001 my husband and I applied for our US citizenship. This was in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. The economy had taken a turn for the worst. Businesses had closed down, retrenchment was rampant and any hope for two Indians, yet to find their footings in the American soil, to be granted the Green Card was only a glimmer on the horizon. Nevertheless, with faith in Mataji we went through with the application. It normally takes over a year for the labour to get cleared. But my sabbatical was coming to an end. I was scheduled to leave the United States on July 1st 2002 to resume my job in India. The only way I could continue my stay in the United States was if my labour was cleared. On June 30th I was intimated that our profile was taken ahead in the Green Card issue process and that our labour was cleared. By Mataji’s grace I could continue living in the United States. It was at that time that a new scheme came up whereby the further process for obtaining the Green Card was simplified in as much as that the time involved in between the filing of two forms (I 140 & I 485) was eliminated. Earlier the filing of these two forms would take about two to three years between themselves. Also going through with the Form I 140 would take nearly eight to nine months from the time the labour was cleared. However I was able to file both these forms within a month from the time my labour got cleared and within two months of getting into the I 140 and I 485 process I received my work permit-the Employment Authorisation Document (EAD). The I-140 had gone through within two months. With a work permit now I got a job in a Doctor’s office. A year later, I joined the Blue Cross Blue Shield as a System Testing Specialist. This was a U-turn in our lifestyle and status and was strikingly contrasted to the period during which my husband and myself were still foreign immigrants barely able to make ends meet. Given that I worked, for almost an year, at a mall, did catering services, did baby sitting, worked at a Kumon centre, and that my husband was employed off and on, the receipt of the work permit ushered tremendous security into our lives. When the going was tough I used to often tell my husband, “Mataji sent us to America and here we are struggling with no money even for food. What does She expect us to do?” My husband would calmly tell me to have patience and steady faith. In March 2005, our I 485 went through and both my husband and me received our Permanent Resident Cards. Today my husband is with a major communications company in Austin, Texas. We have a big house in Oklahoma. Mataji’s words always come true.
I remember all those times when I used to speak to Mataji through Her picture and often write down my feelings in chits or letters and keep it in front of Her. All my prayers have been answered by this Silent Witness of my inner feelings-My Divine Mother-Sri Ma.
Smt. Sita Ravi
Dallas (U.S.A.)