aged 66, wife of late Ramachandra Borkar, Ville Parle
17th September, 1936.
I am a worshipper of Sai Baba for the last 44 years or so. I went to see him at Shirdi 20 years before he expired. You see here (in this bungalow) he is the God that I worship. I still retain a good quantity of the udhi which he gave me each day with his own hand in small quantities and this I have carefully preserved as it has great virtue and potency. I have also this sacred tayath enclosing Baba's tooth, which he gave me as a memento.
I have had deep devotion to and powerful response to my devotion from Sai Baba. When I went to him about 1898 (?), the present masjid had not been built, nor the Wada of Sathe which came after rebuilding of the masjid. Baba was then sitting under the neem tree which is now in Sathe's Wada. I saw Baba filling his panthis, (i.e.) lamps with water, instead of oil, after drinking away the little remnant of oil mixed with some water. I saw also his lying on a plank in the Masjid hung up from the ceiling with strings made of slender shreds of cloth. There were lamps on the plank, whereon he lay. No 'bigwigs' were coming then. Whenever I went there, I put up in the house of some villagers.
Baba's kindness to me was very great. (Even as she referred to instances, she was overcome repeatedly with emotion, shed tears and had frequent breaks in her narration, being unable to continue it by reason of her feelings). My husband Mr. Borkar never went and saw Baba; but even to him, Baba showed great kindness. In or about 1909 my husband, who was an engineer, was engaged for the construction or repair of a bridge at Pandharpur. His residence was, therefore, at Pandharpur. When he was there, I had gone to Baba at Shirdi and was serving him. One day Baba told me, 'you had better go to Pandharpur and I will go with you' and added that there was no difficulty for him to travel and that I should start expeditiously. So I started. I did not know what had happened there. When I reached that place, I found that my husband was not there, that he had resigned his work there and gone away to Bombay. That information I got there for the first time and I was in great straits and sorrow. I had just a few rupees with me and had taken two companions with me. I had just money enough to take us back upto Kurdwadi. We went there. I had got thoroughly moody and was brooding over the situation. Suddenly a Fakir appeared before me, and asked me what I was brooding over. I evaded replying to him. He told me that my husband was at Dhond and that I should go at once with my two companions to Dhond. But, where was the railway fare to come from, I enquired. Then, he immediately delivered 3 tickets for Dhond and went away. I took the tickets and with my companions boarded the train for Dhond. Meanwhile, my husband was at Dhond drinking tea and sinking into half dozed condition or a reverie. A Fakir appeared before him and said, "How is it you are neglecting my mother? She is coming down by the train in carriage No. such and such" and gave him the number of my carriage.