Baba's hits and misses

 Sathya Sai might have enthralled followers over the years with his precise soothsaying, however, lakhs of devotees were dumbstruck last year as the godman passed away at the age of 86, 10 years short of what he had predicted.

However, his followers seem to have evolved arguments to safeguard Sai’s reputation to foretell, as observed in a conversation among six men outside Prashanthi Nilaya, their “masters” abode.

As the men, all dressed in white, argued in hushed tones on Sai’s prophecy, one of them said: “He did not specify according to which calendar he would live for 96 years. According to the regional lunar calendar he had lived his tenure.”

He went on to explain that since a lunar calendar has 27 stars, it implies a lunar month has 27 days. Hence a lunar year comprises 324 days only. “Going by this, Baba spent 30,834 days or 96 years with us,” he concluded.

Another devotee, on being prodded, claimed that several of Sai’s predictions have come true. Quoting Narasimha Murthy, a man of bearing in the Sai Organisation, he said: “Baba had even predicted that Sunil Gavaskar will score a century in a particular match that he was not even supposed to play and the prediction came true.”

Explaining himself, the devotee said Meenal, Sunil Gavaskar’s mother, was a believer of Shirdi Sai Baba. On one of those days when Sunil was at the Brabourne stadium with the Bombay Ranji side, scheduled to play Gujarat, Meenal was randomly praying at home for her son’s ascent as a great cricketer.

“Gavaskar was not supposed to play in that match, but she was just praying while she was at the kitchen. And to her surprise, a figure in red robe appeared with his hand raised in blessing,” the devotee said.

As Meenal stood in astonishment, the figure said, “Do not worry…he (Sunil) will score a century today.” And he disappeared.

Meenal, the devotee said, ran to the nearest vendor who sold posters of gods and saints. However, the vendor failed to produce any poster that matched Meenal’s descriptions. After futile rounds at several other shops, a dejected Meenal spotted a poster that matched the figure, in the first shop she had visited. “The poster had Sathya Sai Baba’s name printed at the bottom,” the devotee said.

Soon after she reached home, Meenal got a call from her son. He asked Meenal to rush to the stadium with his gears as he was picked for the side as a replacement to an injured Ajit Wadekar. “Gavaskar had scored a century in that match,” beamed the devotee.

On trying to get a confirmation on this from Prashanthi Nilayam, the reporter was directed to an article written by Gavaskar himself, on Sai’s 75th birthday. The cricketing legend had written about the incident and the profound impact it had on him.