I must have been in the seventh or eighth grade. We used to spend part of the summer break at my grandmother’s house in Pune, India. It was a cool misty morning. My grandmother, my mother and I were in the kitchen. The kitchen was located on the ground floor (or first floor in the U.S). My grandmother was preparing tea and I was sitting on the kitchen floor. For unknown reasons I had always been fascinated by spirituality and the tradition of saints in my home state of Maharashtra. Either that morning or the previous evening I had expressed my desire to want to visit Alandi, the resting place of Sant Jnyaneshwar or Dehu, the birth place of Sant Tukaram. These sites are on the banks of river Indrayani (Photo courtesy: Ravi Karandeekar).

Indrayani river near Pune, India

It was the late 60s. I had heard about these sites. I knew they were closer to Pune than my home in Mumbai but was not sure how close and did not have a means to get there.

I was in the midst of enjoying my cup of Chai and I heard footsteps outside the kitchen door. So I turned to look. At the kitchen door stood a very calm-looking gentleman with a Gandhi cap. He was the paying guest who lived on the third floor of the house. My grandmother introduced us to him. He had a tilak on his forehead. He had a scooter and was on his way to visit Alandi. He asked me if I wanted to go with him. I immediately said “Yes.” And, within minutes I was on my way to Alandi.

To me this was an example of a clear desire manifesting in to reality via a previously unknown process. Recently, I spent time reflecting on similar events and situations from my life and tried to uncover some common factors. I wrote an article called “Fulfilling Intentions: A study of the underlying factors.” If you enjoy these sorts of things, click here.