In 1975 under challenging circumstances, I set up a medical practice in the city of Ruwi, in Sultanate of Oman in the Middle East. The country was in the feverish grip of development, with building projects of the seaport, highways, oil refineries, hospitals underway, requiring thousands of workers.

Our little family of my wife and two daughters, then only 2 and 3 years old, with barely $200 in hand, rented a two room flat in a newly constructed building, designated half to the clinic, and began life in a foreign land.

Hard work had us on an even keel within a year. In 1976 a friend invited us to a movie called Shirdi ke Sai Baba and our lives began to be gradually touched by his touch. We knew nothing about him before then.

In the next few years Shirdi Sai Baba became part of our family. About this time, people around us mentioned that there was no place one could go for Sai Baba’s Arti, so my wife and I turned our little home every Thursday into a place for Sai’s evening Arti, with scores of other expats attending. Word spread soon.

Ashok, 24, a quiet, subdued young man from India with a disability in one leg, was a regular participant. One day he informed me that he was going to Shirdi. On his return from India he came by, anxious to tell his tale.

It seems on the day when he was present in Shirdi, they were repairing and replacing the part of the floor of Dwarkamai where Baba sat for most of his life, facing the Dhuni. It seems that the ancient flooring of the Dwarkamai was made of small, intricately fashioned bricks laced together to give a smooth finish.

People present there clamoured for the precious bricks as these came loose during the process and these were given away. Ashok was there, he asked for one and got one.

Narrating this, he opened his fist and placed a small, smooth, lightish coloured brick in my palm, saying it was for me.

It was placed in our shrine immediately and has traveled with us around the world. I am attaching a photo of it.

– Homi K.

Homi K. is a medical doctor who lives with his family in the US. He has practiced medicine in many countries, often seeing poor patients for free. He is a long time devotee of Shirdi Sai Baba and will share many miracles experienced by him and his family.

“This is our Dwarakamayi, where you are sitting. She wards off all dangers and anxieties of the children, who sit on her lap. This Masjidmayi (its presiding Deity) is very merciful, she is the mother of the simple devotees, whom she will save in calamities. Once a person sits on her lap, all his troubles are over. He, who rests in her shade, gets Bliss”. – Chapter 22, Sai Satcharita.