The Inexplicable Call

By Ms. Nooshin Mehrabani

Ms. Nooshin Mehrabani was born in Iran and worked as a reporter for Iranian National Radio and Television. She continued her career with an Iranian TV station after moving to Los Angeles, USA. Since 1991, when she first heard about Sai Baba, she has made many trips to India and has been blessed with several chances of interaction with Bhagavan Baba. She now lives in Puttaparthi.

I was born in Iran, worked in Canada and USA, and since January 2007 have been living in Puttaparthi, basking in the bliss of being in the physical presence of Bhagavan Baba, my Spiritual Father and Master. In July 2008 I received many phone calls from my mother asking me to visit Iran and stay with her for a couple of months. It had been over two years since I had seen her and she was getting older, so I seriously considered making a trip to Iran.

Ms. Mehrabani's book

During one of those days I went to sleep with this heavily on my mind and Swami appeared in my dream. I saw myself in typical western clothes, ready to leave for Iran, when Swami walked into the room and stood right in front of me. Before I even opened my mouth to ask for permission, He shook His finger at me, and firmly said, “No! Don’t go to Iran to see your mom.”

When I woke up, I was both happy and a little sad. Happy that Swami had come in my dream but sad for my mother. How could I give her this message? She is very attached to me and has always worried about my life in India. Also she was not a devotee of Sai Baba and there was no way I could explain to her that I was following Baba’s directions. The idea that I have surrendered my life to my guru and that I seek His permission before making my decisions was completely unacceptable to my family. Now, I had no other option, but to pray to Swami that my mother does not insist on my visiting her.
 
Mutually Mysterious Calls

A few months later, one day as I was cooking in my apartment in Puttaparthi, the cell phone rang. I washed my hands and went to the drawing room to answer the call. No one was on the other end; instead, I heard the sounds of an Iranian television program. After a few seconds, I did hear a voice. It was my mother. She was asking who was calling her. When she found out that I was on the other end she was extremely delighted, but wondered why I had called her cell phone instead of the landline.

I was really surprised – I told her that I did not even know that she had a cell phone, let alone calling that number. I had to convince her that not only had I not made a call, but also that I was busy in the kitchen when my own cell phone rang. Then she told me that her cell phone too was also in another room and the maid had pushed the answer button and brought it to her.
 
In fact, it was a new phone and she had not yet given her number to anybody. That is why she persisted with her question “How did you know this number?” It was very difficult for her to accept these mysterious happenings as Swami’s miracle, even though I knew this to be the case firmly in my heart.

I did try to explain to her that there is nothing that Swami cannot do. We talked that morning for 45 minutes and during the course of this conversation, she revealed to me that just two days prior to that day she had visited a holy shrine in Tehran and prayed to God saying how much she missed me and sought His divine intervention to see me. And in the next 48 hours God had connected us so amazingly!

I did try to explain to her that there is nothing that Swami cannot do. We talked that morning for 45 minutes and during the course of this conversation, she revealed to me that just two days prior to that day she had visited a holy shrine in Tehran and prayed to God saying how much she missed me and sought His divine intervention to see me. And in the next 48 hours God had connected us so amazingly!

I had no doubt that all this was the making of Sai Baba. This was more proof that God is only One and there truly is no separation whatsoever between Allah, Jesus or Sathya Sai Baba. And now it was up to the Lord to make my mother believe this miracle. As we talked more that day, she again asked if I could come to Iran to see her. I had to let her know that this was not the right time for me to make a visit.

Then, without having any real hope, I asked, “Mom, why don’t you come to India and see me?” Immediately she said, “When should I come?” I was really amazed. In fact, I had been requesting my family to come and see Baba for quite some time but they had always been against my spiritual path. Now, seeing her interest, I was pleasantly surprised. I let her know that November and December would be busy months in Puttaparthi and she could come in the January of the next year.

Then I asked my mom to remember the date of this conversation. I knew that if I was not charged for this call, and if my mother too was not billed for this long conversation, it was surely Baba’s grace. After a month I received another phone call from my mother letting me know that she had purchased a ticket to India. She also told me that when she received her telephone bill, there was no record of our conversation!
 
Sai Needs No Instruments

Many a times I have thought of myself as being an instrument in the Divine Hands. But, this incident was a revelation. I realised that Swami does not need any of us as His instruments. It was His invisible hands that dialed the phone. And it is His Grace that gives us the pleasure of imagining that we are His instruments. In reality, He doesn’t need anyone.

My mother arrived on January 2, 2009 and stayed in Puttaparthi with me for two weeks. I don’t know if this turned her into a Sai devotee, but what I do know is that she felt a lot of peace in India staying with me and it was Swami who had answered her prayer quite inexplicably. When she finally left for Iran, she was more confident than ever that God was indeed looking after her dear daughter.