Jako Rakhe Saiyaan Maar Sake Na Koi

Often have we heard the proverb, ‘Jako Rakhe Saiyaan Maar Sake Na Koi’. The recent plane crash in Ahmedabad literally proved this and showed us the truth in it. As the bone chilling, horrific videos of the plane crash started coming in, there were prayers for the casualties to be minimal. But God had other plans for the 242 on board. Of all the passengers and crew, comprising of Indians and foreigners, only one survived! And even he says that he doesn’t know how he survived. Within a minute of take-off, the pilot realised that something was majorly amiss and he called out, “May Day, May Day, May Day. No power. No thrust. Going down.” And what a traumatic going down it must have been. What agonising helplessness would the pilot have gone through before he and 241 others were charred amidst smoke and flames. 241 lives were snuffed out … of those who had no inkling that death was knocking their door. The very thought of how painful death in flames would have been for whom the inferno was fatal, is very tragic. Professionals, businessmen, travel journalists, social media influencers, newlyweds, entire families … were wiped out, in that ill-fated aeroplane crash.

The way this has panned out is completely unthinkable. No one could have imagined in their wildest dreams, the possibility of sitting in the medical college mess, and having an aircraft land literally on their heads; and its bursting into flames, causing immeasurable damage to life and more.

Strange are the ways of God. In the recent past we have been privy to the Pahalgam massacre, Operation Sindoor, incessant floods and rains in the North-East, five helicopters crashes on the Char Dham Yatra, Kedarnath route in the last six weeks and now, the Ahmedabad plane crash. How does one explain the will of God? How does one explain fate? Can one be sure of anything at all in life? It seems the answer is ‘No’.

And there are some who narrowly escaped death. I read the news of someone who had cancelled his ticket on the ill-fated aircraft, because his mother got emotional and asked him to stay some more days. There was a young girl who got stuck in traffic and missed her flight by 10 minutes. A doctor cancelled his ticket because he was running fever and his wife insisted that he should not travel. All of them got saved from getting trapped in the clutches of death.

The greatest miracle is the lone survivor, who emerged from that ball of fire, with just a few bruises and a limp! Against all odds, he emerged alive! How does one fathom destiny? No one knows what the future holds. Everything is so uncertain. We are all puppets in the  hands of God.

A copy of The Bhagwad Gita and an idol of Laddoo-Gopal has been found almost intact, amidst the burnt wreckage of the crashed flight. This is nothing short of a miracle. The heat that melted the metallic body of the plane, could not burn the Bhagwad Gita. This seems to spell out a message for all of humanity. Everything can perish but the name of the Lord shall remain forever!

It is said, ‘Samaan sau baras ka, pal bhar ki khabar nahin’. Meaning: We prepare for life as if we are going to live a hundred years, but we cannot be certain if we shall be alive in the next moment! Each day, we go about doing our daily chores, going to the office, attending meetings, looking after the house, picking and dropping our children from school, socialising ... but life is uncertain at every juncture.

I had heard and read that the year 2025 is going to be a year of resetting and re-alignment for the universe. Lots shall happen. There shall be disasters and natural calamities too. We are seeing everything unfolding in front of our eyes and it is very painful. I wonder when this death dance shall stop.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba said in a discourse, “The play is His; the role is His gift; the lines are written by Him; He decides the dress and decoration, the gesture and the tone, the entrance and the exit. You have to act well your part and when the curtain falls receive His approbation. By your efficiency and enthusiasm earn the right to play higher and higher roles - that is the meaning and purpose of life … Do not worry about anything. Place yourself fully at His disposal, He knows. He has written the Play and He knows how it will end and how it will go on. Yours is but to act and retire. The Lord alone is aware of the Play, for His is the Plan! … You are only actors on the stage, before the footlights. The Director who knows the Play, who assigns the roles, who gives the cues, who calls you in and puts you on - He is behind the curtain. You're a puppet, He holds the strings. You are only working out His plan.”

The only way forward for us, in a world engulfed with fear, violence, war, unrest and insecurity; the only thing that can give succour and strength, is the name of the Lord. Baba says, “In Krutayuga, dhyaana (meditation) was prescribed as the means of liberation. In the Tretayuga, tapas (penance) was the means. For the Dwaaparayuga, it was archana (ritual worship). However, for people in this Kaliyuga, the simple remedy prescribed is just Naamasmarana, the constant awareness of the Name.”

Recently, on June 15, I was a part of the massive online chanting of the Sai Gayatri Mantra, for world peace, organised by the Sri Sathya Sai Media Centre. Some 23,000 spiritual aspirants from across the globe had registered for it. Due to the limitations of the online platform, only 10,000 devotees were able to join the chanting online. The rest were requested to do the chanting off-line. It really doesn’t matter whether one was a part of the online participants or not. What matters is that so many people prayed for world peace. There is a huge awareness that it is only the name of God that can save us.

If each one of us would start praying for world peace, the Lord shall surely have mercy … do give this a thought.

Published in Daily Guardian on 21.06.2025 https://epaper.thedailyguardian.com/view/2611/the-daily-guardian-mumbai/8