There is an old devotee known as Shirdi Ma, for she was at Shirdi when Sai Baba was alive. She is called Pedda Bottu, too, because of the impressive kumkum dot she wears on her brow. Shirdi Ma, in her reminiscence, says that she was always urging Easwaramma to tell her a few miracles of Swami when he was a child. Easwaramma would parry the questions most of the time saying that she never saw any or could not remember. But one day she revealed a profoundly moving experience which she had kept secret for over thirty years, having been told not to speak of it.
"Swami was nine months old at the time," Easwaramma said, "I can't remember the whole incident fresh and clear. I had just bathed and dressed him, and applied on his eyes cooling collyrium. I applied vibhuthi from the Shiva temple and a dot of kumkum from the Sathyamma temple on his brow. I put him in the cradle, gave it a swing and turned to the hearth where the milk had come to the boil. Suddenly I heard him cry. I was surprised for, believe me, he had never cried since birth for any reason, hunger, or pain, or discomfort. I picked him up and placed him on my lap, He stopped the wail. I saw a halo of brilliant light all around him, a circle of radiance surrounding him. But the light did not hurt me, it was so cool though so bright and near. I sat still, lost in delight. It was there a long time, before it faded slowly away. I closed my eyes and probably lost awareness of everything around, until my mother-in-law came to me and I awoke. The child was apparently asleep. She asked me what had happened and I told her about the halo that I could see even then in clear outline. She put her finger on her lips and said, 'Don't tell anyone of this. They wouldn't understand. They would spread all kinds of tales.' I think she told grandfather, for he asked me about it later."
Our Swami is God
On the eleventh or twelfth day of the Camp, she accosted Shirdi Ma (the octogenarian lady who had known and worshipped the Sai Baba of Shirdi) to tell her of a momentous experience. Pedda Bottu (as Shirdi Ma is also known) relates the secret confided in her that day: "Pedda Bottu," Easwaramma said to me, "I want to tell you something that happened to me. But tell no one else." I sat closer and said, "What is it, tell me." "Our Swami is God!" she whispered. I laughed. "Why do you laugh?" she asked. "No, no, I was not laughing at you. I am only happy you have realised it now. Well, tell me, how did you come to know?" I asked. "You know I have been having high fever for four days. Swami came to me then." "In a dream?" I asked, "No," she said, "He really did come to me when I was rolling restlessly in bed. "Ammayi, how do you feel?" He asked. "My whole body is aching, " I replied, looking up at Him. Then—what can I tell you? It was not He that you and I know. It was Ramachandra with Kireetam and Kodandam (Crown and Bow)! I raised my folded hands and struggled to sit up and get out of bed. But in a few moments He became Swami again, gave me Vibhuthi Prasadam and said, 'The fever will go,' and went." "You are indeed blessed. What a rare piece of luck!" I exclaimed. "No one of us has had a vision of Sai Rama as Ramachandramurthy while fully awake and alert." (Thus ends Pedda Bottu's narrative).
