– SRI G.K.JAVALI (1961)
That memorable night! The night, that I can never forget. One of the bullets from a rifle struck and pierced through one of the steel store bins fitted both sides of a 3-ton lorry. This occurred on the battlefield in the II Great World War on the Burma Front. I was in-charge of an automobile store section in a mobile workshop. I had five 3-ton lorries fitted with steel store bins, two 3-ton lorries empty, a station wagon and a jeep car. The personnel under me were 2 store clerks and 2 store sepoys. When our unit moved to the front, fortunately and unfortunately, in the capacity of in-charge of store section, I selected a place for my store section, a bit away from the unit office and workshop. The vehicles under me were camouflaged and each personnel staff (clerks-sepoys) was allowed to sleep in each lorry in the nights.
This night, the night that I can never forget as said before, I was also sleeping on a camp-cot in between the store bins in a 3-tonner lorry. The sound of the bullet that hit my store bin woke me up and I lowered the tail-board, drew up the canvas that was hung and stood on the tail-board and lo! I was taken aback to hear only the sounds of fire from every side. It might be between 12 to 1 o’clock midnight. I went inside my lorry, took up my sten-gun, filled with ammunition and took a double jump from the tail-board to the ground and from the ground to a trench. As I could not make head or tail of this sudden fire from every side, I guessed the Japanese must have attacked our division or our unit. I pondered for a while for the future course I should adopt and then decided to join our unit personnel at the risk of my life as the distance was pretty long. I jumped out of the trench, crawled between the lorries to waken my staff and take them along with me to join our parent unit. To my astonishment, none were there in the lorries or anywhere in the trenches round about. They had run away leaving me alone in the whole store section area which works up nearly ½ acre.
I got frightened but the adventurous spirit in me pushed up my nerves of guts and I crawled through the bushes to join my unit personnel. When I had crawled through like this for a few minutes, I was able to see the face of a sergeant of our unit from the light of the fire that he shot from the machine gun that he was handling. When I moved further up, that sergeant turned his machine gun towards me but fortunately before he could open fire on me, I bawled out his name so loudly that he could hear me and to my satisfaction he turned his machine gun the other side and started firing. Few minutes later, I joined him and his party and enquired the reason for this random shooting. He was frightened very much at that time and told me that the Japanese have entered inside our division and have smashed the headquarters of our division and cut the communication.
So I thought the last day of my life had come or I was destined to become a prisoner of the Japanese army. But again the adventurous spirit in me pushed up my nerves. I contacted that very night all the sectional heads of our unit and infused confidence in those who were scared.
The random firing from rifles, sten-guns, tommy-guns and machine guns went up to 6 o’clock in the morning next day. Nobody knew where they were aiming at and at whom. The same morning, the Commander of our unit ordered us to abandon all vehicles, vacate our whole workshop area and to go to a nearby area where arrangements were made to set up defence. In that arrangement, I got the command of 12 men, 1 machine gun, 10 rifles and a tommy-gun. I selected a dangerous spot as it was easily accessible to the Japanese, if they wanted to enter our area.
I never believed in God or His powers. Man’s mind could do anything. The modern scientists have completely conquered nature and are on the point of conquering space. The superiority of science over religion dominated the period of my military career.
Now coming to our military operation, it was about 3 P.M. the very day we had moved to the new place, a stray defective motor vehicle, which was abandoned by some other unit in the new area, was ordered by our Officer commanding to be pushed to a ditch or such other place, as the sight of the vehicle may give a clue to the Japanese that the military personnel of the Allies are taking up the defence nearby. Six sepoys were pushing the vehicle from the tail board side behind and a driver at the wheel. Now it had approached my area of command where a turn was to be taken to the right and pushed up further till it was lost sight of in a ditch or a bush. The vehicle had to take a turn to the right but the incidents that followed, before the turn, changed my life forever.
The six sepoys were pushing the vehicle at the tail board end and a driver at the wheel and I, with a helmet on my head and lighted cigarette in my mouth, was standing just one foot away from the vehicle, inspecting the operation. Lo! All of a sudden, from a nearby hill from the back side of the vehicle, the Japanese opened machine gun fire on the vehicle and in a twinkling of my eyes, the tyre was hit and the bullets made many holes on the tail board of the vehicle, bullets passing through in between arms, legs, over and below our bodies, without however hitting anyone of us eight people. We all fled for the shelter in the different trenches nearby immediately.
I was alone in the trench. I was overcome by a power. I just jumped out of my trench uttering “ God, God, God,” stood near the trench, looked at it and by oath told the trench that I would not get in again in my life. I threw my Steel-helmet, again taking an oath that I would never wear it, started dancing with a song “I have no death! I have no death! No bullet can kill me!” At that time I had strength of an elephant and the courage of a lion. When nobody had enough daring to come out of their trenches in the nights, I roamed in the nights all alone fearlessly. I experienced an inward joy welling up from within. In due course, my mind was engaged in contemplation of God, the miracle of our escaping unhurt. Where to find Him and how to find Him became my mental pre-occupation.
After my military career while reading the book on Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, there were times when I felt unfortunate that I was not born then to see the Lilas of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa in general and his worship of his own person instead of the image of Kali-Mata as the embodiment of divinity in particular. Not only that wish of mine was fulfilled by my Divine Mother Sadguru Ramadevi, who performed similar worship at times but also I saw Her, Sree Rama, Lord Krishna, Radha, Mira, Gouranga, Maruti, Saraswati and Shankaracharya.
I am proud and happy I am born in this age of Kaliyuga and have become the disciple of Sadguru Shree Ramadevi who is the incarnation of Adi-Shakti, Para-Shakti.