Srimathi Chandrabai Borkar is one among the few privileged devotees who had the great good fortune of doing service to Baba during his lifetime. Her life is an example to us of how Baba held her hand and led her forward at every step. Her love for Baba was infinite. She was such a devotee that she transformed her own house into a temple of Sai Baba. The temple is called Sri Ram Sai Niwas, on Tilak Road in Ville–Parle, Mumbai.
Mrs. Mangala Borkar, Mrs. Chandrabai Borkar's daughter-in-law, and learnt the details of the close intimacy her mother-in-law had with Baba and the way their house evolved into a temple. The following are her words on Srimathi Mangala Borkar.
"My father-in-law, Sri Chandrarama Borkar, was working on the railways as a mechanical engineer, and his job entailed frequent transfers so his wife was left on her own. As she could not bear to stay alone at home, she used to spend six months with her husband and six months in Shirdi in the presence of Sri Sai Baba. This was eighty years ago when very few people had heard of Baba, and in those days she used to stay in the hotel of Smt. Saradabai Chandorkar. Once Yamubai, the young daughter of Smt. Saradabai, was unwell, so her mother brought her to Baba and told him of her daughter's sickness. Then Baba, pointing to Chandrabai who was sitting beside him, told Smt. Saradabai, "Put her into her lap". She did so, and Yamubai regained her health in no time. From that day onwards my mother-in-law used to look after Yamubai.
Mrs. Bayijabai looked upon Baba with greater love and affection than a brother, and vowed not to eat until after he had eaten. Her son, Tatya Kote Patil, was childless for a long time. Once my mother-in-law importuned Baba to present Tatya with at least one child. Baba said to her, "Yourself and `that fellow' will get children at the same time! Now you get lost..." My mother-in-law was amazed at Baba's words because she was already 50 years old at the time and couldn't believe she could bear a child so late in life. But by the grace of the benevolent Sri Sai Baba, my mother-in-law soon gave birth to a baby boy and he is none other than my husband Sri Rajaram Ramachandra Borkar. Likewise, Tatya also begot a son, who was called Baji Rao Kote Patil.
My mother-in-law was present in the mosque at the time of Baba's death. She poured some water into Baba's mouth and later washed his feet. After Baba's mahasamadhi she became busy with her newborn baby son and decided to settle down in Mumbai and so built a large house in Ville-Parle.
There is a big portrait of Sri Sai Baba at our Ville-Parle residence, painted by Sri Jayakar. Even though Sri Jayakar didn't have any formal training in the art of painting he became an expert artist by the sheer grace of Baba. As his family also lives in Ville-Parle our family-friendship is still thriving to this day and the portrait he painted is still hanging in our house.
My mother-in-law used to celebrate Vijayadasami and Guru Poornima in grand style. Banubai Duhkhande used to come to sing the devotional hymns and people used to attend the celebrations from far and wide. Once, during a festival, a devotee called Vasantrao Gorakshakar had a great experience of Baba's power, which he later told my mother-in-law. Immediately she had a divine impulse to install and consecrate an idol of Baba there. She told us of her wish and we gleefully took part in the efforts to install the statue. This was around 1954, when the wonderful marble statue of Baba was installed in the Samadhi Mandir in Shirdi. The famous sculptor Sri Thalim sculptured this amazing statue. A replica of that statue was installed at `Sai Dham' in Congress House Street.
We went and met the trustee of that temple, Sri Malpekar and he introduced the famous sculptor, Sri Vasant Rao Govekar, to us. So when we consulted one of the trustees of the Shirdi temple - Sri Malpekar - on the matter of making a similar idol, the latter introduced Sri Vasantha Rao Gowekar to us. We commissioned him to make a two-foot tall statue of Baba, and fixed a price for it. Later, when we went to see the statue we were amazed to find that he had made it life-sized. We were concerned that it would cost much more than we were able to pay, but by the grace of Baba, Sri Govekar accepted the price we had negotiated earlier. The statue of Baba, made from a mixture of powdered marble and white cement, is so well- made that it is as if Baba is sitting there in the flesh again.
Our financial position in those days was not so good, so we were not in a position to build a temple. Therefore, we decided to install the statue in our house and convert it into a temple, and thus our residence at Ville-Parle became a temple of Sri Sai Baba. We brought the statue to the house with great ceremony and an impressive procession, and the consecration ceremony went off spectacularly under the guidance of Sri Paley Sastry. My mother-in-law's joy cannot be described. My brother Sudhakar built with his own hands the sanctum where the statue of Baba sits. Unfortunately, a few days later, my mother-in-law died.
I spend most of my time now in the service of Baba. Gradually, the face and form of the temple has become more and more beautiful. We had initially told Sri Govekar that we wanted to consecrate Baba's statue in 1987. Later, on the day of `Akshaya Thadiya' (the third day after the new moon in the first month of Spring) the `Prana Prathishta' (ceremony of installing life into an idol) took place. One may still see the statue, which had been there earlier, near the staircase in the temple.
Until then only the festivals of Guru Poornima and Vijayadasami were celebrated at the temple. However, after the consecration we started to celebrate that day also, on the Tadiya day of Akshaya. On that day we distribute prasad such as roti and curry, savory rice, sheera (a milk preparation) and ladu (sweetmeat) to the devotees.
As I am unwell now, my daughter-in-law Ujwala is carrying on the service to Sri Sai Baba. She does it even more zealously than I did. That such an unusual activity took shape in the hands of an ordinary housewife like me is nothing but the grace of Sri Sai Baba. He is my mother, my father and everything to me."
Mrs Mangala Borker, Ville-Parle, Mumbai
Courtesy of Sai Prasad Magazine, Deepawali Issue, 2000
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