"Hasta la vista"

By GSK Rajesh

“Hasta la vista, I’ve to go now but I’ll be back soon”, Swami told me the night before He left His mortal form.

It was a painful fortnight that we all had to bear through during the month of April 2011. Swami was hospitalized and everyday all of us expected news with some ray of hope. My wife had crawled back into her shell and completely focused her thoughts on Swami’s recovery.

The night before the fateful event, I saw Swami dressed in His orange robe, gliding away. I wanted to call Him but felt as if I was immobile. Expending all my force I uttered out in a little squeak - “Swami”. He turned around and said ”Hasta la vista, I’ve to go now but I’ll be back soon”.

I remember waking up at 6 AM the next morning crying and telling my wife that Baba said He was leaving. Aghast, my wife made frantic calls at around 7:30 AM to someone she knew who was treating Swami at the hospital. She got confirmation of the sad news that had occurred. By 10 AM the news had broken on all television channels and the fact had become official news. Those last few days in moribund were very trying days when we had to witness all the suffering that Baba had to undergo.

Afterwards, I kept thinking about the small dialogue that I had with Swami in an out-of-the-world realm. The message that Baba gave seemed straight forward. However, I kept wondering why He spoke to me in Spanish.

Within a week I had switched my job and shifted from Bangalore to Noida. I joined a new organization on May 2nd. The change was welcome as the new job did not spare me enough time to be immersed in sorrow. A month later, our head of department announced that since the department liaises with foreign companies and organizations, we should be trained in at least one foreign language. We were given three options – Arabic, Persian and Spanish. Since our work involved in purchase of crude oil mostly from Middle East Gulf countries, I thought Arabic would be helpful and opted to learn it. Likewise everybody in the department was asked for their choice. It turned out that only two of us including me had opted for Arabic and the rest had chosen Spanish. It was not economically viable to arrange training in Arabic language for just two people. Hence it was decided that everyone be trained in Spanish.

A month later the training began and during the first lesson itself we were taught the meaning of “Hasta la vista”. In Spanish the phrase meant – “Goodbye, see you later”. I was overwhelmed and almost in tears as I remembered Swami’s message that day. More than the simplicity of the message, He had preordained that I would be learning Spanish and conversed with me in His amicable rib-tickling sense at a time when our minds and hearts were filled with pain and sorrow. I am absolutely certain that He meant every single word of it. And as He said, He would definitely be back soon!!!