THE PRESENCE OF GOD

MIRACLE IN A SEA RESORT
I was only 11 when I began to feel that there is much more than what we actually see,hear,feel,smell or touch.My family and I decided to spend our weeklong winter vacations in a sea resort named Puri in Orissa.Little did I know then what was in store for me.I did not know how to swim but I was not afraid of being drowned.
So,one fine afternoon I went to the beach along with a new friend from the hotel where we put up and sat very close to the water and was chatting merrily when suddenly,a huge wave came over me,completely engulfed me and before I could actually react I found myself being swept away from the shore.
Then,suddenly I found myself being pulled ashore by my brother who was just behind me.
He was only eight then but he had the common sense to pull me back by pulling on my hair.
I felt relieved for being saved at the nick of time.
But as the afternoon rolled on I started feeling increasingly queasy.
Towards evening, I vomitted out my lunch entirely.
And,then the stomach cramps began.
By night, I started passing watery stools with a lot of blood in them.
My mom became alarmed and asked the hotel management for the doctor but the doctor could not be reached that night.
My frequent forays to the loo and the continuous loss of blood the entire night prevented me from sleeping.
The next day I was simply too weak and groggy to move back and forth from the toilet for my frequent trips and started soiling bedsheets.The hotel manager was extremely kind to get the bedsheets changed frequently and called the doctor again.He subsequently came by and administered medicines but my condition gradually worsened.
Barley water sustained me for three days.My mother kept crying and praying for Grace from God.
On the fourth day a miracle happened.While,my father sat dejected and forlorn in the portico to soak up the morning sunshine one of the hotel lodgers came asking my father about the condition I was in—and as my father started narrating my condition a tall gentleman who was sitting next to my father soaking up the morning sunshine too and reading the newspaper,suddenly looked up and introduced himself as a paediatrician.
He then proceeded to say a very strange story.He said that he arrived at the hotel the previous evening.He suddenly felt this immense urge to go to Puri and so he packed his bags and hopped on a train bound for Puri.He initially went to a more expensive hotel to stay but since all the rooms were booked in that hotel he proceeded to Puri hotel and was dejected to find all the rooms booked in there,too but suddenly as he was about to turn around and leave, a room was vacated at that very moment and he thankfully found a place to stay on this unplanned trip.
And the next morning he found me struggling with life and death.He said that he had brought medicines meant for children along with his luggage just in case he needed to treat some sick children in Puri.He refused any fee for his treatment and medication.
My condition brightened gradually and by the fifth day I began to consume solid food all over again.By the sixth day I gained enough strength to walk up to the beach and enjoy the afternoon sunshine and beautiful sea wind.
On the seventh day we packed our bags and travelled to the train station to board the train back to Kolkata.As we were moving towards our train compartment to board suddenly my mother spotted the tall gentlemen who saved my life in the moving crowd infront of me.She immediately urged me to run to him and express my heartfelt gratitude to him for saving my life.I right away ran towards him but lo behold he suddenly melted into the crowd and simply vanished.I looked everywhere,all around me but he was nowhere to be found.HE WAS GONE.
32 YEARS HAVE GONE BY SINCE THEN BUT THIS PARTICULAR INCIDENT WILL ALWAYS REMAIN A MYSTERY TO ME.