Finding a needle in a haystack

Grandfather was a doctor in Mysore and he was one of the best during his time. He had a clinic which was called Lokamba pharmacy.

He was a devotee of Raghavendra Swamy and he always had a prayer or song on Rayaru on his lips. He had practically retired from the profession in the 1980s and he spent his time in reading and writing about Raghavendra Swamy.

He always hummed some lines about Raghavendra Swamy. A great sport, he played Chowka Bara with his grandchildren and his daughter-in-law.

He was fond of  good food and he himself took pains to grind Hittu for Idli and Dosa. In those times, there were no mixers and grinders and the batter (Hittu) had to be manually ground on a grind stone.

His house was always an open house and scores of relatives came, stayed and went. He was hospitable to all of them and always ordered dosas from the nearby Raju Hotel, which was one of the best hotels in Mysore.   

One day in 1982, grandfather was shaving in the morning when he uttered a loud cry.  When his family members rushed to him, he was in pain and he was not able to lift his hand.

He was rushed to hospital where he was diagnosed with bone cancer. The diagnosis was a shock to the family members as he had always been healthy and he had never shown any symptom of any disease.

Further diagnosis revealed another shock. The cancer had spread too far and cure was almost nill. The doctors, however, decided to do what bet they could to save a life.

One of the daughters-in-law of the doctor decided to do seve to Raghavendra Swamy. She did the seve with utmost devotion and madi. She prayed for her father-in-law to be cured of the dreaded disease.

On night, she had a dream in which Rayaru appeared and asked her to find out a needle which had fallen in a haystack. Get me the needle and I will cure the doctor, he said.

The daughter-in-law understood that the disease had spread beyond any cure and even Rayaru could not reverse the irreversible. She, however, continued the seve for the duration which she had promised Rayaru.

Days passed by and the doctor began sinking, No amount of medicine seems to help and he was admitted to KR Hospital. He spent the last few days of his life shuttling between his home and hospital. Although in deep pain, he never was depressed and took things as they came.

He had a deep love for his two brothers. While one of them was in Mysore, the other was in Bangalore. He held on to his life till his brother from Bangalore, also a doctor, came.

The moment his brother from Bangalore came, he was told about it. The doctor turned his head towards the door and tried to look at his brother. That was the last action as he slid into permanent slumber.