Dr. Ravi Batra first met Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji on August 16, 1964 in a town called Lucknow, U.P. He entered Shri Shri Anandamurtiji’s room around 6 pm with a mind full of skepticism, but came out enchanted and blissful. His Guru advised Ravi to build himself through hard and long meditation in order to serve the people. And hard meditation Dr. Ravi Batra did. However, it created a lot of unexpected problems; so two months later he went to see Shri Shri Anandamurtiji in Jaipur, where he was fortunate to meet Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji again.
Dr. Ravi Batra was then a student at the Delhi School of Economics, and India was one of the poorest nations at that time. As soon as Dr. Batra entered Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji’s room, He forgot his problems and was lost in a blissful state again. As He opened my eyes, Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji started talking to him, and he forced himself to listen to Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji. Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji asked Dr. Batra, “Rabi, as he used to address me some times, what have you been doing over the past two months?”
Ravi said, “BABA, I have been meditating about three to four hours every day, but have faced enormous troubles. I got bad headaches and stomach pain; almost everyone is angry with me. My parents are in shock; even my friends think I have become insane. I don’t understand any of this, especially when I am trying to be helpful to everybody.”
Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji smiled as if my experience was not unusual. He said, “The path of sadhna is studded with thorns, but I will give you one advice. You should surrender your body, mind and soul to Him, and He will make you do whatever is good for you and society. Now tell me what you would like to do for the people.”
Dr. Batra said, “Baba, I would like to eradicate poverty in India.”
Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji’s mood changed all of a sudden; he looked disappointed—even angry. Dr. Batra could not understand what he had done wrong. Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji said sternly, “Rabi, you are very shallow. Your goal in life should be to eradicate poverty around the world. This is my assignment to you. India is not the only poor nation; at some other places, poverty is even worse.”
Dr. Batra was astonished, to say the least. He was a mere student at the time; He had no credentials as an economist. He said, “Sir, How can I possibly fulfill this assignment, when I have not even finished my Master’s degree?”
Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji replied: “The one who gives you work also provides the means to finish that work. I will remain with you all your life, even when you go abroad.” At this point, Ravi interjected: “Did you say ‘abroad,’ Baba? I don’t want to go out of India, when you are here. I can’t imagine ever leaving you.”
Then Shrii Shrii Anadamurtiji said, “No Rabi, you have to go to a foreign land, and indeed you will to fulfill the assignment I have given you.”
Two years later, Dr. Batra left for America to do a Ph. D. in economics, even though he had no interest in doing it. Delhi had become very hostile to him and he just wanted to leave the city and go somewhere else. He received a scholarship from Southern Illinois University, and off he went.
Years passed. He wrote many books on Shrii Shrii Anandamuritji’s theories and philosophy, but they were thoroughly criticized. In spite of his best efforts, He could never convince the experts to minimize wealth concentration so as to eliminate poverty. In fact, He became obsessed with discovering a poverty eradication plan, and worked on a solution almost 10 hours a day, 7 days a week. Finally, His health gave in, and he was diagnosed with leukemia in 2013. His doctor, in fact a team of 3 doctors, indicated that Dr. Batra’s cancer was of the worst type, with no cure in sight. He was told that he had about 6 months to live, although he could prolong his life to 2 years with regular blood transfusions.
Dr. Batra was shaken somewhat, but worried more about his family. He asked the doctors if they could find his blood type from a vegetarian, and they all laughed heartily. One morning in July 2013, Dr. Batra woke up with his heart pulsating hard; He was sure my time had come; so he started to meditate on Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji’s Varabhaya mudra form. He chanted his guru mantra, and said to Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji, “It looks like I am soon coming to you. What a joy it would be to live with you; I am only sad I could not fulfill my assignment. Perhaps I should take the blood transfusion, prolong my life, write a new book and make a last-ditch effort to find a way to eliminate global poverty. What do you say, BABA? “
Immediately, He heard a voice: “Tatha-Astu. (So be it). Go, have a transfusion right away. And don’t worry about a medicine; I have already arranged that for you; you will find it in Washington, DC.”
To cut the story short: Dr. Batra had a blood transfusion that day, which gave him enough energy to go to DC, where the NIH (National Institute of Health) admitted me for a clinical trial on a new medicine. They were especially interested in my case, because he had the worst type of leukemia and was over 65 as well. Fifteen days later, his cancer symptoms were gone. No longer did I have dizzy spells, chronic fatigue, or shortness of breath. He could walk up the stairs effortlessly. Dr. Farooqhi of the NIH said to him, “We have 75 patients for this clinical trial, and except for a 35 year old boy you have had the fastest recovery. Looks like this drug is tailor made for you. What is your secret?”
Dr. Batra’s answer astonished Dr. Farooqi. Batra said, “I am a yogi and my secret is my Guru. I am also doing some other things he has taught me. They include asanas (yoga exercises), healing dance (kaushiki), sun bathing, a special type of healing pranayama, and a home-made oil that keeps my pain under control. Above all, I do a lot of meditation and chant a healing mantra that keeps my anxiety in check.”
This was all mumbo-jumbo to Dr. Farooqi. He said that whatever Batra did produced nothing short of a miracle; he sent Ravi home but asked him to return once a month for regular check-ups.
Upon the advice of his doctors, much to his dismay, Ravi Batra had stopped playing tennis; however, in September He was back on the tennis court, where his friends gave me a hearty welcome. They had missed their regular partner.
Even though the cancer symptoms were all gone, Ravi visited NIH once a month, underwent blood tests and other medical exams, obtained medicine and then returned to Dallas. His health showed a steady improvement. The biggest change was in my hemoglobin, which was once down to five, and was low enough to cause a stroke or a heart attack, none of which ever happened. Now Ravi Batra’s hemoglobin is now above 14, greater than that of his doctor.
In April 2014, as Batra sits in a hotel room in DC, He recapitulated the events of the past year; how he had escaped certain death with Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji’s grace and help. He closed his eyes and meditated on Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji’s form. After about an hour, various chapters of another book came into his vision. Several practical solutions for poverty eradication flashed across his mind. Suddenly, the assignment Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji had given Ravi long ago seemed within reach. The by-product of that thought in a DC hotel is his new book, End Unemployment Now: How to Eliminate Joblessness, Debt and Poverty Despite Congress.
On 30th December 2014, Just 2 days before this was published by Dr. Ravi Batra, he sent me the following email
“Hello Apek
Happy new year. I hope the new year will enable us both to put a little dent in global poverty. My new book will be published on May 12, 2015. It is already listed on amazon.com. Anything you can do now to publicize it through your social media and friends will be highly appreciated. The attachment gives a brief description of its features.
By the way, I feel this is the best book I have ever written, and it fulfills the assignment that Baba gave me in 1964, when I was a mere student. What he foresaw 50 years ago is now going to materialize.
Thanks. Best wishes,
Ravi Batra”
When I accepted Ravi as my mentor, he always advised me to keep my spiritual life away from my professional life. Well, Just like ideas strike Ravi with grace of Guru, so have ideas striked my mind with grace of same Guru and I could come up with a solution to sustain the progress of most capital intensive and knowledge intensive business in this world. Today, I am a popular industry blogger and a respected macroeconomist…perhaps…First ever engineer in this world to provide solutions to economic problems facing High Tech industry. While, Ravi deals with the social and financial aspects of economy in his works, I deal with business and technology in my newly released book “Mass Capitalism : A Blueprint for Economic Revival”.
I developed my interest in economics after reading the book “The Downfall of Capitalism and Communism. Can Capitalism be Saved?” by Ravi Batra. The title of my first book is also a brainchild of Ravi Batra for which I am indebted to him.
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