When she was five years old, Elaiyarani Subramaniam fell from the parapet of a third-storey apartment.

Rani, as she was known to friends and family, was visiting her maternal grandmother in Clementi that day. 

Rani was being looked after by an aunt who was welcoming guests at the entrance to the flat. 

Rani knew that surviving the fall when she was five was a miracle. But it was only much later that she realised who had saved her.

Her aunt placed Rani on the parapet, and kept one hand on Rani’s lap as she chatted with the guests.

As her aunt laughed, she unknowingly removed her hand. Rani fell with her back towards the rocky carpark below.

Rani, now 32 and a personal assistant to a university professor, told Salt&Light that she recalls thinking: “Rani, you are flying and now there is a wind.” 

A strong wind came and pushed her diagonally towards a green grass patch.

Rani felt a strong wind and was not afraid when she fell off the parapet.

“I was neither worried nor afraid,” she said.

“It was a sudden feeling. I felt safe floating in the air.

“I only realised I had fallen when I landed on my back on the grass patch. There was a car parked in front of me.”

Rani did not suffer any injuries. 

A gifted child

When Rani’s mother found out about the fall years later, she said: “You are a gifted child from God, since you were saved in a miraculous way!” 

A young Rani wondered who this God was.

“He chose to save me without waiting for me to declare that He is my Lord or Saviour,” said Rani.

Rani details this account in the first chapter of her book, A Daughter Saved By The King, released in April. 

Crown symbols in the book denote instances of when and how God saved her. 

Each of the nine chapters, which she wrote with God’s prompting, is based on a Hebrew name of God. Each shows a different facet of her Saviour and King whose faithfulness she has encountered over and over again.

The first chapter – ‘Jehovah-Hoshe’ah – The Lord who Saves’ – also documents how Rani came to know the God who saved her from that fall.

Prayer for good results

Rani was waiting her GCE ‘A’ Level results in 2009 when a Christian friend called her. 

He asked Rani if she had any prayer requests as a pastor from India was at his home. 

Rani asked to speak to the pastor. She told him that she needed prayers for a good score in her ‘A’ Levels.

The pastor told her to kneel and he started praying. 

He said in Tamil: “Sister, Jesus loves you and you are a gifted child from God … because He saved your life with a strong wind.”

Remembering her fall years before, Rani starting sobbing. She had finally found the answer that she had been seeking. She accepted Christ as her Lord and Saviour.

Rani told Salt&Light: “He proved His greatest love to me when I had that fall. And He chose to save me without waiting for me to declare that He is my Lord or Saviour.

“Everything I have in life is from Him and I give my all to Him. I can testify how good He is and He is always working even when we don’t acknowledge Him.”

The ultimatum

God would continue to reveal His love and faithfulness to her over the years. Even when a 12-year relationship ended painfully.

A few years after letting go of a 12-year relationship, Rani saw God’s protective hand in the decision.

Things were smooth-sailing when they first started dating. But started getting rocky as the years went by.

But they proceeded to plan for their wedding and applied for a BTO (built-to-order) HDB flat in 2014.

In the middle of that year, he began avoiding her. Finally, he gave her an ultimatum: He told her to choose between him and Jesus Christ. He was a believer of another faith.

It was impossible for Rani to choose between her love of 12 years and the God who saved her. Both were important to her.

As she cried at night, she heard a voice that said: “Just trust Me.”

Rani searched the words “just trust Me – Jesus” on Google.

The image that appeared showed a girl holding a small teddy bear, looking at Jesus who had a big teddy bear behind Him.

The image that came up when Rani googled “just trust Me – Jesus”. It helped her understand that God had better plans for her. Photo by hiswordaboveall on Instagram. 

Rani understood that God had better plans for her and chose Jesus over the relationship.

Emptying herself

Rani’s boyfriend cut her off and cancelled all their plans for their future together. 

She took comfort in the song Before the Morning. A line from the song, “But you’ll see the bigger picture” showed her that God’s plans were better for her. 

Rani’s father could not bear to see her so depressed after the relationship ended.

When he asked Rani what she wanted in life, she asked for his permission to be baptised. That would make her happy and complete, she said.

Even though her father was a believer of another faith, he gave his approval and attended her baptism in March 2015.

Matthew 10:39 was the first verse that spoke deeply to Rani’s heart as she let go of the 12-year relationship.

“It became my life verse because I learnt to empty myself before the Lord and there are many times I had to lose my own interests for His sake,” she said.

“I could see how He gave and still gives me a life full of overflowing goodness, joy and blessings that are beyond my imagination.”

Verses such as Isaiah 55:9 and Jeremiah 29:11, which spoke of God’s sovereignty and faithfulness, encouraged her.

And as she read the Bible, Psalm 51:10-12 guided her change of heart, and she grew in her relationship with God. 

Rani’s life verse, Matthew 10:39 is painted on her wall as a reminder of the One who provides for her.

A few years ago, Rani learned from a newspaper report that her ex-boyfriend had been charged with a sexual offence. 

She cried tears of joy. God had saved her once again – this time from a marriage that could have hurt her even more.

Through His lens

Since realising she is “a daughter saved by the King”, Rani desires to live her life doing His will. She “sees things through His lens and understands people through His heart”.

She wrote in her book: “I began to experience a new life in Christ.”

She started a women’s ministry in 2018 to journey with women who are hurting like she once was. Among them are women from broken families.

It started unofficially with a group chat she called “Yes to God; No to world”. She is in the process of making the ministry more official.

“It’s a way for me to share that ‘Hey, God loves you and there’s a beautiful life ahead when you put your trust in Him.'”

More than 200 copies of Rani’s book have been sold since its launch in April. Her testimonies have prompted one person to buy a Bible, with many more people saying that they have been encouraged by her story. Photo from adaughtersavedbytheking on Instagram.

Rani tells of her encounters with her Saviour and King through her book, which she was prompted to write in 2016.

About 50 people – including her immediate family  – were present at the book launch in April.

They include Rani’s mum who accepted Christ two years ago.

She was thankful for her family’s presence. Most of them are of a different faith, and it was the first time they attended a significant event in her faith journey, which has included her graduation from Tung Ling Bible School. 

Order A Daughter Saved By The King here, and find out more about it here. 

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