In the last episode, I suddenly used the word “beautiful ideal friend” for Guru Maharaj. Many people may object a little about that. The fact was that then I was just a new-comer. I was not so devoted to him at all ! For that I could think of him as a ‘friend’ that time, although He was much older than me . Nevertheless, let me tell about the matter_why I thought such.
As soon as Guru Maharaj left the seat (at Mukherjee’s house), my friend Nagen (Nagen became my friend, just in two days connection) said that he would go to the Ashram with Guru Maharaj, because he used to do it every night. If I wished to go, I had to hurry ! I was also ready to follow them. Gurumaharaj did not go out through the front door(through which Nagen and I came out) that day but went through a little alley on the right side. There was Ganguly’s house – the old mother of that house was still alive at that time.(The mother of N’kaka was also alive then. And Guru Maharaj used to address both of them as “Buro ma”.) He talked to her(Ganguli’s mother) for a while and then started walking. We saw that ‘Mejo Bou'(Gorachand Ganguli’s wife) of that house came out with Guru Maharaj . Then she began to talk with Him in a very low voice while walking, till the gate of the the Kali Temple. This forced us (me and Nagen) to become slow to go to the Ashram. Then she gave a small tiffin box in Guru Maharaj’s hand and left bidding good bye to Him. (Guru Maharaj did not eat rice, bread, etc. at that time. He used to take a little cooked vegetable then. We would often see that Hari Maharaj or Dipti Maharaj used to carry some cooked vegetables in a pot from their(Mukherjee’s) house. Then
Guru Maharaj started walking to the Ashram. Guruji’s walking was called ‘Shiv chalan’ (Himalayan sadhus gave this name.) which meant ‘walking very fast’. Once he went ahead, who else could take his company!!
So,Nagen ran a little ahead with his flickering torch and me also (Let me say one thing here that I used to see that Guru Maharaj’s two-cell “Eveready” torch had always a bright light and Nagen’s old plastic-torch had always a flickered light.). As soon as we went beside him, Guru Maharaj slowed down a little. Slowing down, He lowered his voice and asked Nagen about some secret incidents of a family in the village (which was told by ‘Mejo Bou’ just before.) He didn’t care that I was there(being a new-comer, I felt uneasy with these conversations ) ! Though Nagen was his former acquainted but I was new to Him. There was no end of the discussions that began ! They started to talk about some people of Banagram and they(Nagen and Guru Maharaj) were making fun showing that people’s gesture etc.till we reached the Ashram!
At that time, the road to the Ashram from the village, used to be very empty within 9:00 p.m to 9:30 p.m. So there were only ‘we’, the three men walking on that dusty road . Off and on, He(Guruji) was laughing loudly with the Nagen’s words. Seeing this all, I was thinking then_” How friendly the man is !”
Anyway, already I got a good friend like Nagen, besides that Guru Maharaj was supposed to be friendly. So, I made sure to myself that even if I left the next day, I would come back to Banagram as soon as I got the chance !
On our way back, after taking Guru Maharaj to His cottage, I talked to Nagen a lot about him and Guru Maharaj! This will be mentioned later….!!(To be continued).
[Translated by Rajarsi Basak, a student of class ten and corrected by Ramprasad, a former student of Banagram Ashram.]
As soon as Guru Maharaj left the seat (at Mukherjee’s house), my friend Nagen (Nagen became my friend, just in two days connection) said that he would go to the Ashram with Guru Maharaj, because he used to do it every night. If I wished to go, I had to hurry ! I was also ready to follow them. Gurumaharaj did not go out through the front door(through which Nagen and I came out) that day but went through a little alley on the right side. There was Ganguly’s house – the old mother of that house was still alive at that time.(The mother of N’kaka was also alive then. And Guru Maharaj used to address both of them as “Buro ma”.) He talked to her(Ganguli’s mother) for a while and then started walking. We saw that ‘Mejo Bou'(Gorachand Ganguli’s wife) of that house came out with Guru Maharaj . Then she began to talk with Him in a very low voice while walking, till the gate of the the Kali Temple. This forced us (me and Nagen) to become slow to go to the Ashram. Then she gave a small tiffin box in Guru Maharaj’s hand and left bidding good bye to Him. (Guru Maharaj did not eat rice, bread, etc. at that time. He used to take a little cooked vegetable then. We would often see that Hari Maharaj or Dipti Maharaj used to carry some cooked vegetables in a pot from their(Mukherjee’s) house. Then
Guru Maharaj started walking to the Ashram. Guruji’s walking was called ‘Shiv chalan’ (Himalayan sadhus gave this name.) which meant ‘walking very fast’. Once he went ahead, who else could take his company!!
So,Nagen ran a little ahead with his flickering torch and me also (Let me say one thing here that I used to see that Guru Maharaj’s two-cell “Eveready” torch had always a bright light and Nagen’s old plastic-torch had always a flickered light.). As soon as we went beside him, Guru Maharaj slowed down a little. Slowing down, He lowered his voice and asked Nagen about some secret incidents of a family in the village (which was told by ‘Mejo Bou’ just before.) He didn’t care that I was there(being a new-comer, I felt uneasy with these conversations ) ! Though Nagen was his former acquainted but I was new to Him. There was no end of the discussions that began ! They started to talk about some people of Banagram and they(Nagen and Guru Maharaj) were making fun showing that people’s gesture etc.till we reached the Ashram!
At that time, the road to the Ashram from the village, used to be very empty within 9:00 p.m to 9:30 p.m. So there were only ‘we’, the three men walking on that dusty road . Off and on, He(Guruji) was laughing loudly with the Nagen’s words. Seeing this all, I was thinking then_” How friendly the man is !”
Anyway, already I got a good friend like Nagen, besides that Guru Maharaj was supposed to be friendly. So, I made sure to myself that even if I left the next day, I would come back to Banagram as soon as I got the chance !
On our way back, after taking Guru Maharaj to His cottage, I talked to Nagen a lot about him and Guru Maharaj! This will be mentioned later….!!(To be continued).
[Translated by Rajarsi Basak, a student of class ten and corrected by Ramprasad, a former student of Banagram Ashram.]