After completing my first visit to Banagram Ashram I Went back to Shibpur (Howrah), where I used to live. And soon I went back to my scheduled life circle again ! But the addition was_ frequent visit to Chinu’s house at Kadamtala, whom I met in Banagram Ashram. Chinu or Chinmoy Goswami’s grandmother’s house was at Bhandul. But, actually they were the residents of Sudpur near Katwa (under the district of Purba Bardhaman)! As I started coming to the house of Chinu at Kadamtala again and again, the context of Banagram and Guru Maharaj also came back. Chinu’s grandmother was very much beautiful to look at even in her old age. I came to know that her husband’s house was at the village of Bhandul, near Banagram but he moved to Howrah for the reason of livelihood, where he made a house and used to live in it at Kadamtala area.
After the grandfather’s death_ Chinu, his sister Tuku and their grandmother used to live permanently there. But Chinu’s mother still lived at their own village Sudpur.
Besides these, I used to hear about the establishment of Banagram Ashram, about Guru Maharaj, about Trishan da and other Maharajs etc. from Chinu’s grandmother, as she was connected with the Ashram from the very beginning of it. At that time (1978-1982), if anyone from Ashram had to spend night in Calcutta for any work, he had to stay at Chinu’s grandmother’s house at Kadamtala. Because, there was almost no such devotee of Banagram Ashram in the Calcutta area, where the Brahmacharis or the anyone of the Ashram could spend the night frequently ! There were some devotees like Sambit Sen, but as they belonged to high-standard family(elite society) – so usually no one from the Ashram(except Guru Maharaj) would go there frequently to spend the night. Later, after getting acquainted with Ganga babu in Howrah, the Brahmacharis and Maharajs used to spend the night there, in case of any need. Later in the house of Ramesh da (Ramesh Dutta) of Howrah and much more later, in the house of Manik da (Manik Bose) of Sukhchar, Paramananda devotees- monks and maharajs used to gather frequently for any reasons.
But from the very beginning Trishan da (then Trishan da used to manage the works of Ashram especially outside works) often spent the night at Chinu’s grandmother’s house at Kadamtala.
As Chinu’s grandmother’s house was at Bhandul and as she was associated with Ashram from the very beginning, she knew a lot about the early history of Banagram Ashram. So when she started talking, she used to say those things very much. “Gonsai Thakrun ( Ashoka Bala Devi) of Banagram and Padmavati Thakrun of Bhandul gave the ashram land first” – Chinu’s grandmother used to say these words oftenly. She also told “Guruji’s first hut was built on the land given to him by Swapan Goswami’s mother Ashoka Bala Devi. Now that place is to the west of the ‘Haritaki tree'(terminalia chebula) – where there are rows of big coconut trees, to the south of that place there was a vacant place then. And the place which was given by Padmavati is now on the north-east side of the ‘Haritaki tree’ (terminalia chebula) tree, where now there is a coconut tree, a mango tree and there is a paved road along it. Later, the huge plot with pond and pond edge, the property of Sukumar Babu’s (inhabitant of Kolkata but actually belonging to Midnapur) father- in-law was purchased. The whole land was taken care by a person from Banagram.
The development of the Ashram construction started after that huge property was included after some hassles. Trishan (now Swami Parameshwarananda) fought hard at that time.”
I heard from that Grandma that Guruji also came to her house of Kadamtala a couple of times – Trishan Maharaj brought him with. Guruji loved her grand-daughter Tuku very much. At that time, Tukudi’s husband temporarily abandoned her and her young son. Once the little boy (Debal) ate a lot of tulshi(basil) leaves in the ashram ( he was one and a half to two years old then). At that time almost all parts of the Ashram were empty, and there were lots of tulshi (basil) trees.
Usually Guru Maharaj’s heart would overwhelm when He saw any woman in distress. We had witnessed this matter many times. As usual, in the case of Tuku di – there was no exception. Once I had to return to Howrah from the Ashram. Becoming ready, I went to Guru Maharaj for taking the permission to leave. Then He told me, “Will you leave today ? Ok, but before you go, meet me once. ”
I was little happy to hear that Guru Maharaj had called me for some reasons. So, after taking my meal, I again went to Guru Maharaj’s kuthia.
The door was shut!! I thought whether I would go to his house?? I felt a little scared also thinking that whether I had done a wrong??
Anyway, I went to His room and bowed down my head to Him. He handed me a packet and politely told, “You’ll go to Tuku’s house and give Tuku this packet! ”
The responsibility given by the Guru was so special to me ! So I did not go to Shibpur’s house but I went to Chinu’s house on Kadamtala first.
At that time, when anyone returned from Banagram Ashram, a crowd of devotees would gather around him.
Everyone’s curiosity was to know “what Guru Maharaj said !” The tendency of those curious devotees was to touch him or hug him. Doing this, they thought that they got the touch of Guru Maharaj Swami Paramananda! This situation was gone oneday!!!
Anyway, what a joy of Chinu’s grandmother to see me as I directly came from Banagram Ashram! “You came straight from the Ashram !!”_she astonishingly told. And then she began to repeat the words_ “Give him water!”, “Tuku, make tea for Sridhar!!” Actually, Grandma made me feel uncomfortable by saying these ! Then I took the packet out of the bag carefully and gave it to Tukudi, as per Guruji’s order. They were very much curious to know what was inside !! Chinu’s grandmother opened the packet in front of everyone. When the packet was opened, it was seen that there was money inside. There were different types of notes of different sizes – 100/50/20/10/5. There were money notes as well as coins !! That meant ___He gave all, which was offered by the devotees to him that day as Pranami (money donated or offered by a devotee).
There was also a letter inside. Grandma read the letter aloud. And while reading, she started crying. She also began to say, “Guruji sent money for us! Guruji sent money for us!!” After then she also started to say by herself_ “Guru’s money haven’t to be taken ! Guru has to be paid ! Oh my god !! Don’t touch this money, Tuku ! Take care of it!! When we will go to the Ashram, I will give it to Murari Maharaj (Swami Nishkamananda) adding something more to it! ”
I also saw the letter written by Guru Maharaj __ it was the first time I saw or read the handwritten letter of Guru Maharaj !! It was written in big big letters __as if it was the letter of a person who was less literate !!
The gist of the letter was that __ Tukudi gave a letter to Guruji about her son Debal’s ill health and used “sentimental” words such as ‘the child has no father’ etc. That is why Guru Maharaj gave various consolations to Tukudi in the letter. And at the end He wrote that Debal had to visit a good doctor with the help of that money. If necessary, He would send more!
Tears welled up in everyone’s eyes as we read the letter !!
[Translated by Rajarsi Basak, a student of class Ten of Dhatrigram and corrected by Ramprasad, a former student of Banagram Ashram.]
After the grandfather’s death_ Chinu, his sister Tuku and their grandmother used to live permanently there. But Chinu’s mother still lived at their own village Sudpur.
Besides these, I used to hear about the establishment of Banagram Ashram, about Guru Maharaj, about Trishan da and other Maharajs etc. from Chinu’s grandmother, as she was connected with the Ashram from the very beginning of it. At that time (1978-1982), if anyone from Ashram had to spend night in Calcutta for any work, he had to stay at Chinu’s grandmother’s house at Kadamtala. Because, there was almost no such devotee of Banagram Ashram in the Calcutta area, where the Brahmacharis or the anyone of the Ashram could spend the night frequently ! There were some devotees like Sambit Sen, but as they belonged to high-standard family(elite society) – so usually no one from the Ashram(except Guru Maharaj) would go there frequently to spend the night. Later, after getting acquainted with Ganga babu in Howrah, the Brahmacharis and Maharajs used to spend the night there, in case of any need. Later in the house of Ramesh da (Ramesh Dutta) of Howrah and much more later, in the house of Manik da (Manik Bose) of Sukhchar, Paramananda devotees- monks and maharajs used to gather frequently for any reasons.
But from the very beginning Trishan da (then Trishan da used to manage the works of Ashram especially outside works) often spent the night at Chinu’s grandmother’s house at Kadamtala.
As Chinu’s grandmother’s house was at Bhandul and as she was associated with Ashram from the very beginning, she knew a lot about the early history of Banagram Ashram. So when she started talking, she used to say those things very much. “Gonsai Thakrun ( Ashoka Bala Devi) of Banagram and Padmavati Thakrun of Bhandul gave the ashram land first” – Chinu’s grandmother used to say these words oftenly. She also told “Guruji’s first hut was built on the land given to him by Swapan Goswami’s mother Ashoka Bala Devi. Now that place is to the west of the ‘Haritaki tree'(terminalia chebula) – where there are rows of big coconut trees, to the south of that place there was a vacant place then. And the place which was given by Padmavati is now on the north-east side of the ‘Haritaki tree’ (terminalia chebula) tree, where now there is a coconut tree, a mango tree and there is a paved road along it. Later, the huge plot with pond and pond edge, the property of Sukumar Babu’s (inhabitant of Kolkata but actually belonging to Midnapur) father- in-law was purchased. The whole land was taken care by a person from Banagram.
The development of the Ashram construction started after that huge property was included after some hassles. Trishan (now Swami Parameshwarananda) fought hard at that time.”
I heard from that Grandma that Guruji also came to her house of Kadamtala a couple of times – Trishan Maharaj brought him with. Guruji loved her grand-daughter Tuku very much. At that time, Tukudi’s husband temporarily abandoned her and her young son. Once the little boy (Debal) ate a lot of tulshi(basil) leaves in the ashram ( he was one and a half to two years old then). At that time almost all parts of the Ashram were empty, and there were lots of tulshi (basil) trees.
Usually Guru Maharaj’s heart would overwhelm when He saw any woman in distress. We had witnessed this matter many times. As usual, in the case of Tuku di – there was no exception. Once I had to return to Howrah from the Ashram. Becoming ready, I went to Guru Maharaj for taking the permission to leave. Then He told me, “Will you leave today ? Ok, but before you go, meet me once. ”
I was little happy to hear that Guru Maharaj had called me for some reasons. So, after taking my meal, I again went to Guru Maharaj’s kuthia.
The door was shut!! I thought whether I would go to his house?? I felt a little scared also thinking that whether I had done a wrong??
Anyway, I went to His room and bowed down my head to Him. He handed me a packet and politely told, “You’ll go to Tuku’s house and give Tuku this packet! ”
The responsibility given by the Guru was so special to me ! So I did not go to Shibpur’s house but I went to Chinu’s house on Kadamtala first.
At that time, when anyone returned from Banagram Ashram, a crowd of devotees would gather around him.
Everyone’s curiosity was to know “what Guru Maharaj said !” The tendency of those curious devotees was to touch him or hug him. Doing this, they thought that they got the touch of Guru Maharaj Swami Paramananda! This situation was gone oneday!!!
Anyway, what a joy of Chinu’s grandmother to see me as I directly came from Banagram Ashram! “You came straight from the Ashram !!”_she astonishingly told. And then she began to repeat the words_ “Give him water!”, “Tuku, make tea for Sridhar!!” Actually, Grandma made me feel uncomfortable by saying these ! Then I took the packet out of the bag carefully and gave it to Tukudi, as per Guruji’s order. They were very much curious to know what was inside !! Chinu’s grandmother opened the packet in front of everyone. When the packet was opened, it was seen that there was money inside. There were different types of notes of different sizes – 100/50/20/10/5. There were money notes as well as coins !! That meant ___He gave all, which was offered by the devotees to him that day as Pranami (money donated or offered by a devotee).
There was also a letter inside. Grandma read the letter aloud. And while reading, she started crying. She also began to say, “Guruji sent money for us! Guruji sent money for us!!” After then she also started to say by herself_ “Guru’s money haven’t to be taken ! Guru has to be paid ! Oh my god !! Don’t touch this money, Tuku ! Take care of it!! When we will go to the Ashram, I will give it to Murari Maharaj (Swami Nishkamananda) adding something more to it! ”
I also saw the letter written by Guru Maharaj __ it was the first time I saw or read the handwritten letter of Guru Maharaj !! It was written in big big letters __as if it was the letter of a person who was less literate !!
The gist of the letter was that __ Tukudi gave a letter to Guruji about her son Debal’s ill health and used “sentimental” words such as ‘the child has no father’ etc. That is why Guru Maharaj gave various consolations to Tukudi in the letter. And at the end He wrote that Debal had to visit a good doctor with the help of that money. If necessary, He would send more!
Tears welled up in everyone’s eyes as we read the letter !!
[Translated by Rajarsi Basak, a student of class Ten of Dhatrigram and corrected by Ramprasad, a former student of Banagram Ashram.]