the place. Then the Mother quietly said, "Is it possible for anybody and everybody to have that? But you will have it."
The Mother told Radhu, "Radhu, he is your elder brother. Salute him." I wondered, "How's that! I belong to a Kayastha
1 family. Won't it cause me harm if she, a Brahmana girl, salutes me?" At last both of us saluted each other.
One day I had a great desire to take
panthabhat2and asked the Mother for it. She said, "Wait for a while. I'll fry hot chillies and pulse-cake in oil. People in your part of the country are very fond of chillies." The Mother mimicked the tune of a traditional gramaphone record, saying, 'I shan't give you even one less than thirty-two chillies.'
3 Saying this, she began to laugh heartily.
Another day at Jayrambati, the Mother said, "I have to face much hardship, you see, all through the day. Devotees come every minute, one batch following another. There is no end to this. This body of mine is almost at the breaking point. Praying to the Master I have somehow fixed my mind on Radhu and thus kept it on the "worldly plane." It struck me that this was parallel to Sri Ramakrishna's keeping his lofty mind on the worldly plane by clinging to such desires as "I shall drink water" or "I shall smoke." Was not the Mother bearing so much trouble for the good of the many?
While taking leave of the Mother, I said, "Mother, you have millions of children like me, but I have not another Mother like you." On hearing this, the Mother with tears in her eyes endearingly fondled me, touching my chin with her hand.
4 Once I went to Jayrambati to request the Mother to go to Ranchi for a change of climate after her illness. It was the month of Chaitra (March-April). When she heard this proposal, the Mother remarked, "One should not go out in the month of Chaitra. Even Sarat(Swami Saradananda) came here to escort me to Calcutta and stayed here a long time awaiting my convenience. Calcutta should therefore have my preference."
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1 Originally a class of warriors. It is the second in the hierarchy of the Hindu caste system.
2 Boiled rice kept in water overnight-a common dish in rural Bengal.
3 The people of East Bengal are fond of hot chillies and the people of West Bengal make fun of it.
4 The way Indian mothers show affection for their grown-up children.