Another day, in the early part of the month of Ashadha (June) the Holy Mother and a few of us were seated at the foot of the tree. It might be about 10 p.m. Suddenly the Mother said, "Look, that mad man has not been coming here for many days. He is stark mad, but sings quite well. Yet, my dear, I am greatly afraid lest he should come here and create a commotion." The sister from Navasan protested, "Why do you think of him, Mother? Suppose your thought turns true, and he pops up here at this time of night !" "Who knows, my dear," rejoined the Holy Mother. I intervened and said, "You are merely imagining. In this weather how can anyone cross the river and come here?" Even as these words came out of my mouth, there stood the mad man, with a palm leaf plume on his head and a bundle of
sajina greens under his arm. "I have brought these greens for you," he said. The sister from Navasan slipped inside, in fright. The Holy Mother said to him, "Go away. Don't make noise at this time of night."
The mad man replied: "How can I go? There is high tide in the river." I intervened saying, "How did you come then?"
The mad man replied: "I swam across."
The Holy Mother now said once again, "My dear fellow, don't make noise." The mad man then went away without a word. For two months the Holy Mother was in this mood often.
On another occasion I was sitting near the Mother in the verandah opposite Radhu's room, writing up the accounts. As a woman devotee passed by carelessly, the end of her cloth brushed my back. The Holy Mother noticed this and was much annoyed. "What is this? This boy is sitting before me and writing; and you are so unmannerly as to go brushing the ends of your cloth against his back! These are Brahmacharins (monastics),and you are women; you should move with due deference towards them. Bow down to him." The Holy Mother said these words in such an irritated voice that all the women of the house, including the woman so addressed, were frightened.
One new Brahmacharin at Koalpara desired to stay with the Holy Mother for a few days. To him the Mother said: "You want to stay with me. But you will have to face many difficulties if you stay here. I have a lot of work, and I am in this jungle with Radhu." But seeing the earnestness of the young man, she continued, "All right; tell Kedar and stay here for a few days," Just at that time, the attendant who looked after Radhu had to go to