SO SWEET TO HEAR HIM

 
In December 1924 Baba took us to Bombay on the night train. In those days there was no direct train, so we had to change trains at Dhond in the middle of the night. Baba told us to be ready to leave by five o'clock and, as it was December and would be chilly on the way, He told us to take our warm things and not to catch colds.

We got our things ready, and I had my warm, pink knitted coat lying on my packed bedding. My mother loved to crochet and knit, and she had knitted it for me while I was still at school. It was very loose and came almost to my knees, but it was warm, so I always kept it with me. The pink was a pretty colour, not too bright, and it had a white band knitted into the border.

Baba came into our room with a bundle of light pinkish-mauve cloth in His hand and, to our surprise, He threw this bundle onto the big cotton carpet on our floor still holding one end in His hand. Baba then started to wrap the cloth around His head very, very quickly, looking so beautiful with a slight turn of His head this way, then that way, until His hair was hidden inside a turban! Baba did not want His hair to be seen while we were travelling.

Then He asked us, "Are you all packed and ready? We have to leave in fifteen minutes. Have you left your warm things out?" Baba saw my pink coat lying on my bedding and picked it up asking, "Whose is this?"

"It's mine, Baba," I said. He put the coat on and, because it was knitted, it fitted Him.

"This is a nice, warm coat," Baba said. "Remember to wear it if you feel cold on the train."

Baba looked so lovely in the pink coat and pink turban, but before we got into the tonga to go to the station, He took the coat off.

Now at night when I think of Baba and remember every little thing that we did with Him, I realise that this was the first pink coat that Baba had worn. Baba always wore white or almond-coloured or very pale-blue coats, not pink ones, but at Guruprasad Baba wore a pink coat at darshan time. Someone had given it to Him, and it suited Him, so we said, "Baba, why don't you wear it?" But the very first pink coat Baba wore had been knitted for me by my mother!

We went by tonga from the Post Office to the station. In those days there were very few people at the train station. It was twilight when we arrived, and Baba told us to sit on a bench as we waited for the train, while He began walking from one end of the platform to the other looking so beautiful in the Kamli coat, sandals, sadra and turban.

As Baba walked He began to sing quite loudly at each end of the platform where there were no people, and very softly as He passed us and the others waiting for the train. Baba went back and forth singing loudly and then softly. It was so sweet to hear Him, and it shows He loved music and singing, and how much He suffered in keeping silence for all those years.