INDIRECT YET INTIMATE GOSSIPING

 
It was noticed that when Baba suffered severely He became more communicative. During the period of nine days [seclusion in the Blue Bus, July 1-9, 1949] He often sent messages about His health to the disciples through Kaka who also was observing silence. Baba would dictate the words on the board in Gujarati or express Himself through gestures; Kaka would hurriedly write down the contents on a slate. This slate or note was circulated among the resident people.

The health report freely translated was as follows: "Today I have taken butter-milk twice; yet there is burning, and water is not to be drunk!"

The next note read: "Firstly, there are thoughts; secondly, there are the sittings; thirdly, the fast and along with it this burning!"

The following day the slate conveyed: "I eat nothing; thoughts continue running; I have my sittings; and at night I lie tossing. The cabin hits me in the head every day. Today, the part above the door hit me so hard that I began to feel giddy."

A little later there was an addition. "Don't give these knocks against the low ceiling of the cabin any supernatural interpretations as our dear old Chanji would have done out of his deep, undying love for me. These hard knocks on the skull show us how brave the real YOGIS must have been who lived in dark low-roofed caves, in remote wild jungles."

In this way, while Baba was intensely working in the higher realms of consciousness, such indirect yet intimate gossiping with the disciples, perhaps helped Him to maintain the link with the physical plane.

During this seclusion period, Baba also composed some couplets in Gujarati which Kaka gathered from Baba's gestures. In the last stanza, out of His sense of humor, in addition to Gujarati, Baba used Marathi, Hindi, Urdu, Persian and even English words. The meaning conveyed through it was solemn and profound. I give below a free rendering of the first couplet:

"People feel blessed to have a dip in the holy Ganges but the Ganges itself gets sanctified by 'bathing' in the tears shed by the lovers of God who love Him for the sake of Love. Such lovers become the objects of meditation even for God!"