“‘This is my last day of service to you
on earth,’ Roma replied. A short time later
she had a heart attack. As her son was rushing
out for aid, she said:
“’Son, do not leave me. It is no
use; I shall be gone before a doctor could arrive.’
Ten minutes later, holding the feet of her husband
in reverence, Roma consciously left her body, happily
and without suffering.
“Satish became very reclusive after his wife’s
death,” Bishnu continued. “One day
he and I were looking at a large smiling photograph
of Roma.
“‘Why do you smile?’ Satish suddenly
exclaimed, as though his wife were present. ’You
think you were clever in arranging to go before me.
I shall prove that you cannot long remain away from
me; soon I shall join you.’
“Although at this time Satish had fully recovered
from his sickness, and was enjoying excellent health,
he died without apparent cause shortly after his strange
remark before the photograph.”
Thus prophetically passed my dearly beloved eldest
sister Roma, and her husband Satish-he who changed
at Dakshineswar from an ordinary worldly man to a
silent saint.
{FN22-1} Goddess.
{FN22-2} The Hindu wife believes it is a sign of spiritual
advancement if she dies before her husband, as a proof
of her loyal service to him, or “dying in harness.”
I RECEIVE MY UNIVERSITY DEGREE
“You ignore your textbook assignments in philosophy.
No doubt you are depending on an unlaborious ‘intuition’
to get you through the examinations. But unless
you apply yourself in a more scholarly manner, I shall
see to it that you don’t pass this course.”
Professor D. C. Ghoshal of Serampore College was addressing
me sternly. If I failed to pass his final written
classroom test, I would be ineligible to take the
conclusive examinations. These are formulated
by the faculty of Calcutta University, which numbers
Serampore College among its affiliated branches.
A student in Indian universities who is unsuccessful
in one subject in the A.B. finals must be examined
anew in all his subjects the following year.
My instructors at Serampore College usually treated
me with kindness, not untinged by an amused tolerance.
“Mukunda is a bit over-drunk with religion.”
Thus summing me up, they tactfully spared me the embarrassment
of answering classroom questions; they trusted the
final written tests to eliminate me from the list of
A.B. candidates. The judgment passed by my fellow
students was expressed in their nickname for me-"Mad
Monk.”
I took an ingenious step to nullify Professor Ghoshal’s
threat to me of failure in philosophy. When the
results of the final tests were about to be publicly
announced, I asked a classmate to accompany me to
the professor’s study.
“Come along; I want a witness,” I told
my companion. “I shall be very much disappointed
if I have not succeeded in outwitting the instructor.”
