A Life of Service

Bapu.

She is a tiny woman; maybe 5 feet, if she stands on her tiptoes. She might be easy to miss if you are not listening or watching for the invisible.

Bapu is about 82, and is Swamiji’s niece (the daughter of Swamiji’s eldest sister). She lives with Swami Vishwananda, looking after his every need. She came to live with him when he got sick many years ago and has stayed. She knows how to serve; quietly, elegantly and whole-heartedly.

My real relationship with her began two visits before, when our love for each other began to shine in our eyes. I noticed mine lit up when she walked into the room; she would enter so very, very quietly. She almost slips around the door frame; her own light frame silently appearing. The presence of her body is followed by a gentle smile and then her eyes light up and she pours oceans of love into you before she ever so slightly lowers hers to the floor. She refuses help in the kitchen and a small explosion arises when I try to move the dishes off of the table and into the kitchen. ‘It is my duty’ she says, with her eyes shining invisible beams of light straight into my heart and I know that she really means it. “It makes me so happy to serve you…”

She drifts in and out of the room as Swamiji tells me story after story of his experiences with great saints, but today, at the end of the second day of stories and pictures, his stories drifted into the life of Bapu and pictures and stories of her spiritual life came out to lie on the same table where a lifetime of stories about great Masters and those who love to be in their presence, had lain. There she was, with Papa and Mataji. Next came a story of Anandamai Mai and the time that Ma heard this sweet girl (Bapu) singing Bengali chants. Ma was captivated by her voice and would always make Bapu sing…When Anandamai Ma came to Bangalore, Bapu composed a beautiful song to Ma, right on the spot. Everyone in the audience was wildly and appreciatively clapping. Later I came to learn that she plays the Veena and is quite a composer.

When she visited Anandashram, Papa used to ask her to sing Om Sri Ram Sri Ram Jai Jai Ram in the hall. Once when she had chanted for over an hour, Mataji brought her buttermilk to sooth her throat. This picture of Mataji and Papa is very special to both Swamiji and Bapu, as Bapu was allowed to stand next to Papa; something that Swamiji, himself never had the privilege to do.

…And then, in the quiet afternoon, inside the yellow house in Bangalore, in early March, with Swami Vishwananda and myself, Bapu unexpectedly burst into song…For 15 minutes we were treated to the heartfelt Bengali songs that she had also sung for Anandamai Ma. She has stolen my heart one more time.
Jai Ma! Jai Papa! Jai Bapu! Jai Swamiji!