Champaklal Speaks

Always be Conscious

This was before Mother's second-floor apartment was built. At that time, on the southern side of Mother's salon, under the window opening on the western side, there was an old Japanese seat, on which Mother sat when she worked or met people. It was here that, before going for the Balcony darshan, Mother would write the messages for Biren¹ which have been published in facsimile. And for a period she also had her meals here with Pranab. Beside this Japanese seat, there used to be a big cupboard in which Mother kept the books she gave to people.

Now, for my convenience, a shelf had been fixed between the upper and lower parts of that cupboard. I used it whenever I had to take out the books Mother had chosen to distribute to those who had asked for them. At present, only Mother's seat is there; but then, one big round cushion as high as a chair was kept in front of the seat, so that Mother could stretch out her legs comfortably. This made the passage narrower and one had to be very cautious while getting up not to bang one's head against the shelf that was jutting out.

Sometimes Amrita had to sit there for some work. After he banged his head several times against it while getting up I requested Mother to remove the shelf as she had got it made only for my convenience and it was not absolutely indispensable. But to my repeated requests, she gave the same answer: “One should always be conscious” and refused to remove it. It is still there.