"It is a medical curiosity," my brother-in-law remarked to me one
day. "I have tried everything on your lean sister-cod liver oil,
butter, malt, honey, fish, meat, eggs, tonics. Still she fails to
bulge even one-hundredth of an inch." We both chuckled.
A few days later I visited the Bose home. My errand there took only
a few minutes; I was leaving, unnoticed, I thought, by Nalini. As
I reached the front door, I heard her voice, cordial but commanding.
"Brother, come here. You are not going to give me the slip this
time. I want to talk to you."
I mounted the stairs to her room. To my surprise, she was in tears.
"Dear brother," she said, "let us bury the old hatchet. I see that
your feet are now firmly set on the spiritual path. I want to become
like you in every way." She added hopefully, "You are now robust
in appearance; can you help me? My husband does not come near me,
and I love him so dearly! But still more I want to progress in
God-realization, even if I must remain thin {FN25-2} and unattractive."
My heart was deeply touched at her plea. Our new friendship steadily
progressed; one day she asked to become my disciple.
"Train me in any way you like. I put my trust in God instead of
tonics." She gathered together an armful of medicines and poured
them down the roof drain.
As a test of her faith, I asked her to omit from her diet all fish,
meat, and eggs.
After several months, during which Nalini had strictly followed
the various rules I had outlined, and had adhered to her vegetarian
diet in spite of numerous difficulties, I paid her a visit.
Pages:
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319