I think one reason, and a very strong one, for his definite belief system when it came to religion was that he was never indoctrinated. At the age of four he left home so his views were his own, he was not swayed by religious sentiments of anyone. Moreover, I do not think that even my grandparents were very religious.
Religion, especially belief in a personal God, was not important for him. I don’t think he ever asked for favours from any God. He did not also thank God for what he had got. He believed in work and that was his worship. Being a mathematician he had a logical mind and was not bothered about faith and power of religion.
A very famous baba came to Shimla in 2009. There was a lot of excitement in my house; my in-laws too came for his darshan and so had my mother – all devout fans of the baba. The day baba had to come to Shimla both Mamma and Rohit’s mother left for the temple where baba had to stay. The duty to take Dadoo and Rohit’s father for darshans fell on us. Rohit and I thought that the best place would be the airport where baba was to land. It will be quick and easy, so all of us moved towards the Jubbarhatti Airport, some twenty-four kilometres from Shimla.
Here is the conversation that took place between Dadoo and Pita-ji (my father-in-law). It was unnerving for me as much as it amused Rohit.
Pita-ji, ‘Verma Sahib we are very lucky to be graced by baba.’
‘Why so?’ Dadoo asks.
Pita-ji looks at him in surprise, ‘Baba is coming to Shimla and we will be able to have his darshan.’
‘Oh, but don’t you go to his ashram every year?’ Dadoo says unaffected by the madness surrounding the baba.
‘That is different; baba’s presence here in Shimla means we are all blessed. Moreover, you know he is not well but still he has come.’
‘What is wrong?’ Dadoo asks curiously.
‘He has gone through a very tough time, he had a hip replacement and he can’t walk and then he has high cholesterol,’ explains Pita-ji.
‘How will a handicapped man take care of others when he can’t take care of himself?’ Dadoo comments.
Rohit giggles. I am so tensed I will burst.
Pita-ji glowers. Dadoo looks back innocently and then adds, ‘I mean what kind of baba is he, if he has become sick himself.’
Pita-ji is quiet for some time. I can understand. No one till now must have talked about baba like this in front of him. After sometime Pita-ji says, ‘He has taken all the misery and disease of other people onto him.’
Dadoo looks at him aghast and then looks at me for help and whispers, ‘He really believes in all this nonsense?’ I pinch him hard. Rohit hears him and laughs aloud. Dadoo has a friend now, no one can stop him. He ignores me totally and says, ‘Do you know he is a dhongi [fake],’ I pinch him harder, terrified now.
Pita-ji is in a shock, he doesn’t know what to say and Dadoo goes on. ‘You should not believe in these babas,’ he explains patiently. After a few seconds of shock Pita-ji retorts back, ‘Baba is not like that, all the other babas are dhongis. I tell my wife not to believe them.’
‘How can you say that?’ Dadoo asks innocently.
Pita-ji snaps angrily, ‘Of course, I know. They are all dhongis but our baba is not one of them.’
Dadoo says, ‘If I say that others are all true and this baba is dhongi.’
I am definitely alarmed I pinch him hard and hiss, ‘Chup ho jao, chup ho jao [please keep quiet].’
He laughs and looks at Rohit for support who, of course, gives him with a smiling face, ‘It is all in the head because you believe in him so you think he is true, the others believe in the other babas so they think they are true. You cannot say which one is a dhongi and which one is not and I must tell you, all of them are dhongis.’
I can feel Pita-ji’s anger vibrating loud and clear, no one has the guts to speak in front of him like this and then Dadoo goes on further, ‘I am surprised at you.’
I am so alarmed now that I loudly say, ‘Dadoo, chup ho jao, bahut ho gaya [keep quiet. Enough is enough]! ’
‘What? What?’ he says innocently. ‘It is an open discussion or do I have to keep quiet because yeh tere sasurji hai [he is your father-in-law]?’ He says laughingly, ‘He is also my friend and colleague of years.’ He looks smilingly at Pita-ji who glares back at him.
This frightens me and thankfully makes Dadoo quiet. No one speaks for the rest of the journey. We reach the airport; and realize there are about hundred people there already. Dadoo doesn’t like our quiet company and leaves to mingle with the devotees. He is having a good time conversing with them, while Pita-ji is standing aloof.
About two hours have passed and the baba has still not come, probably Dadoo gets bored because he picks a fight with about four-five volunteers; Dadoo is shouting at them and they are all shouting at him.
‘What is wrong?’ I intervene anxiously.
Dadoo is angry, ‘I am telling them that there are so many old people here, old women and men, who have come to have darshan and they should be given priority to stand in front. Look at all these children and young ladies and the seva dal people, they are taking the best positions. The old people are being brushed aside. Do they believe less than these people in front? Isn’t it our duty to take care of the elderly who have been standing for hours.’ He is spitting fire, I try to pacify him.
The seva dal members are angry too. I look around. Dadoo is right: youngsters between the age group of ten and twenty-five are lined on one side in the front queue. It is clear that all of them are children of the volunteers, on the other side are middle-aged men in scarves – the volunteers themselves. The elderly people, about fifteen to twenty, including Pita-ji are somewhere at the back, not visible.
Dadoo again starts shouting, ‘Old people can’t see properly, they have weak eye sight, with so much of difficulty they have come here, is it not right to allow them to stand in front?’
I pacify him with great difficulty and bring him to where Pita-ji is standing, worried why Dadoo is fighting with people. Thankfully after about fifteen minutes baba’s plane lands and his car crosses us. All three of us, Dadoo, Rohit and I could see him closely, the people gathered around are pushing and pulling each other. After baba left I ask Pita-ji, ‘Did you see baba, Pita-ji?’ He shakes his head, ‘There was too much rush, I could not see him,’ he says with sadness.
I feel bad for Pita-ji and then Dadoo throws the bombshell, ‘You are such a genuine devotee of his but you could not see him, and we the frauds, we saw him. Yeh kaisa Bhagwan hai. Mere samajh se bahar hai [I fail to understand what kind of God is this].’ In all the chaos and noise thankfully Pita-ji doesn’t hear him. Dadoo says to Rohit, ‘Beta now you have to manage the darshan of baba for your father. It is important for him, he believes in him, find a way out.’