AND MY FATHER, TOO

 
Baba's sister, Mani, was much intrigued with our hot baked biscuits but Mehera always ate so little that it worried me, although she seemed to relish her food. They had their first iced tea and began to like that.

Mani had Baba's vivacity and wit. I wished I could hear more of her anecdotes. In Myrtle Beach when we were looking at some photographs Charmian exclaimed, "Oh, this is Baba's father!"

"Yes, and my father, too," quipped Mani.

She related that in school her seatmate was a little Catholic girl who seemed terribly in love with Jesus, so Mani thought it would make it easier for her to understand Baba by telling her, "You see, my brother was Jesus." Needless to say, the girl never spoke to her again!

It was hard for us to have Mani in silence all the time she was in New York [July, 1952]. Baba had allowed her to observe silence to ease her heartache over not having suffered as much as the others in the accident. I reminded her that she had just had a serious operation in India rendered agonizing because the anesthetic wore off too soon.