Latest / Margaret Sanger; an autobiography / 47 - Margaret Sanger; an autobiography by Margaret Sanger
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Chapter thirty seven, Part two of Margaret Sanger by Margaret Sanger.
- 0:07Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter thirty seven,
- 0:13Speaker 1: Part two, Who Could Take a Dream for Truth? We
- 0:19Speaker 1: were met at the station at Wardha by a covered
- 0:23Speaker 1: two wheeled cart, a tonga, very clean with little steps
- 0:28Speaker 1: leading up, and drawn by a cream colored bullock. Since
- 0:33Speaker 1: there were no seats, we sat flat on the bottom
- 0:37Speaker 1: and were pulled leisurely and slowly along dusty roads to
- 0:42Speaker 1: the Ashram. Gandhi was cross legged on the floor of
- 0:46Speaker 1: a room in a large squarish structure, a white cloth
- 0:51Speaker 1: like a sheet around him. He rose to greet me
- 0:55Speaker 1: as I entered, with an armful of books and flowers
- 0:59Speaker 1: and magazine and gloves that I had not realized were
- 1:03Speaker 1: there until we tried to take each other by both hands.
- 1:07Speaker 1: He beamed and I laughed. Perhaps even more exaggerated than
- 1:13Speaker 1: his pictures was Gandhi's appearance. His ears stuck out more prominently,
- 1:20Speaker 1: his shaved head was more shaved, his toothless mouth grinned
- 1:26Speaker 1: more broadly, leaving a great void between his lips. But
- 1:32Speaker 1: around him and a part of him, was a luminous aura.
- 1:37Speaker 1: And once you had seen this, the ugliness faded, and
- 1:41Speaker 1: you glimpsed the something in the essence of his being
- 1:45Speaker 1: which people have followed and which has made them call
- 1:48Speaker 1: him the Mahatma. This was Monday, Gandhi's day of silence,
- 1:54Speaker 1: of meditation and prayer. He was so besieged by problems
- 2:00Speaker 1: and difficulties on which he had to decide that this
- 2:03Speaker 1: one twenty four hours he reserved for himself without interruption.
- 2:09Speaker 1: Therefore he merely smiled and nodded his head. And then Anna,
- 2:15Speaker 1: Jane and I were escorted along a gravel path to
- 2:19Speaker 1: the guest house, perhaps a hundred yards away, a building
- 2:23Speaker 1: of four rooms, rough hewn, white plastered walls, the upper
- 2:29Speaker 1: section open for ventilation. On the uneven stone floor stood
- 2:35Speaker 1: two mattressless cots on which our bedding was spread. A
- 2:40Speaker 1: roof pole in the center had a circular shelf which
- 2:44Speaker 1: served as table or chairs according to need. Bowls of
- 2:49Speaker 1: porridge and milk were brought, sweetened with either honey or
- 2:53Speaker 1: burnt sugar. I could not tell which, but it was
- 2:57Speaker 1: very pleasant. I asked no questions about its being boiled,
- 3:02Speaker 1: or whether it was goats or cow's milk, although I
- 3:05Speaker 1: happened not to be hungry. Down it went just the same.
- 3:11Speaker 1: From Tiffin on we inspected the cotton growing, the paper making,
- 3:17Speaker 1: the oil press, and the irrigation by means of old
- 3:21Speaker 1: fashioned turn wheels. I was not enthusiastic. It seemed so pitiable,
- 3:27Speaker 1: an effort like going backward instead of forward, and trying
- 3:33Speaker 1: to keep millions laboring on petty hand processes merely in
- 3:38Speaker 1: order to give them work to do by which they
- 3:40Speaker 1: might exist. In the evening, Gandhi wrote on his slate
- 3:45Speaker 1: that next morning I could join him in his walk.
- 3:49Speaker 1: This was his regular exercise, occupying about an hour. He
- 3:55Speaker 1: took quite good care of himself physically, observing rules of
- 3:59Speaker 1: health and diet rigidly and strictly he had to in
- 4:04Speaker 1: order to perform the tremendous quantity of labor always facing him.
- 4:10Speaker 1: After we had ascended to the roof for evening prayers,
- 4:14Speaker 1: our cots were moved out on the terrace, under the
- 4:17Speaker 1: moon and stars and the glorious limitless sky overhead. Lights
- 4:23Speaker 1: shimmered along the path to the main house, but for
- 4:26Speaker 1: the rest all was darkness. I never was more conscious
- 4:31Speaker 1: of nature's stillness, or of more constant stirrings from human beings.
- 4:37Speaker 1: The echoing chant from the village near by, singing, calling, laughing, dogs, barking.
- 4:45Speaker 1: The sounds wafted clearly through the cool and crisp air,
- 4:49Speaker 1: while not a leaf on the trees trembled. At four,
- 4:54Speaker 1: the bells rang out for morning prayers, and at six
- 4:58Speaker 1: Joseph came to tell me the hour, and I arose
- 5:02Speaker 1: and dressed. Gandhi and I walked with his other two
- 5:06Speaker 1: women guests. They deemed sacred every moment they spent with him. Men,
- 5:13Speaker 1: women and children waited for him as he passed, several
- 5:18Speaker 1: prostrating themselves as to a holy person, stepping over the debris.
- 5:24Speaker 1: We traversed narrow byways through the open fields, where families
- 5:29Speaker 1: huddled in their tiny huts together with dogs and goats.
- 5:34Speaker 1: People were bathing and washing and cleaning their teeth. Little
- 5:38Speaker 1: spirals of smoke were drifting from the fires for the
- 5:42Speaker 1: morning meal. At eleven, we all went to our breakfast
- 5:47Speaker 1: across the court, leaving our shoes outside. Everybody was ready,
- 5:53Speaker 1: and great shining trays of silver looking metal were placed
- 5:58Speaker 1: before us on the floor. Gandhi was trying to persuade
- 6:02Speaker 1: the Indians to utilize native grown vegetables in different ways
- 6:07Speaker 1: and thus increase their vitamin consumption. Missus Gandhi supervised the
- 6:13Speaker 1: culinary department and herself served the meal, of which there
- 6:18Speaker 1: was a goodly and varied supply, no meat, but plenty
- 6:23Speaker 1: of fruits and vegetables, and curious combinations such as tomatoes
- 6:28Speaker 1: and oranges and a salad. All picked up their food
- 6:33Speaker 1: with their fingers, mixing it and scooping it in very cleverly,
- 6:38Speaker 1: without dropping a morsel. So numerous were Gandhi's adherents, so
- 6:45Speaker 1: deep his influence, that I was sure his endorsement of
- 6:49Speaker 1: birth control would be of tremendous value if I could
- 6:53Speaker 1: convince him how necessary it was for Indian women. After breakfast,
- 6:59Speaker 1: I set myself to the task. He spoke fluent English
- 7:04Speaker 1: in a low voice, with accurate intonations, never lacking for
- 7:09Speaker 1: a word, and could apparently discuss any subject near or far. Nevertheless,
- 7:16Speaker 1: I felt his registering of impressions was blunted. While you
- 7:21Speaker 1: were answering a question of his, he held to an
- 7:24Speaker 1: idea or a train of thought of his own, and
- 7:28Speaker 1: as soon as you stopped, continued it as though he
- 7:31Speaker 1: had not heard you. Time and again, I believed he
- 7:35Speaker 1: was going along with me, and then came the stone
- 7:39Speaker 1: wall of religion or emotion or experience, and I could
- 7:44Speaker 1: not dynamite him over this obstacle. In fact, despite his
- 7:49Speaker 1: claim to open mindedness, he was proud of not altering
- 7:54Speaker 1: his opinions. Gandhi maintained that he knew women and was
- 8:00Speaker 1: in sympathetic accord with them personally. After listening to him
- 8:05Speaker 1: for a while, I did not believe he had the
- 8:08Speaker 1: faintest glimmering of the inner workings of a woman's heart
- 8:12Speaker 1: or mind. He accused himself of being a brute by
- 8:16Speaker 1: having desired his wife when he was younger, and classed
- 8:20Speaker 1: all sex relations as debasing acts, although sometimes necessary for procreation.
- 8:29Speaker 1: He agreed that no more than three or four children
- 8:33Speaker 1: should be born to a family, but insisted that intercourse
- 8:37Speaker 1: therefore should be restricted for the entired married life of
- 8:41Speaker 1: the couple to three or four occasions. I suggested that
- 8:47Speaker 1: such a regimen was bound to cause psychological disturbances and
- 8:52Speaker 1: both husband and wife. Furthermore, when respect and consideration and
- 8:58Speaker 1: reverence were part of a relationship, I called it love,
- 9:03Speaker 1: not lust, even if it found expression in sex union
- 9:07Speaker 1: with or without children. Gandhi referred me to nature, the
- 9:13Speaker 1: great director, who would solve our problems if we depended
- 9:17Speaker 1: on her, But said, what we were doing was to
- 9:20Speaker 1: inject man's ideas into nature. To this, I replied, how
- 9:26Speaker 1: can you differentiate? Here is cotton growing on your land
- 9:30Speaker 1: and lemons also, that's nature. Would you object to dipping
- 9:35Speaker 1: cotton into lemon juice and using that as a contraceptive?
- 9:41Speaker 1: He said positively that he would for every argument I presented.
- 9:47Speaker 1: He countered with, I would devise other methods, but proposed
- 9:52Speaker 1: none that was not based on continence. He reiterated that women,
- 9:58Speaker 1: in order to control the size of their families, must
- 10:01Speaker 1: resist their husbands in extreme cases leave them. Those who
- 10:07Speaker 1: listened to the interview declared that the Mahatma made concessions
- 10:12Speaker 1: he had never made before. He himself said to me,
- 10:16Speaker 1: this has not been wasted effort. We have certainly come
- 10:20Speaker 1: nearer together. Nevertheless, I knew it was futile to count
- 10:25Speaker 1: Angandhi to help the movement in India. His state of
- 10:29Speaker 1: mind would not change. After reading his autobiography, I thought
- 10:35Speaker 1: I saw the cause of his inhibitions. He himself had
- 10:39Speaker 1: had the feeling which he termed lust, and he now
- 10:43Speaker 1: hated it. It formed an emotional pivot in his brain
- 10:48Speaker 1: around which centered everything having to do with sex. But
- 10:52Speaker 1: there remained his kindness, his hospitality, his arrangements for your comfort,
- 10:59Speaker 1: which he duplicated again and again for visitors who gave
- 11:02Speaker 1: nothing but instead received inspiration from him. And furthermore, since
- 11:09Speaker 1: humanity as a rule does little for itself, and the
- 11:13Speaker 1: inert mass has to be apheaved to a point where
- 11:16Speaker 1: it can gain initiative, anyone who can arouse a nation
- 11:21Speaker 1: of all classes and ages out of the incredible lethargy
- 11:26Speaker 1: into which it has long been sunk, and can stir
- 11:30Speaker 1: up a people to hope is a great, even noble person. Nevertheless,
- 11:37Speaker 1: in contrast to Gandhi's attitude towards birth control, Rabindranath Tagore's
- 11:44Speaker 1: was a comfort With Anna, Jane and Joseph. I set
- 11:48Speaker 1: out on the long trip to Calcutta, two thirds of
- 11:52Speaker 1: the breath of India. Now you really saw the country,
- 11:57Speaker 1: the palm and banana trees, natives getting on trains, living
- 12:02Speaker 1: in their tiny huts. These were of bamboo, plastered with
- 12:07Speaker 1: mud and whitewashed. The floors were soaked with cow dung
- 12:12Speaker 1: to harden the dirt and the roofs were thatched with straw.
- 12:17Speaker 1: As we passed through village after village, I observed cows, goats, dogs, bullocks,
- 12:24Speaker 1: all with their young, rambling in the streets, freely mixing
- 12:29Speaker 1: with the people and scrambling out of the way when
- 12:32Speaker 1: a whistle or bell sounded. Peddlers balancing on their heads,
- 12:37Speaker 1: trays heaped with oranges, walked up and down the station platforms,
- 12:42Speaker 1: calling their wares, and a fascinating sing song meter. We
- 12:48Speaker 1: arrived at Bolpour beyond Calcutta at seven thirty of an
- 12:53Speaker 1: early December evening. Tagore's son had been on the train
- 12:59Speaker 1: and we went with him to Santa nikitin House of Peace,
- 13:04Speaker 1: where Tagor lived and taught. The grouping of buildings in
- 13:08Speaker 1: the thousand acre estate resembled that of an ancient monastery,
- 13:14Speaker 1: not so cozy or individual as gandhis, but rather cold
- 13:19Speaker 1: and bare. Before sunrise again I heard the chanting prayers
- 13:24Speaker 1: of the students, boys and girls together, then went at
- 13:29Speaker 1: six o'clock to study in the mango grove or under
- 13:32Speaker 1: the Banyan trees, all in the open air. His former
- 13:38Speaker 1: luxurious home, Tagore had turned over to his son and
- 13:43Speaker 1: himself occupied a small clay house, designed like a temple
- 13:48Speaker 1: in modern style. The room into which I was shown
- 13:52Speaker 1: in the afternoon was full of books and papers, like
- 13:56Speaker 1: the office of a busy executive. In A long, rough
- 14:02Speaker 1: hand made robe of homespun was seated behind his desk.
- 14:08Speaker 1: I had been told I would find him greatly aged,
- 14:12Speaker 1: But although he was slightly thinner than when I had
- 14:15Speaker 1: seen him in New York in nineteen thirty one, he
- 14:18Speaker 1: did not seem much older. True, his beard and hair
- 14:23Speaker 1: were scantier, but his face, almost unlined, had the same repose,
- 14:30Speaker 1: and his finely modulated voice expressed the same understanding when
- 14:35Speaker 1: he spoke of the importance of birth control to his country,
- 14:39Speaker 1: and sincerely hoped I would be able to reach the villagers,
- 14:44Speaker 1: which he said must be done were it to bring
- 14:46Speaker 1: any benefit to India. Tagor knew I had been to
- 14:51Speaker 1: see Gandhi, but did not mention it. He had tact
- 14:56Speaker 1: combined with his grace and intellect. He drew, painted, directed, dancing,
- 15:03Speaker 1: even sculptured and acted, appealing to more moneyed classes than Gandhi.
- 15:09Speaker 1: He guided his school towards furthering culture and the arts,
- 15:13Speaker 1: as well as improving agricultural necessities. The medical building in
- 15:20Speaker 1: Calcutta had been selected for my first lecture there, but
- 15:24Speaker 1: mister O'Connor, who was in charge, refused permission since the
- 15:30Speaker 1: edifice belonged to the British government. Birth control became at
- 15:34Speaker 1: once popular with the Indians and the meeting was transferred
- 15:38Speaker 1: to Albert Hall. I was warned we needed as chairman
- 15:43Speaker 1: a good strong man with a domineering personality, because it
- 15:48Speaker 1: was a rowdy place and trouble makers always haunted it. However,
- 15:53Speaker 1: the association which had asked me to speak, had already
- 15:57Speaker 1: chosen a woman, Missus Oramini Meta, who was managing the
- 16:03Speaker 1: clinic in Calcutta. I talked against the noise for forty minutes,
- 16:08Speaker 1: and then Missus Mayta, whose voice scarcely carried over the footlights,
- 16:14Speaker 1: opened the form for questions. Two bearded patriarchs looking like
- 16:20Speaker 1: Messiah's were sitting in the front row. One of them
- 16:24Speaker 1: hopped up and, without asking a question, began haranguing in
- 16:29Speaker 1: unctuous tones. Missus Meida tried to stop him but could not.
- 16:35Speaker 1: The audience tried to yell him down. A few were
- 16:39Speaker 1: with him, but most were not. Then a fistfight broke
- 16:44Speaker 1: out and the second sexagenarian rose and demanded recognition. Someone
- 16:51Speaker 1: caught his hands from behind, and another row began. Finally,
- 16:57Speaker 1: I said to Missus Meida, perhaps they can hear me.
- 17:02Speaker 1: Let's ask them whether they want to listen to these men.
- 17:07Speaker 1: At once a mighty roar of no went up. Then
- 17:13Speaker 1: both the old men erupted again, shrieking. Missus Maida Anger,
- 17:20Speaker 1: lending strength to her vocal cords, at last called out indignantly,
- 17:25Speaker 1: you're naughty, and the meeting is now dismissed, And so
- 17:30Speaker 1: amid shouts of merriment, we broke up. I had no
- 17:35Speaker 1: more lectures scheduled for a time, and accepted with pleasure
- 17:40Speaker 1: the invitation of Missus Norman Audling to visit her at Callimpong,
- 17:46Speaker 1: in the shadow of Mount Everest, three hundred and fifty
- 17:50Speaker 1: miles north of Calcutta. In preparing for this excursion, I
- 17:56Speaker 1: had to decide whether to take Joseph. He was a
- 17:59Speaker 1: silent man. Whenever I had requested him to perform any service,
- 18:05Speaker 1: from getting the laundry together to looking after the luggage,
- 18:09Speaker 1: he had never answered yes or no, but had only
- 18:13Speaker 1: shaken his head, not a regular shake, but a nodding
- 18:17Speaker 1: from side to side, as though he were saying well, well, well,
- 18:24Speaker 1: I had usually sighed never mind, I had grown rather
- 18:29Speaker 1: exasperated with what seemed his deplorable lack of enthusiasm. Although
- 18:35Speaker 1: Anna Jane appeared to like him, being busy in other directions,
- 18:40Speaker 1: especially with Beau, she had left many things for him
- 18:44Speaker 1: to attend to. Finally, I informed Cooks that we were
- 18:48Speaker 1: departing for the North and would like somebody else. When
- 18:53Speaker 1: their representative came around to investigate, he said to Joseph,
- 18:58Speaker 1: do you wish to go with missus Sanger. Joseph shook
- 19:01Speaker 1: his head. There you are, I exclaimed, he doesn't want
- 19:06Speaker 1: to go at that. Joseph put up pleading hands and
- 19:11Speaker 1: spoke in Hindustani. Yes he does, says the cook's man
- 19:18Speaker 1: when he shakes said no, he means yes. Before we started,
- 19:24Speaker 1: Joseph mentioned to me how wintry it was in the Himalayas.
- 19:28Speaker 1: He must have an overcoat. I asked whether he had
- 19:32Speaker 1: ever been there. Yes, did you have a coat then? Yes?
- 19:40Speaker 1: Did someone buy it for you? Yes, always buy it
- 19:44Speaker 1: for bearers. Well, where's that coat worn out? I questioned
- 19:51Speaker 1: Cooks about that also, and was told he's trying to
- 19:55Speaker 1: do you. Probably he already has two or three, and
- 19:59Speaker 1: if you give him another, he'll just sell it. We
- 20:03Speaker 1: hardened our hearts, and Joseph had to get along without
- 20:07Speaker 1: his coat. As we progressed north, the nights grew cold,
- 20:13Speaker 1: the morning's cold for in the afternoon was cold. Joseph
- 20:18Speaker 1: had changed to a hideous black hat, which he said
- 20:22Speaker 1: was warmer than his turban, but he had no overcoat
- 20:26Speaker 1: and began to cough. We arrived at Siliguri at six
- 20:32Speaker 1: of a brisk morning, just in time to watch the
- 20:36Speaker 1: rose colored dawn break over the snow covered mountains. After
- 20:41Speaker 1: a cup of hot but vile coffee, we wrapped ourselves
- 20:45Speaker 1: in rugs and off we went. On the full hour's
- 20:48Speaker 1: drive to Kalimpang, up and around hairpin curves, mostly following
- 20:54Speaker 1: the river, often through bits of jungle when she knew
- 20:59Speaker 1: a tiger might spring out on the road any minute.
- 21:03Speaker 1: The scenery was the most superb I had ever seen,
- 21:07Speaker 1: grander than the Rockies or Pyrenees or Alps. A blend
- 21:12Speaker 1: of green, tangle and white peaks touching the clear sky
- 21:16Speaker 1: with wreaths of clouds far below. As we neared Kalimpong,
- 21:22Speaker 1: there was a distinct difference in the type of native
- 21:26Speaker 1: Tibetans and Nepalies were frequent. The swarms of women looked
- 21:31Speaker 1: like squaws, although instead of papooses, they carried on their
- 21:36Speaker 1: backs huge baskets of charcoal or from six to eight
- 21:41Speaker 1: massive blocks of stone, all for six cents a day.
- 21:46Speaker 1: No horses, no mules, no wagons, only women as beasts
- 21:51Speaker 1: of burden, hauling these rocks from the quarry to the site,
- 21:56Speaker 1: jingling with rings on their ankles and rings on their toes.
- 22:00Speaker 1: What struck me as most peculiar was that many of
- 22:03Speaker 1: them wore ugly shawls, assuredly products of Scottish mills. The
- 22:09Speaker 1: entire hillside was dotted with plaids. As soon as I
- 22:14Speaker 1: reached missus Odling's home and heard the accent of her
- 22:18Speaker 1: medical missionary father, I knew the answer. We never think
- 22:23Speaker 1: of going home to Scotland without bringing some back, she said.
- 22:28Speaker 1: They much prefer plaids to their own designs. Missus Odling
- 22:33Speaker 1: was a darling born there in the hills, and was
- 22:37Speaker 1: intensely interested in cultivating the industries of the Tibetans, whom
- 22:42Speaker 1: she encouraged to come across the border with their handsome
- 22:46Speaker 1: silver boxes and brass bowls. Studded with turquoise. They were
- 22:52Speaker 1: not a pleasant appearing people. It was almost ludicrous to
- 22:56Speaker 1: see this delicate woman slapping some of the worst looking
- 23:00Speaker 1: characters heartily on the shoulder and talking to them in
- 23:04Speaker 1: their primitive language. It was evident they adored her and
- 23:08Speaker 1: would do anything for her. Kalimpong itself was lovely and sunny,
- 23:15Speaker 1: perched on an outer spur of the eastern Himalayas. In
- 23:20Speaker 1: the background soared up the mighty snowy barrier of Kinchinjunga,
- 23:26Speaker 1: which screened it from Tibet, and passed it ran the high, chill,
- 23:31Speaker 1: rocky road to Lasa. To reach dar Jealing, which was
- 23:37Speaker 1: on the far side of a mountain range, it was
- 23:40Speaker 1: necessary to retrace our steps to Siliguri and then go
- 23:44Speaker 1: along a magnificent but treacherous road up another valley. Darjealing
- 23:51Speaker 1: itself disappointed me, a hodgepodge of everybody and everything. Tourists
- 23:57Speaker 1: refraf exorbitant price on worthless articles, scarcely a few good
- 24:03Speaker 1: ones in gift shops. But I had the opportunity of
- 24:08Speaker 1: buying for grant the skin of a tiger shot in
- 24:11Speaker 1: a recent hunt, and this beauty was packed in mothballs
- 24:16Speaker 1: and sent directly to the ship. Also, a case of
- 24:20Speaker 1: darjealing tea from one of the choicest gardens was delivered
- 24:25Speaker 1: to me in Calcutta, whither I now returned. There a
- 24:30Speaker 1: certain doctor Anklesaria, an Indian lecturer who had spoken in
- 24:36Speaker 1: America on psychology and psychic phenomena, established himself as my
- 24:42Speaker 1: interpreter and guide and dragged me willy nilly to see
- 24:46Speaker 1: such sights as the Jaine Temple and Crystal Palace. He
- 24:52Speaker 1: overheard me telephoning for an appointment with Sir Jaggardis Chandra Bose,
- 24:59Speaker 1: famous his ingenious theory that plants breathed. He promptly said,
- 25:05Speaker 1: I know Sir Jugardes very well. I'll take you there.
- 25:11Speaker 1: I intimated that Anna, Jane and I were the only
- 25:14Speaker 1: ones invited, but he said, oh that's nothing. We all
- 25:18Speaker 1: go there to tea quite often. But when he did
- 25:22Speaker 1: not arrive at the designated hour, we set off in
- 25:25Speaker 1: a taxi somewhat relieved. Sir Jugardes was a person of
- 25:31Speaker 1: great dignity, elderly polished, the scientist, pure and simple. He
- 25:37Speaker 1: seemed to me like a person trying to keep his
- 25:40Speaker 1: life clear without having externals crowded in upon him too closely.
- 25:47Speaker 1: We had hardly finished our tea when to my surprise,
- 25:51Speaker 1: doctor Uncle Saria appeared in the doorway, and Sir Jugardes inquired,
- 25:57Speaker 1: do you wish to have this gentleman? We explained he
- 26:01Speaker 1: had offered to bring us in his car. Soon we
- 26:05Speaker 1: walked out to see the garden, where plants of every
- 26:09Speaker 1: description were carefully tended, each treated like an only child.
- 26:14Speaker 1: This one put to bed early, that one awakened by
- 26:18Speaker 1: the sun. This shrank from noise, that loved running water.
- 26:24Speaker 1: This craved a moist atmosphere that needed a desert in
- 26:28Speaker 1: which to thrive. He understood the characteristics of each. He
- 26:34Speaker 1: himself was disturbed because his flowers did not like the
- 26:37Speaker 1: presence of doctor Uncle Saia and would be affected by it.
- 26:43Speaker 1: From there we stepped into the laboratory, where surge A
- 26:47Speaker 1: Gardies demonstrated the working of his machine. When he placed
- 26:52Speaker 1: either nitrogen or carbon on the plant, the instrument, which
- 26:57Speaker 1: had been almost quiescent, made tiny, such as a person's heartbeat,
- 27:02Speaker 1: was shown on a cardiograph. Doctor ankle Syria pushed in
- 27:09Speaker 1: and got out a pencil and notebook. Sir Gegardis. At
- 27:13Speaker 1: once Froze ceased talking and asked, are you a newspaper reporter? No,
- 27:20Speaker 1: I'm a doctor. What are you taking down? I'll not
- 27:25Speaker 1: have it, then turning to me as though I had
- 27:29Speaker 1: been guilty of treachery. My conversation with you was personal
- 27:34Speaker 1: and confidential. I was profoundly embarrassed, and as severely as
- 27:40Speaker 1: I knew how, requested Doctor Ankle Syria to stop his
- 27:44Speaker 1: writing immediately. The night I was leaving Calcutta for Benares,
- 27:50Speaker 1: the worthy doctor insisted I have dinner at his sister's home,
- 27:55Speaker 1: a real Indian feast. Among the guests was an amazing
- 28:00Speaker 1: individual who greeted me as though we were old friends,
- 28:04Speaker 1: and I wondered where in Heaven's name I had ever
- 28:07Speaker 1: known him. Then suddenly I remembered Carnegie Hall four years earlier,
- 28:15Speaker 1: jammed to the doors, some women relinquishing her seat because
- 28:19Speaker 1: she thought the subject of the lecture was more important
- 28:22Speaker 1: for me than for her. Then the appearance of the
- 28:27Speaker 1: thick set swami from California, black hair hanging to his shoulders,
- 28:33Speaker 1: and my amazement that in good old America and the
- 28:37Speaker 1: days of the Great Depression, five thousand people could be
- 28:40Speaker 1: induced to chorus after him in unison I Am Love,
- 28:47Speaker 1: I Am Love, swaying hypnotized by their own rhythm until
- 28:53Speaker 1: the lofty hall vibrated and thundered. At the end of
- 28:57Speaker 1: five minutes, I had thanked the lady who had give
- 29:00Speaker 1: given me her place, and tiptoed silently out now Here
- 29:05Speaker 1: in Calcutta, I met again the Swami, clad in his
- 29:10Speaker 1: ochre colored robe, back in India for the first time
- 29:14Speaker 1: in many years. He inquired after my health, assured me
- 29:19Speaker 1: he had been aware of what I had been doing
- 29:21Speaker 1: in America. Was so sorry I had not seen his
- 29:25Speaker 1: home in Los Angeles. I said I would visit him
- 29:29Speaker 1: when next I went to California. Instead of being taken
- 29:34Speaker 1: to the train in ankle Sarria's unpretentious car, I was
- 29:39Speaker 1: transported in the Swami's elegant rolls Royce with the top lowered.
- 29:45Speaker 1: As we went swishing through the streets, passers by jumped
- 29:49Speaker 1: on the running boards. Dozens of others followed us, all
- 29:53Speaker 1: wanting to touch the hem of the Swami's robe. By
- 29:57Speaker 1: the time we had reached the station, there were a
- 30:00Speaker 1: hundred in our wake. I caught sight of Joseph at
- 30:04Speaker 1: the gate and on the platform with one eye out
- 30:08Speaker 1: for me was Anna Jane, surrounded by her former English
- 30:13Speaker 1: friends in evening dress. The train was to depart in
- 30:17Speaker 1: a few minutes. When she saw me approaching with the
- 30:21Speaker 1: Swami and his retinue, she dashed into the compartment to
- 30:25Speaker 1: compose her features. Then we stood at the doorway as
- 30:29Speaker 1: we pulled out, to watch the Englishman turning away a
- 30:33Speaker 1: little stiffly, and the Swami, one of the incongruous but
- 30:37Speaker 1: well wishing acquaintances whom birth control attracts, waving a vigorous
- 30:43Speaker 1: good bye. End of Chapter thirty seven, Part two,