I lived with my grandfather (Guruji’s father) for 22 years. Among all his grandchildren, I was one of his favorites. He was a great yogi and a man of discipline.
When I was a teenager I slept in the same room with my grandfather for several years, so I knew him very well. He used to meditate late at night and also meditate early in the morning. And he was satisfied with candle lamps placed in one corner of the room, because after evening he did not write or read anything. He never went to any cinema house; he never read news specials. He used to say, “Don’t read newspapers. Don’t let the bad ideas come inside your brain.” So he never accepted any invitations from relatives on any occasion. He used to remain at home. He just meditated.
I have seen him meditating every evening for hours together sitting on his bed. He was a very simple man — calm and quiet and used to take care of all his needs himself without anybody’s help. He was of sweet nature and I never saw him angry for a single day. He did not talk much and had strong spiritual power.
At the age of 82 the strangulation of a hernia suddenly troubled him. The best surgeon of Calcutta was called and said an immediate operation should be done, but chloroform (there was no anesthesia at that time) couldn’t be applied on him as he was too weak and aged and would die from it. At this time my grandfather said, “Arrange for the operation. I will do my pranayam and I won’t feel any pain.”
Everything was arranged. My uncle Bishnu Ghosh, who was a famous bodybuilder, even engaged some of his strong students to stay inside the room to hold the patient during the operation. Just before the operation, my grandfather asked, “Who are these young boys? Ask them to leave the room. I will feel no pain.” But my uncle asked the boys to wait outside in case anything went wrong.
It was a major operation: it took one hour and everything went smoothly. The surgeon said, “I cannot believe how I could operate without chloroform.” He never felt any pain during the operation.
People have asked me if my grandfather ever recognized Guruji for who he was. My grandfather, sometimes he would oppose Guruji, contradict him in some way. But finally, as he was a very wise man, he agreed with Guruji on many things. When Guruji didn’t agree to marry, I heard that my grandfather agreed to that. He said, “Okay, the next brother will marry!”