25. THOUGHTS RECAPITULATED

 

The Late Shri T.A. Pai, who had held several portfolios as a Cabinet Mlnister in the Union Government, has written about his personal experiences in the Golden Age 1979 in the follow­ing words, "It was in 1970 that I visited Shirdi. Between 1970-1972 I visited Shirdi twice again with my wife and a cousin of mine (practising as a doctor in U.S.A.), his wife and child. On one of these occasions I had remarked to my wife who was looking at the window where the belong­ings of Shirdi Baba, like his white turban, shirt, walking stick, chappals and a few white pipes, had been kept; that if Baba could smoke, what was wrong in my smoking! Later on, on one of the occasions when I visited Sri Sathya Sai, He brought to my memory that I was standing before His picture in Shirdi and had remarked 'what was wrong in my smoking if Shirdi Baba could smoke'' This was just to impress upon me that Shirdi Baba and Himself were the same. He also said that Shirdi Baba was not fond of smoking but after the discourse He used to sit with His disciples, whose names, He recounted and also mentioned that smoking is highly injurious to health.