Of course, there were many who were glowing due to their process of self-evolvement. They went about their day calmly, slowly moving on their path, happy that they knew where they wanted to go and where they wanted to reach. For a few the task was Herculean but their state of mind allowed them respite from the state of hopelessness. Sometimes even the things that seem impossible become a ray of hope to strive towards. They took one step at a time hoping that drop-by-drop they would fill their own empty chasm and make an ocean out of virtual nothingness. Rudra realized that those who were calm had truly little going for them, their sense of calmness made the impossible seem possible. Rudra knew the importance of control of the mind and taking life one step at a time, one breath at a time. The state of calmness determined the state of sanity which determined how each moment was going to be either embraced or battled with.

This village taught him the need to know oneself and go about life with a state of serenity. This village was a mirror which reflected to Rudra the power of being at peace with each moment, which led to a bouquet of stillness which allowed the individual to grow and rise slowly upwards with a centredness that made life along with all its ups and downs worth breathing in.

In a flash, they were back in the cottage. All day Rudra met people and by evening, he was exhausted. But it was a good exhaustion, with sweetness to the tiredness that only comes about with honest, selfless work. They had soup at night, Baba prayed and spoke little and Rudra spent the night a bit in prayer but mostly serving Baba, making countless cups of tea, rounds of chillums, massaging His feet, making sure the oil and the wicks for the lamps were as they ought to be.

The next two days Baba was in silence and Rudra went for lunch to Martins’ where he ate little but was content to be in the same space as that of other mankind. He drank only when Baba was physically out of the cottage. In reality he did not miss or crave for alcohol. Baba never told him not to drink. His focus was always on how to or how not to live or think or speak, never on how not to eat or drink something. Baba’s focus was always internal, never external. His focus was always on how to live, not on how to get caught in the physicality of this or that. His teaching was simple: come from the centredness of each moment and do not let your reaction guide you for even a second. Be proactive, never reactive. Be silent rather than slander. Be kind, be generous, be selfless and if nothing, just be. It was difficult many times. Especially when you got to know somebody speaking ill of you, somebody who you trusted break your trust, and someone who you thought was your well-wisher was nothing but a flake in the wind. Baba would say then, it is most important now to be centred, if not now, then when? It is easy to be centred when all is going for you. That is not centredness, that is just basking in the sun. Centredness is when nothing is going for you and you are still within, silent, strong, controlled, part of the world, when every cell within you wants to be alone and to just be within.