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An appeal for rice, milk, dhal, chuppatties, at several stalls results in the same failure; everybody seems utterly bewildered at the appearance of a Sahib among them searching for something to eat. The village policeman is on duty in the land of dreams, a not unusual circumstance, by the way; but a youth scuttles off and wakes him up, and notifies him of my arrival.
Let us have some food ready." "Guruji, no one would come at one o'clock in the morning!" "Stay in bed; you have been working very hard. But I am going to cook." At Sri Yukteswar's resolute tone, I jumped up and followed him to the small daily-used kitchen adjacent to the second-floor inner balcony. Rice and DHAL were soon boiling. My guru smiled affectionately.
When I was starting on my travels my parents warned me that in several places the food would be only vegetarian, and that did happen to be the case. During the year I learnt how to eat all types of food at different people's houses. But I stuck to veggies I could tolerate like cabbage and potatoes or I would eat the dhal and rice with pickles.
"That was well done, jemadar." His lustrous eyes flash with pleasure. "And how is it with your food?" "The exalted Government has done great things. We have ghee" a clarified butter made of buffalo or cow's milk "and goor" unrefined sugar. "And we have spices for our dhal ginger and garlic and chilli and turmeric. Yea, and fruits also apricots, date-palms, and sultanas. What more can man want?"
"For that matther," observed the farithee, joining in the joke, "he can see as far as any of us while we're asleep." The conversation was thus proceeding, when Barney Dhal and young Frank M'Kenna entered the kitchen. In a moment all hands were extended to welcome Barney: "Millia failte ghud, Barny!" "Cead millia failte ghud, Barny!" "Oh, Barny, did you come at last? You're welcome."
In about four hours I opened my meditative eyes and saw that the moonlit figure of the yogi was still motionless. As I was sternly reminding my stomach that man does not live by bread alone, Ram Gopal approached me. "I see you are famished; food will be ready soon." A fire was kindled under a clay oven on the patio; rice and DHAL were quickly served on large banana leaves.
The Indian cooks were boiling dhal and rice in the galley; the bakers were squatting on their haunches on the lower deck, making chupattis they were screened against the inclemency of the weather by a tarpaulin and they patted the leathery cakes with persuasive slaps as a dairymaid pats butter. Low-caste sweepers glided like shadows to and fro.
"Why, mother," said one of her daughters "how could Barny Dhal, a blind man, see anybody?" Alley herself laughed at her blunder, but wittily replied, "Faith, avourneen, maybe he can often see as nately through his ear as you could do wid your eyes open; sure they say he can hear the grass growin'."
And the little group squatting on their haunches at their mid-day meal cease listening and dip their chupattis in the aromatic dhal, in that slow, ruminant, ritualistic way in which the Indian always eats his food. "Ram, Ram! Tumhi kothun allé?" said my friend Smith, turning aside to a lonely figure on my right.
The very arrangements are laughable; and when joined to the eccentric strains of some blind fiddler like Barny Dhal, to the grotesque and caricaturish faces of the men, and the modest, but evidently arch and laughter-loving countenances of the females, they cannot fail to impress an observing mind with the obvious truth, that a nation of people so thoughtless and easily directed from the serious and useful pursuits of life to such scenes, can seldom be industrious and wealthy, nor, despite their mirth and humor, a happy people.
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