A Journal of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya

there, Nishant invited all of us to his house.
Mrs. Nishant Siddiqui was our local
guardian. When we reached there, we found
that Nagarjunji was already present there.
Baba and kakaji met each other with great
warmth. Kaka was a very popular figure
in ‘kavi-sammelan’ and enjoyed the position
he held there. Baba recited a poem there.
After listening with deep attention, kakaji
commented that, although it was a good
poem, he would be hooted out if he recited
it in the kavi-sammelan . Actually he judged
a poem’s merit on the basis of its success
in the kavi-sammelan. But kakaji accepted
his merit and declared him to be a great
poet. He said, just see his face Lalli, it
resembles mine. If he trims his beard a
little, and cleans himself up, he will look
like me. This is true. Baba did not maintain
personal hygiene. He didn’t bathe for days
together. After having adopted Buddhism,
he must have lived the life of a Bhikshu
(monk) in different places and under various
conditions. Perhaps because of this, he
had got into a habit of not having a bath.
He used to visit us in Sunlight Colony
also. He stayed with us for many days
at a time. Although we lived in a small
house, we welcomed poets. Our house was
like a rest-house to them. The number
of guests that I received in that little
house far exceeded the number of guests
I receive in the Duplex house now. But
it was not easy to put up with Baba’s
unhygienic habit of not bathing for days
together. The purity of his thoughts, his
poems and his simple loving nature was
adorable. But his dirty clothes…..!!
Once when he shook his waist-coat,
lice fell out of it and he started killing
them one by one. Then, we found ourselves
in a dilemma, as to what we should do.
I felt that Baba should stay elsewhere.
In spite of all this, we took great pleasure
in his company. Baba too didn’t stay at
one place for long. Dropping a postcard
announcing his arrival, he moved elsewhere.
He carried very little luggage, just
a bag slung over his shoulders, with a
bundle of clothes in it. But, he was a
moving encyclopedia, a treasure house
of knowledge. He judged, not according
to a fixed ideology but, according to his
experience. If a person opposed to his
views, was a good human being, he accepted
him whole heartedly. He even accepted
people having opposite views, if they were
good and honest. He did not reject and
hate people having different ideology. In
spite of having an accommodative perception
he did not hesitate to pour out
his venom on those eminent personalities,
whom he strongly disapproved of. He made
them the target of his bitter satire. His
poems on Nehru ji and Indira ji are very
straightforward and do not fail to strike
the target:
“Devi, tum to kaale dhan ki,
Baisakhi par baithi hui ho”
or
“Maada ajgar ho tum toh,
Nigal liye hai andae apnne”
January-March 2012 :: 127