We went to Pratishthan in 1989 and we’d sit every morning with Shri Mataji and have tea and then work on Her house. I had always wanted to have a name because I had felt that my name wasn’t my name. The first Ganesha Puja that we’d been to was in Los Angeles in 1986, and at one point all the children and infants were called up on stage. I really wanted to go and get a name from Mother, but I could see that no other adults were doing that and didn’t know what the protocol was. But there we were in Mother’s apartment in Pratishthan, so I asked if She would give me a name.
We were sitting with Shri Mataji, and we were very thoughtless. The carpet man came, with a younger man to do all the physical work. It was like being in a sari shop where they roll the saris out, then you look, then they roll out another one. So he’d roll out a carpet. Mother would look at the carpet.
‘What do you think of this carpet?’ She’d say, and She’d look at somebody.
‘Oh, it’s very beautiful, Mother,’ then you’d have to say something else, so you’d say, ‘Well, I see there are beautiful green patterns and white stars.’ Mother would smile, and then the next carpet would get rolled out. She’d look at another yogi or yogini.
‘What do you think of this carpet?’
‘Oh, it’s a very deep red, Mother,’ then the next carpet rolled out.
‘This carpet is from Pratishthan,’ She said, or something like that. ‘Look at the floral design, and this is telling something about the deity. Now see the thread count, this is a high quality one. See the way the knots are tied.’ She started educating us about carpets; it was just so sweet.
There were more wonderful days. Then we were getting ready to leave and Mother was sleeping in Her apartment, so we all did namaskar by Her door and went out to a little twelve-seat minivan to go to Mumbai to catch our flight. Mother walked down from Her apartment to say Her goodbye to us. She knew we were leaving and came down to say goodbye so we could thank Her graciously. She thanked us for working there and then pointed at me.
‘I think you asked for a name,’ She said.
‘Yes, Mother.’
‘Dattatreya would be a good name.’ That was how I got my name.
Dattatreya Haynes