In1992 I was fortunate to accompany Shri Mataji and a group of yogis to Sardinia, Italy where She was to give a public programme. Mother was in a joyful mood from the start, and when we arrived She delighted in pointing out everything, from the vibrant flowers to the diverse selection of foods available. She seemed so pleased with the mix of cultural influences from the Arabic and Greek worlds – especially evident in the sweetmeats that were offered to Her. Everywhere She went the locals were enchanted, from the waiters in restaurants, who fell over themselves to serve Her, ‘She looks exactly like my mother!’ one elderly waiter told me, to the young market stallholders who were captured by Her beauty.
The only blot on the trip was a persistent cough that had been troubling Shri Mataji since leaving Cabella. As the cough worsened, the yogis worried whether She would be able to speak at the programme. Mother decided not to pull out, nor to take any cough medicine. She went ahead and gave the most marvellous speech with a clear voice and everyone got their realisation. Later that night in Her hotel room, the cough returned.
‘You see, My body is made for this work – when I was giving realisation there was no cough – because all the deities came to help,’ Shri Mataji commented.
Before retiring She took one spoon of the very mild cough mixture, rather than the two-spoon dose advised. The next morning was a beautiful sunny day with that magical light that comes from the sea. I was sitting in the room adjoining Mother’s with the yoginis who were preparing Her breakfast. The morning stretched on as we peacefully sat outside Her door enjoying the wafts of cool vibrations with not a sound from within to indicate that She was awake. There was just the joyful bird song coming from outside the window – as I watched them swoop and weave their dance higher and higher, it seemed they were announcing Her presence to the world, ‘She has come!’ they kept singing.
In those days Shri Mataji’s habit was to get up very early and have some tea upon waking, so pot after pot of water had been boiled and then had cooled down – and again a fresh one was prepared, as we sat and listened to that sweet raga of birdsong. Eventually I heard a sound from Shri Mataji’s room, indicating that She was awake. I gently knocked on the door and tentatively entered with the tea tray. There She was as fresh as a daisy. I was a little surprised by Her first words.
‘Have you ever seen ‘Roman Holiday’?’ She asked.
‘No, Shri Mataji, I have not seen that film yet,’ I answered.
‘Then you must see it! It is a wonderful film – you must get all these old films!’ She told me.
As She sipped Her Darjeeling tea, an unexpected and delightful conversation ensued on the merits of the classic old films with their clear dharmic messages – compared with the more modern ‘Kali Yuga’ fair. The relevance of Her opening gambit became clear when She explained the plot of Roman Holiday, starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. (In the film Hepburn’s character is given some medicine before sleeping and then cannot wake up for many hours, and because of this has a big adventure experiencing life as an ordinary girl rather than the princess she is). Unbeknown to Shri Mataji, the cough mixture taken the night before had the tiniest bit of sedative in it, and even if She had taken just a child’s dose, due to the sensitivity of Her body, She could not wake up.
‘I had My own Roman holiday!’ She graciously joked.
During breakfast Shri Mataji continued to talk about those great old films, each time asking me if I had seen them and I felt so lucky to be sitting there that I wanted to pinch myself – to check that I wasn’t having a dream myself! I can’t remember all the films mentioned, but I do remember Her talking quite animatedly at one point about another Gregory Peck classic She enjoyed, called Spellbound. She even drew some marks with Her fork on Her napkin whilst discussing the clever plot relating to the main character’s phobia of lines.
Danya Martoglio