Second gentleman: ‘These people will destroy the Hindu dharma.’
Third gentleman: ‘It is definitely being destroyed. What can one do? When our own sadhus and saints, the pillars of Hinduism, have yielded to their desires and have no qualms in exploiting young women, what remains to be said?’
Hridaynath: ‘This calamity has befallen me as well. You must have heard about it.’
First gentleman: ‘It has befallen all of us.’
Second gentleman: ‘Say it has fallen on the whole nation.’
Hridaynath: ‘Think of a way out.’
First gentleman: ‘Have you not talked her out of it?’
Hridaynath: ‘I have failed. She refuses to listen to anything.’
Third gentleman: ‘We shouldn’t have allowed her to walk this path. That was our first mistake.’
First gentleman: ‘It’s no use repenting now. You must have seen the newspapers. Some people are of the opinion that widows should take up teaching. Though I am not completely in its favour, at least it is better than becoming a sanyasi. The aim is to keep the girl involved in something. An idle person can go astray. An uninhabited house becomes the abode of bats.’
Second gentleman: ‘It is a good suggestion. Five to ten girls of the neighbourhood should be gathered and the plan put into action. If the girls are given books, paper, dolls, and so on as gifts, they will come eagerly.’
Hridaynath broached the subject with Kailash Kumari, who was heartbroken. The status of a teacher was inferior to that of a sanyasi. How could instructing a few girls compare with the company of holy men? What was a job which paid ten rupees in comparison to those mountainous regions where one came closer to God, that mystical charm of nature, the luminous purity of snow-clad peaks, the rapturous sights of Mansarovar and Kailash?
But Hridaynath did not lose hope. He drew her attention to the greatness of social service. Real piety lies in service. An ascetic is concerned only with his own salvation. Public welfare is not tinged with selfishness. The pursuit of selfish ends, whether spiritual or physical, is a limited activity, while service for others is unbounded. Look at the status enjoyed by Dadhichi among rishis. Who has been able to achieve the greatness of Harishchandra? He would substantiate his argument with references from the Vedas and the Upanishads. This had the desired effect. Gradually Kailash Kumari’s views began to change.3
The passion for social work overwhelmed Kailash Kumari. She spent the whole day with the girls—teaching them, playing with them, and instructing them in sewing and knitting. The school became her world. If a girl fell sick, she would visit her home and tend to her. She would arrange for food and clothes for poor girls and even collect funds for the ones getting married.
The school had been running for two years now. One of the girls whom Kailash Kumari was deeply attached to contracted small pox. Kailash Kumari’s parents tried to stop her from going and seeing the girl but did not succeed. She left saying that she would return quickly.
The girl’s condition was bad. Her tears had dried her mouth but the sight of Kailash Kumari cheered her up. She spent an hour with the girl who chatted with her continuously. When she got up to leave the girl started crying again, so Kailash Kumari was forced to sit with her. She made another attempt to leave, but once again the girl was distraught. She just refused to let Kailash Kumari go. Kailash Kumari ended up staying the whole day. The girl did not allow her to leave even when night fell. Hridaynath kept sending his men to fetch her but Kailash Kumari would refuse to go with them. She feared her departure could signal the girl’s end. The sick girl had a stepmother who could not be trusted. Kailash Kumari ended up spending three days at the girl’s house, and left on the fourth day when she’d recovered slightly.
Kailash Kumari wasn’t even done changing her clothes when a man from the girl’s home came rushing to her and said, ‘Come quickly. The girl is weeping inconsolably.’
Hridaynath said, ‘Tell them to call a nurse from the hospital.’
Kailash Kumari: ‘Father, you are getting angry unnecessarily. I am ready to spend three months nursing the girl if she can be saved, forget three days. What is the purpose of this body otherwise?’
Hridaynath: ‘Then who will teach the other girls?’
Kailash Kumari: ‘She will recover in a few days. The sores have dried. You take care of the girls until then.’
Hridaynath: ‘There is danger of you getting the disease. It is contagious.’
Laughing, Kailash Kumari replied, ‘If I die, a burden will be off your head.’
Saying this she headed for the house.
Hridaynath said to Jogeshwari, ‘It appears that the school will have to be shut down soon. The path I have taken is becoming treacherous by the day. Again it seems things are heading for my humiliation. People will say that the girl remains for days together in strangers’ houses. The school will have to be closed down.’
Jogeshwari: ‘What else can we do?’
When Kailash Kumari returned after two days Hridaynath put forth the suggestion of closing down the school. Kailash Kumari retorted angrily, ‘If you are so bothered about disrepute and other people’s opinions, then give me some poison. That is the only way to handle the situation.’
Hridaynath: ‘Listen to me, daughter, we live in this world and have to follow its ways.’
Kailash Kumari: ‘Then I should know what the world wants from me. I can reason, think and feel. How can I become an animal? I can’t think of myself as an unfortunate woman who would be satisfied with the crumbs thrown at her. Whatever the world thinks of me, I will not consider myself helpless. I can look after myself. I consider it an insult that
