On that day at Sevagram, Bapu was going to
give a discourse after the evening prayers. It was Gandhiji’s birthday.
Hence a lot of people had gathered for the evening prayer. A dais had been
set for Gandhiji. There were no decorations. The settee was covered with
white Khadi. A ghee lamp in a pooja thali was lit at some distance. Gandhiji
arrived and saw the lamp. Closing his eyes, he started praying. After the
prayer, before starting to discourse, he asked, “Who brought the pooja thali?”
Ba answered, “I brought it.” “From where did you get it?” Ba said, “From the
village.” Bapu stared at Ba for an instant. Thinking that it was customary
for every Hindu woman who wished her husband a long-healthy life, she had
the pooja thali and the lamp brought here.
Ba could not gather why Bapu asked this
question. Gandhiji exclaimed, “Ba’s lighting this ghee lamp in pooja thali
was the worst deed of the day. Today is my birthday. Was it the reason this
lamp was lit? I know how people around me lead their everyday life. They
don’t even get a few drops of oil for their roti. On the contrary a ghee
lamp is burning in my ashram! What if today is my birthday? Good deeds
should be committed today, not sin. Who authorised us to misuse a thing
which is unavailable to the poor villagers?”