“”So to procure the amount, I selected 20 persons and a letter was sent to each to send Rs.1,500 each. Some remitted the amount immediately, some could not give and some gave whatever they could afford.
Then ten of the persons were sent another letter, but in between, a strange thing happened. Dr. Kanakadandi Suryanarayana of Andhra sent a telegram showing his willingness to make up the total needed. The shortfall was of Rs.15,000 and he was wired to send it. In the meantime, Rs.25,000 was collected and there was a deficit of only Rs.5,000. Then Dr. Kanakadandi was again wired that the shortage was only Rs.5,000, but he should send 10,000 more without any conditions, and he sent Rs.15,000. I therefore instructed Vishnu to keep the amount aside for use of the dependents.
I wish to impress upon you the valuelessness of this world. It is all zero — beauty, riches, position.
So I told Pendu that from his Rs.30,000, he should give 10,000 for distribution to the poor. But, as the number of men attending the sahavas increased, he could give me only Rs.2,000. For poor work, during every group's stay, I wanted Rs.4,000. Then a lover from Bombay sent Rs.1,000. Why he sent it is another story. The reception committee of Andhra contributed Rs.1,000, and thus for the poor program Rs.4,000 was collected. Three times the poor program has been held. The day after tomorrow will be the last one.
Then Vishnu again approached me saying, "Baba, you are going into seclusion from the 15th of February 1956, and what is to happen about the expenses of the dependents? From January, Rs.10,000 per month for fourteen months, Rs.140,000 will be required." I told him not to worry and everything will be all right.
From America, Don Stevens came during the sahavas of the Gujarati group. I informed him about my forthcoming seclusion and dependents and asked him to tell this to my lovers there on his return, and they should contribute as much as they could spare. Now he has gone to America. When the Gujarati group came to know of this, they said they would send their mite. The Telugu group are intelligent, worthy and loving. In Andhra most are blessed with my love. The children there go to school with my name on their lips, and women take my name while doing their daily chores.
