I was long overdue for new glasses anyhow. But my glasses, they were rather old and my prescription has gone up significantly. Arun Dada responded with his usual equanimity, “My dear sister, I appreciate your thought.
I heard that he threw away your glasses last night, so I’ve brought this for you,” she said offering some money for a new pair of glasses. The next morning, the neighbor’s wife apologetically approached Arun Dada and Mira Ba. After some more verbal assaults, the drunken neighbor gave up for the night and left. “Oh yes, you’re that Gandhian type, aren’t you? I’ve heard of people like you,” sneered the intruder. “My friend, you can take out my eyes if you’d like, but we have now moved into this house, and it would be great if you could respect our boundaries,” he said. Undeterred by the violent actions, Arun Dada compassionately held his ground. While cursing vehemently, he struck Arun Dada’s face, knocking his glasses to the ground - which he then tossed into a nearby creek. Immediately, the man grabbed 73-year-old Arun Dada by his collar and said, “You sent my staff back this morning? Do you know who I am? ” It was the next-door neighbor bent on inflicting fear and punishment. “Hi, I’m Arun,” he said while greeting the ominous drunk man.
Arun Dada put on his glasses and walked out to the gate. Mira Ba is wheelchair bound and immobile, but she woke up and looked out the window. “Who is Arun Bhatt?” a loud voice screamed. “Sir, this is our home now, we don’t drink or take non-vegetarian food, and this is inappropriate.” Somehow he managed to convince the catering staff of their error.īut that night, at 12:30AM, the gates of his bungalow shook violently. It turned out that the neighbor also ran a catering business, and thought he could use Arun Dada’s front yard for storage space. Just a couple days after their move, they noticed that their front-yard was filled with food items and alcohol. The week they moved in, they discovered that their neighbor was a drunkard, prone to fits of violence. “Nine years ago, we were gifted this house,” Arun Dada told us. Their presence speaks to a life-long practice of equanimity, trust and compassion.
As students of Vinoba, they have never put a price tag on their labor. Now in their 80s, their entire life has been rooted in generosity. Two weeks ago, a few of us visited an elderly Gandhian couple in Baroda - Arun Dada and Mira Ba.
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