Premananda writes:
It was evening time in the
small village of Ramanathpur. Baba called the four Americans who had come to see
him to come and sit with him at the bathing ghat at the local pond. He told me
to bring the little tape recorder which Premamayi had given him.
A beautiful Bengali breeze was blowing as he told us these little stories about
the meaning of the word "guru." He spoke from beginning to end without pause as
he always did when inspired.
Truly Baba had never set foot in a school as a pupil and only learned to read
Oriya and Bengali late in life, laboriously, from devotees.
We did not know much Bengali in those days, and often longed for someone to
translate fully what Baba was saying.
In fact these words, which seemed to flow as easily as the cooling Indian breeze
which was blowing, became the first words of Baba ever translated into English
direct from an actual tape. In 1975 a small tape recorder was still a rare and
marvelous thing in that remote little village, which did not even have
electricity.
It was not until over a year later that I would realize, as I was desparately
translating it, at last with Pradeep, that he had begun this talk with the
words: "Today I shall speak a little bit about the meaning of this word 'Guru'
and they will tranlate this into English."
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