I Cannot Recognise You

The Consul General's junior secretary was Mr. Ramanathan. He often gave talks on Hinduism and he used to invite me to go and listen.

In 1994, Dr. Jayaraman-ji, the Executive Director of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (USA), invited me to a special Indian cultural performance at Queensborough Community College. He wanted to dedicate the performance to my mother for her centenary.

At the performance an Indian man came up to me and said, "Ghose, do you recognise me?"

"I do not recognise you," I said.

"You cannot recognise me because you have become a big shot!" was his reply.

"Please tell me your name."

"I am Ramanathan."

O God, as soon as he said the name, I knew who he was, "From your name I can recognise you, but not from your face," I told him. His face was completely changed. Old age has heavily descended upon him.

[Source: "I Cannot Recognise You" in Sri Chinmoy, My Consulate Years, Agni Press, Jamaica, NY, 1996, p. 43.]