9. How Bapu nursed Ba

In South Africa once, on coming out of the prison, Ba was in very poor health. Her digestive system was seriously upset. She could not retain any food. There was swelling on her hands and feet. Some of the household remedies and even the doctor's treatment had failed to produce any visible improvement. So one day Bapu said to Ba, "If you have faith in me, I would like to try my own treatment on you." Ba agreed to this. Bapu then told her that she would have to fast for fourteen days and also take margosa juice as medicine. During this period Bapu served Ba with such exemplary love, sympathy and efficiency, that it is difficult to describe it adequately in words. He attended to every detail himself, for example, helping Ba to clean her teeth, to take coffee, carrying her to a cot under a tree for rest in the day, massaging her, etc.

However, Bapu did not know how to comb her hair. So this job was assigned to Kashiba¹. One day she was a little late in coming. So Bapu himself oiled and combed Ba's hair. Just then Kashiba arrived. "You will now do the rest," Bapu said to her, "because I do not know how to coil up the hair into a braid." As a result of Bapu's affectionate treatment and nursing, Ba was restored ultimately to health after a prolonged illness.

1. Wife of Shri Chhaganlal Gandhi and mother of Shri Prabhudas Gandhi