45. Bapu: "But my sons are also yours."

Once some of the Harijans in Nagpur decided to resort to Satyagraha as a protest against the non-election of a Harijan as President of the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee. Their plan was to fast and sit still every day for 24 hours in batches of five in Sevagram, in front of Bapu. Ultimately when they arrived in Sevagram, Bapu welcomed them and made every arrangement for their stay in the Ashram. In this connection Bapu asked Ba to vacate one of the two rooms, which she occupied, for the visitors. This involved her giving up her larger room to them and herself staying into the smaller room as a combined living and bathroom. And she felt that she would be rather inconvenienced by this arrangement.

Therefore, Ba said to Bapu, sarcastically, "They are after all your sons. Why not then offer your own room to them?"

Bapu laughed and rejoined, "But they are as much yours as they are mine!"

Thus Ba was disarmed, and in the end not only she gave up her larger room, but she also attended to every comfort of the visitors!