86. Bapu : "I know Ba better."

During 1942, when Bapu was thinking of undertaking a fast, Sarojini Devi, Sushilabehn and Pyarelalji and others felt that if he did ultimately resort to it, the ordeal would be too much for Ba to bear, because of her extreme physical weakness. So one day Sarojini Devi, who often thought that Bapu was at times very hard upon poor Ba, blurted out, "Bapu, these fasts of yours will simply kill Ba."

Thereupon Bapu laughed and said, "I know Ba better than you all. You people have no idea at all of her fortitude. When some years back, I embarked upon the fast to prevent the secession of the Harijans from the fold of Hinduism, and when there seemed to be no hope that I would survive, Ba distributed, at my wish, all my belongings among the hospital staff, without shedding a single tear."

That night, however, Bapu talked to Ba about his contemplated fast and convinced her of the rightness of his step. Therefore, next day Ba said to Sarojini Devi and others that Bapu had, indeed, no alternative but to fast in protest against the Government's false propaganda. And every one was surprised at her courageous acceptance of the inevitable.