India House - Chapter 11

No Library Card For You

Shyamji’s office was small, neat and orderly. There was a portrait of his Guru, the venerable Shri Dayananda Saraswati, and a little shrine with a small black idol of Shrinathji, with a diamond on his chin, the manifestation of Krishna as a seven-year-old. It was decorated with lilies and tulips. There were several bookshelves, with thick volumes in Sanskrit, Gujarati and English. There were a few in French as well.

“Namaste, Panditji,” Tatya said, bowing.

“Sit down, sit down,” Pandit Shyamji said, “How are you settling in?”

“Ji, I wanted to personally thank you for the scholarship and the opportunity to live here.”

“I appreciate that. I have been watching you for a long time, and Tilak highly recommended you. We hope you will do great things with this opportunity.”

“I will do my utmost to live up to your expectations, Panditji.”

“What are you planning to do out here?”

“Have more people attend our events, have more people come across our ideas. I think it’s important to have a wider base. Th…