Swami Yogananda

The memories of the past are full of happiness. For me, the remembrance of being in the
company of Swami Yogananda is one of inspiration which stirs the deepest part of my heart.
In 1906 of the Christian year, by the side of Upper Circular Road (now Acharya Prafulla
Chandra Road)* and near the gate of the Calcutta Deaf and Dumb School situated there, my
friend Kalinath Sarkar from Parshi Bagan came up to me along with a group of kids, with a
football in his hand, and asked me to give him the instrument [pump] to fill the ball with air.
After asking, I found out that a young boy of 12/13 years of age in that group named
Mukunda Lal was the owner of that ball. Mukunda was very happy to have my help and he
asked me to come and join in the daily games in the field nearby (Greer Park - now Ladies
Park). Although Mukunda was a little older than me, we met and carried on as playmates and
friends as if of the same age, as is natural during childhood. To make me happy, he used to
say, "He is the manager of our club."
My father, Mohini Mohan Majumdar Mahasaya, was the primary founder and a singularly
significant person involved with the work of the above-mentioned school. We lived in that
school itself. A short while before, Mukunda father, Bhagabati Charan Ghosh, had begun
renting the house addressed No. 4 Garpar Road, right by the north side of the school.
The most revered Ghosh Mahasaya was slight in physical stature, and his age at that time was
close to 53. He was a high-level employee of the B.N. Railways; his monthly income was
nearly one thousand rupees. Principled behavior, self-reliance, being reserved in speech and
clear in his statements, rational, punctual, non-extravagant, simplicity and unostentatiousness
in life, purity in intellect, adherence to responsibility, non-attachment, and all things such as
these characterized his nature. I had noticed a deep reverence in him regarding scriptures,
sadhana and Guru Lahiri Mahasaya, but never any overemotional feelings. Even at the death
of his children, he held himself with as much emotional stability as there can be. From the
time he lost his wife [to an untimely death] in the Christian year of 1904 to the time of his
departure from the body at almost the age of 90 in 1942, he carried out all of the duties of a
householder in both strict and gentle ways, being both father and mother to his sons and
daughters. Some people used to think of his worldly approach as miserly, but we have known
that for things that were necessary, he never hesitated to take care of any expenditures. In
particular, he freely spent a great deal of money for the education of his children. My life was
blessed at having received his closeness of affection, goodwill and blessings.