1. Moti baba lives in village Maniarpur, on fringes of Santhal Pargana. He is totally illiterate,a saffron clad monk, celibate since childhood and follower of Meinhi Maharaj. He is more than 100 years old.
2. The nearest township of Baunsi is 6-7 kms away, where one can catch a train or bus. Moti baba, with the help of a stick, even today very happily walks the distance alone, to go to various places when people invite him.
3. He has a Thali for eating food and drinking water. At the end of his meal, he pours water into it, shakes it so that all left over particles come unstuck and then drinks that mixture. He says that it is a healthy practice not to leave any left overs in your plate. He has not fallen sick in last one century.
4. The youngest member of the Ashram is about 85 to 90 years younger to Moti baba. At times, the young monks ask him,"When are you going to die." His reply till Jan used to be,"I shall die after all of you are dead." But now he has started saying that he will die after five years.
5. I met him for the first time in Jan 09 when I went to stay with them along with a friend. Both of us generated a lot of interest in the area because of the colour of our skin. Santhal Pargana is dominated by very dark skinned people.
6. We were asked questions like are we from Kashmir or England. My reply of Shillong was taken as Ceylone(Sri Lanka) as the new name of that country has not yet got registered with them. I gave up after some futile efforts at clarification.
7. Moti baba does not talk much, if at all. However he did honour us, maybe because we were oddities, by speaking for a few sec. He spoke only three words,"DHYAN KARO DHYAN."
8. I met him again in May. He did not talk to me at all and just ignored me altogether.My gut feeling is that it is because I ignored his advice and did not do as much as I could or should have. People like him can make out.
9. I feel that advice of a man who has been at it for a century is important.
2. The nearest township of Baunsi is 6-7 kms away, where one can catch a train or bus. Moti baba, with the help of a stick, even today very happily walks the distance alone, to go to various places when people invite him.
3. He has a Thali for eating food and drinking water. At the end of his meal, he pours water into it, shakes it so that all left over particles come unstuck and then drinks that mixture. He says that it is a healthy practice not to leave any left overs in your plate. He has not fallen sick in last one century.
4. The youngest member of the Ashram is about 85 to 90 years younger to Moti baba. At times, the young monks ask him,"When are you going to die." His reply till Jan used to be,"I shall die after all of you are dead." But now he has started saying that he will die after five years.
5. I met him for the first time in Jan 09 when I went to stay with them along with a friend. Both of us generated a lot of interest in the area because of the colour of our skin. Santhal Pargana is dominated by very dark skinned people.
6. We were asked questions like are we from Kashmir or England. My reply of Shillong was taken as Ceylone(Sri Lanka) as the new name of that country has not yet got registered with them. I gave up after some futile efforts at clarification.
7. Moti baba does not talk much, if at all. However he did honour us, maybe because we were oddities, by speaking for a few sec. He spoke only three words,"DHYAN KARO DHYAN."
8. I met him again in May. He did not talk to me at all and just ignored me altogether.My gut feeling is that it is because I ignored his advice and did not do as much as I could or should have. People like him can make out.
9. I feel that advice of a man who has been at it for a century is important.