THIS IS A VERY NICE KIND OF CRADLE

 
Lord Krishna's birthday fell while we were there [in Toka, 1928], and we heard that the Prem Ashram boys wanted to celebrate it.

That morning Baba had a bath and put on a new sadra. And then I brushed His beautiful hair, and He went to meet the boys. They dressed Him up as Krishna, and His photo was taken in that costume.

We girls also wanted to celebrate Krishna's birthday, but what should we do? Then we remembered that Hindus make a small cradle, put Krishna's picture in it, and sing lullabies to the photo. Flowers are also offered and sweets distributed. So we decided that we would make a cradle, not a small cradle, but an extraordinary one! We were going to make a large cradle for Baba Himself to lie in!

We girls all got together, and we were very excited. We found a nice sheet, some good strong rope, and we hung the sheet tied tightly at the four corners from the roof. Then we decorated this cradle with flowers.

When Baba came to us we garlanded Him and said, "This year, Baba, we want to celebrate Krishna's birthday. Would You like to lie in this cradle we've made for You?"

So Baba got in the cradle and, smiling, He lay down. He knew that all the prem Ashram boys were happy, and He wanted to please us, too. Small Khorshed had a good voice, and she knew a cradle song, so she and some others sang to Baba while we very gently rocked the cradle with Baba in it.

About halfway through the song we heard a strange noise. Baba asked, "What's that noise?" Then He quickly jumped out of the cradle, and He was just in time. There was a big tear in the sheet, and a second longer and Baba would have slid onto the floor through the slit. The bed sheet was not quite new, and it had torn under Baba's back. It was fortunate that the cradle was only about two and a half feet off the ground.

Baba laughed, and we all laughed. He teased us, saying, "This is a very nice kind of cradle, this cradle! I like it very much. Now never mind."

Baba then had Khorshed finish the cradle song, and that was the way we celebrated Lord Krishna's birthday!