I First Met Maharajji in About 1930
I first met Maharajji in about 1930, when I was a schoolboy. Father was a great devotee. Maharajji visited our family in Faizabad (near Ayodhya). After my father’s retirement, I became superintendent of police of jails. Maharajji would come visit wherever I happened to be posted—Agra, Bareilly, Kanpur, Lucknow, and so on.
One room in our home was always kept vacant for Maharajji. From the 1930s on, I detected no drastic change in Maharajji’s appearance. We prepared his favorite foods daily—loki (squash) vegetable, mung dal— in case he should come. When Maharajji didn't come, we would take it as his prasad.
For more than twenty five years Maharajji visited our home in Lucknow. He came at least once a year, for a few hours or a few weeks. He was both guru and grandfather to everyone in our family. All the children were born and raised under his guidance. He referred to them as his own children, and they in turn were very free with him.