Ageh Bharti remembers an incident in the early Jabalpur days
Osho had given me so much lift – so many favours – that a few times I had to express my displeasure with him.
The first time it happened in Jabalpur, when he agreed to inaugurate a cloth shop belonging to Nemi Chand Jain (later called Swami Anand Vijay), which was situated in the busiest market.
As soon as I came to know about the event, I drove to the spot early, but I had to find one of the chairs out on the road because there was no other space left. Unfortunately there was a loudspeaker just opposite the shop, adding to the misery. I took a seat to watch that unwelcome event.
Meanwhile, a passer-by, a lecturer from Satna, saw the announcement on the board. He approached me and asked if the shop was to be inaugurated by the same Acharya Rajneesh whose articles appeared in the magazines and newspapers.
I said, “Yes, sir!”
To which he said to me rudely, “What do you Jabalpur people think of him?”
I had to tell a lie and say, “I am also an outsider like you.”
When Osho arrived, he could hardly find a space for his car. He sat down on the chair set out for him, then cut the thread, thus inaugurating the shop.
Then Nemi Chand Jain thrust a microphone in front of Osho, asking him to speak a few words. Osho refused to do that. Nemi Chand Jain asked again.
Then Osho said into the microphone, “If Nemi Chand sells his clothes with only a 3 percent profit – as he claims – then I send him my good wishes.” And he pushed the microphone away.
Osho left for home and I followed on my bicycle.
When I got to his residence I asked him, “Why do you agree to go to such occasions?”
And he replied, “This is for you all to think about where to take me next.”
Photo by Alexey Demidov on Unsplash
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