INTRODUCTION

A young Bharati Sukhatankar had met Gurudev in 1968 during the Delhi Yajna. Enthralled by what she witnessed during the Yajna, she wrote a six-page letter to Gurudev a few days later, seeking guidance on how to apply in life all the knowledge that he had poured out in the Yajna.

Gurudev’s reply came promptly. "Write a Bala Ramayana for children.”

Bharati was taken aback. She was a science major. “Why would he ask me to write, and that too a Ramayana for children? “ she wondered, thinking he was mistaken.

Bharati Interview Clip 1

THE BEGINNING

24th April 1968

I am sending you a new Ramayana that I got. Read it carefully and pass it all on to the children.

You must rewrite that book, with details taken from Rajaji’s Ramayana --- which is yet another simple text, and thus prepare a Ramayana for our Mission children. Take your own time.

Glorify Bharat’s character more than Rama's.