Early life
Swami Atmananda was born in Sindh, which was then part of India. She was the youngest of nine children, five girls and four boys. Her mother died when she was four years old, and she was raised by her eldest sister, Mira, who they used to call Mummy.
Mira remembers: ‘We always had religious people visiting the family home in Sindh, and the atmosphere was quite spiritual. There was a saint who especially had an influence on the family: Pandit Nirottamdatt (we called him Maharaj).
In Sindh he lived in a boathouse provided by my father. From the time Swamiji was six years old, Maharaj conducted daily morning satsang (spiritual discourse) in our home.
When the family had to move to Mumbai in 1948, Maharaj came with us and stayed in his own flat until his death in 1963.
Once when Swami Atmananda was a toddler (12-18 months) I heard her crying. When I went into her room, I saw six or seven baby snakes come out of my baby sister’s hair, and slither away.’ (In India, snakes are considered most auspicious.)
‘A few days later, we heard the phonogram playing a devotional song in the room where baby Swamiji was sleeping. We were puzzled as to who turned it on since no one else was in the room. When I went to look, as soon as I entered the room the music mysteriously stopped.
Baby Swamiji would always save a little milk in her glass, and pour it over herself. No matter how little milk we gave her, she would save a few drops to pour over herself.’ (This is a ritual gesture – anointing a statue of the deity with milk.)
‘Later, when Swamiji was about 20 years old, I was looking for a quiet place to read my Sukhmani book. I asked Swamiji if I could sit on the spot that she used to do her meditation. Swamiji shrugged and consented, but after a few minutes I couldn’t sit there any longer because the cushion started vibrating.’
When Swami Atmananda was nine years old the family had to leave their home and all their possessions, and move to Mumbai. It was the time of Partition, when Sindh became part of Pakistan; there was great upheaval and much bloodshed. Hindus from Sindh were shipped to India, and Moslems from India fled to Pakistan.
Swami Atmananda remembered her family sitting on the docks in Mumbai with their bags, for they arrived with just what they could carry with them. But her father was an architect, and with time the family prospered.
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