Chapter (অধ্যায়): I-XXIX (From the Diary of a Disciple) PAGE-209Page: 209 of 526
Disciple: The people of that part have not been able to appreciate Nag Mahashaya.
Swamiji: How can ordinary people appreciate a great man like him? Those who had his company are blessed indeed.
Disciple: What did you see at Kamakhya?
Swamiji: The Shillong hills are very beautiful. There I met Sir Henry Cotton, the Chief Commissioner of Assam. He asked me, "Swamiji, after travelling through Europe and America, what have you come to see here in these distant hills?" Such a good and kind-hearted man as Sir Henry Cotton is rarely found. Hearing of my illness, he sent the Civil Surgeon and inquired after my health mornings and evenings. I could not do much lecturing there, because my health was very bad. On the way Nitai served and looked after me nicely.
Disciple: What did you find the religious ideas of that part to be?
Swamiji: It is the land of the Tantras. I heard of one "Hankar Deva" who is worshipped there as an Avatara. I heard his sect is very wide-spread. I could not ascertain if "Hankar Deva" was but another form of the name Shankaracharya. They are monks-perhaps Tantrika Sannyasins, or perhaps one of the Shankara sects.
Disciple: The people of East Bengal have not been able to appreciate you as is the case with Nag Mahashaya.
Swamiji: Whether they appreciate me or not, the people there are more active and energetic than those of these parts. In time it will develop more. What are nowadays known as refined or civilised ways have not yet thoroughly entered those parts. Gradually they will. In all times, etiquette and fashion spread to the countryside from the capital. And this is happening in East Bengal also. The land that has produced a great soul