Manu Ghosh appeared in newspapers as well as news channels of Kolkata for her frank talk and cheerful demeanour. Whether it was at the press conference or at the Puja pandals, Manu Maa was the star attraction. Clad in a white sari, her personality was no less attractive. She hails from Kolkata and she does not want anyone to ask about her past days in the city. “Let me enjoy my trip; I did not come here to recall my bad days. Yes, Kolkata looks very beautiful. We are now travelling with pomp and show. I never thought or even imagined we would do so,” said Manu. Sometimes Manu took the camera from newsmen and took pictures of the streets of Kolkata. Photographers were told to click her pictures while having cold-drinks. “Don’t I look like a model,” she said with a coy giggle. Manu can talk on any subject and answer questions correctly. Journalists frequented Hotel Sunrise, where Manu and Lalita Maa were staying. Sometimes her answers were bitter, but soft. Answering a question, she retorted: “Not only you but many people, even the Chief Minister, Smt. Mamata Banerjee, asked us if we are happy in Vrindavan. But you never came there to have a look at the conditions we were living at one time and how we live now, that’s why you don’t have the right to ask how we live there.”
Point of No Return When many sons and daughters expressed their desire to take back their mothers with them, Lalita Maa lashed out: “We left our homes in helplessness. At that time, no one was there to help us. Now when we are into happy days, everyone is remembering us. I hate such hypocrisy.” At the Kolkata airport, she had even refused to meet her son. But she was motherly with people who are not related to her: “Where do you live? Have you got married? How many members are there in your family’? How is your wife?” she had asked reporters during a conversation. She frequently asked for tea. She talked of spirituality and sometimes, philosophy: “You can’t find God in the temples or books. God lives amongst us, someone who stands by in our grief and pain. Pathak Baba is God for us. He is doing a lot for us. Before he came to us, not a single woman in the five ashrams had any sense of spirituality. We were all concerned about just one thing: our daily bread. Today, we have overcome this problem. Now, we are enjoying our lives by singing Radhey-Radhey bhajans in the ashrams’. A lady journalist asked me whether any of the ladies from among the widows would return to their homes in Kolkata. Instead of giving the reply myself I gave the mike to Manu Ghosh. She flatly declined to return to Kolkata, and asked the other ladies whether they would like to return to their homes. All of them said in unison, “No”!
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