Badi Apa's home

Sister Lily took me to visit Badi Apa. Nothing had prepared me for the elegance and graciousness of this lady. Her home was utterly charming. She and the Sisters of the Ashram go way, way, way back to the very early days...

She had me utterly enthralled with her stories about the visits of the first sisters, how she taught them how to sew and knit so that they could use these skills in their work with women; their long discourses on village life and the Scriptures; how they dug the well in the center of her courtyard; the rooms where the Sisters tentatively took the first lessons for the local children (the seed of the balwadis was sown here)......

This is Badi Apa's courtyard: