July 1995. London. The new shikharbaddh mandir was under construction. Swamishri was on an inspection tour of the work in progress. Swamishri arrived in the haveli foyer. There, workmen were perched on scaffolding and plastering the walls. Suddenly, about 20 feet away one of the workmen, Melvyn - an African-American - jumped down from the scaffolding. He had a large muscular body - toned by plenty of exercise. He came and stood beside me.

"All you sadhus are too thin," he said.

I was worried he might cause a disturbance, so I kept talking with him.

"We're not weak. We're strong." Then I explained that our inner spiritual endeavors are hard. He was interested, so I explained to him about a sadhu's five cardinal vows. He was amazed.

We followed Swamishri up the stairs to the first floor, as we talked.

"For how many years has your guru not touched women?"

"About 55 years," I replied, since Swamishri had been initiated in 1939.

Melvyn expressed a wish to meet Swamishri. Seeing him bare-chested and in shorts, I said it was not proper to meet Swamishri like this. So he immediately borrowed a T-shirt from one of his workmates. We reached the spot where Swamishri was standing and he bowed down to Swamishri. Then, suddenly he asked,

"Since how many years are you observing this rule of not seeing women?"

"About 55," I interrupted.

"No, No," Swamishri said, "Tell him 75 years!"

Melvyn's eyes almost popped out when I told him. I also learnt that Swamishri, not only from birth, but since eternity, has been pure. Even before initiation, Swamishri was aloof from worldly attachments.

- Sadhu Brahmaviharidas