One afternoon in 1985, Mother and Sir CP had an Indian diplomat couple for tea at Brompton Square. They had some problems and I vividly remember how incredibly loving Mother was with them, literally transforming them before our very eyes. As they were leaving, Shri Mataji asked for a photo as a reminder, so I got my camera.
I had a real problem with miracle photos back then. Having just a few years earlier attended art school where I had studied photography, all of these long exposures with moving lights etc could in my eyes be easily explained. Plus I found it all a little insulting to Mother. She was so obviously divine – how She carried Herself, Her gestures, Her speech, not to mention the content of what She was saying.
So, I’m back with my camera, at the end of a roll and had no other film so only took two photos. When I picked them up I was absolutely silenced. In the first Mother has Her hands crossed. In the second She has let them drop to Her sides and there is a gentle ray of light pouring from Her left Swadishthan! On the technical side, the 35mm negative of these two prints had no marks or bends or damage of any kind.
Mother presented me with incontrovertible evidence that there can be real miracle photos The next day we showed the prints to Shri Mataji and She was so enthusiastic about them, looking at them with big eyes.
Ian Paradine