Some of our elders

I wish to speak about some of the elders with whom I did not have any close contact yet a gesture here, an event there have left a lasting impression of them in me. To name only a few Khirod-da, Bula-da, Manoranjan-da, Udar-da, Umirchand-da, Parichand-da, Jyotin-da and a  few others.

When The Mother initiated Thursday & Sunday meditation in the Playground after Physical activities - some of these Sadhaks it seems let the Mother know that most of the days they were busy even at that hour with the department work. Thus they were unable to come to The Meditation in the Playground. Hearing which the Mother it seems assured them saying something like “That is your meditation; you don’t need to come to the Playground.”

Bula-da who lived in the Ashram premises occupied the room which is now used as work and store room for blessing packets. He was in-charge of electric and water departments. He was a very straightforward and strict person. To run the department most economically was his constant effort. In the early period the Ashram houses had 40 watts bulbs everywhere. To read or study, that light was not sufficient. One sadhika went to the department and stated that she was unable to read in that dim light. Bula-da heard her but didn’t reply. After a few days he asked her to come to the department when he would be present. She went as instructed, he handed her a table lamp and explained that, this lamp was for her studies only. She should never light two lights at the same time. She followed his instruction to the letter for she lived with me for many years and I have never found the light on the wall on when she was reading under the table lamp.

One evening Gangaram-da and myself were standing near Bula-da’s room and having small talk. In front, Bishwabani-di was distributing incense sticks to offer at the Samadhi. There was a long queue and near the Samadhi it was filled with smoke and fragrance. Gangaram-da looked at the gathering with a bemused smile and then said something very interesting.

After Sri Aurobindo left his physical body and after he was laid to rest in the Samadhi, The Mother instructed that all through the day and night one incense stick must burn at The Samadhi. The day’s responsibility was on Haradhan-da. (The Mother seeing him for the first time said that he was the priest of a temple where she was the goddess in the past). He did his karmayoga with heart and soul. But it was the night hours which had to be arranged. The Mother assigned this duty to some young Ashramites. Gangaram-da was on of them. In general an incense stick burns for thirty or forty minutes. That’s why someone had to keep a vigil so that when one was getting extinguished, another stick was to be lighted. For a period these young Ashramites did their duty. Bula-da who lived in the Ashram premises as already mentioned approached one of the youngsters and suggested he could very well do what they were doing, as he lived in the building. The suggestion was sent to The Mother and The Mother consented to the arrangement. From that day Bula-da lighted an incense stick at The Samadhi every 30/40 minutes interval every night.

Khirod-da was a different personality. A short bearded man, didn’t bother what he ate, how he dressed. Whatever he received from the Ashram was accepted by him with gratitude. All that mattered for him was to serve The Mother, lead the life of an Ashramite. Starting the day with the Balcony Darshan, going to the Dining Hall for breakfast, hurrying to the department to assign different duties to the Ashram inmates for the day. Then if necessary visit the places where the work was getting done. Khirod-da was in charge of our “Building Maintenance” department, his hands were always full with repair work as most of the Ashramites lived in rented houses. It was also one way of the Mother to help the local people financially. Often the houses were old but if they were taken by the Ashram then the owner was sure to have his house properly maintained. Because The Mother’s instruction was, all the houses including those rented should be properly looked after.

Here is an incident which shows his relation with The Mother. Once some materials were getting stolen on and off. One Ashramite who worked with him had the privilege to go for pranam to The Mother regularly. He went to Her and informed Her that it was Khirod-da who was behind it. After the Ashramite left the Mother’s room, one of those who were always around Her it seems exclaimed - “Khirod? Mother do you believe Khirod will do such thing?” The Mother it seems replied “Khirod is a true sadhak,  knows what I think of him”.

It is the same Khirod-da once after waiting to go to The Mother saw that it was getting late for the Mother’s lunch. He quietly walked out. Someone later asked him why he had gone away - Khirod-da’s reply was “It was getting late for the Mother for her lunch. I didn’t want Her to be for late for me.”

How shall I write about an incident which may throw some light on how the Mother taught us to accept something in a positive light even when it seems quite negative in appearance.

In the early sixties of the last century one November it rained for three weeks or so without stop. We were then living in an old rented house. After a few days the walls developed wet patches nearly in all the rooms. One afternoon returning home I found a thin stream of water running from one corner of my room. The terrace was leaking. I went out to Khirod-da to inform him. Next day in heavy rain he walked all the way to our house to see what the matter was. After examining he said, “We can’t do anything permanent but something will be done so that you can live in safety .”

From inside the workers tried to stop the leakage, but it did not hold. I went for the second time. He then informed the Mother about the condition of the house & especially my room. Hearing which it seems She said, “Tell her it is The Divine Grace coming down.”

A sadhak who never bothered what he ate thrice a day for all his life as an Ashramite became conscious of his diet in his last years. It was not that he wanted to live longer, he was already in his early nineties. It was because he didn’t want to depend on anyone as every Ashramite was serving The Mother which has been the utmost priority in his own life.

The year 1968 - The Mother’s dream town Auroville’s foundation was to take place on 28th of February. Her idea was that all the countries of the world should participate in this historical event by sending delegates and a fistful of soil. Therefore she sent a few Ashramites to Delhi to contact embassies. Many sent delegates and some only sent soil.

All these delegates had to be accommodated by The Ashram. Their boarding and lodging were naturally the responsibilities of The Ashram. Corner House had begun to function only a short time ago. The Mother decided that the delegates would have their meals at Corner House. The delegates being from different countries had also different types of cuisine. They should feel happy with the meals served to them.

At the inception of Corner House Chandubhai and Joshibhai were at the helm. So a couple of days before the great day we saw Manoranjan-da discussing something with Chandubhai and Joshibhai in Corner House. As Manoranjan-da was involved in many Ashram activities we didn’t give much importance to this meeting, thinking it might be something regular. But one fine morning we found Manoranjan-da sitting on a chair near the Corner House Kitchen and instructing the ladies who cooked there regularly.

It is then we understood that he was to guide and supervise the meals during the stay of the delegates. With his instruction every meal had something special - a dish from a country which has sent delegates. We relished the dishes and from far observed all that was going on near the kitchen.

One morning after school at 11.30 am when I entered the Corner House Joshibhai called me, “I am waiting for you. Do you know how to cut big fish? Being a Bengali I should have known how to cut fish. That is always the assumption, but unfortunately I didn’t; hearing which Joshi-bhai replied “Doesn’t matter, come Manoranjan-da will instruct you.”

That was the only time I had spoken to Manoranjan-da. But he spoke and instructed me in such a way as if we have done it before. He instructed me at every step; how to cut big pieces, how to make filet, how to leave the bones and take out pieces. It was amusing as well as instructive. Though I knew I shall never cut in so many different ways a fish.

After the celebration was over we had heard discussion by the ladies in Corner House who helped him in that period. It seems he came early in the morning to instruct for the breakfast, give them the menu of the day; sit through out the day helping to prepare different dishes but never took a morsel. He just drank a couple of cups of tea and drank water.

In the evening, he returned home, after a shower went to The Ashram to inform The Mother about the day’s arrangements; then be back at home to have his meal.

Manoranjan-da was not only a workaholic but also a dedicated worker, who was always ready to help, wherever it was necessary.

Another very important inmate of The Ashram was Udar-da. I am unable to say much about him as I had no personal contact with him, all I can say is that whatever new venture began in The Ashram he was there to help. The Harpagon work-shop in the fifties was just like any other department. But slowly with labour and care, with the help of Panu-da he created a department having smelting section, wood-work section, stainless steel dept. and many more branches.

His daughter Gauri has published a book in which we can see how intimately he was connected with each and every important event that took place in The Ashram.

Here I just want to speak about one incident which has remained with me for more than four decades.

After the Mother left her physical body on 17th November the preparation for Her Samadhi began. As we all know the Samadhi which has two chambers - The lower and the upper. In the lower chamber Sri Aurobindo’s mortal remains were laid to rest. Till date the upper chamber was filled with sand. The Samadhi was opened and the sand was removed; the chamber was cleaned.

On 20th November, The Mother’s physical remains in a sandalwood casket was lowered in the upper chamber.

Till date the walls of The Samadhi were of bricks and cement painted with a particular blue as instructed by the Mother. After the Samadhi was closed, the usual floral decoration began.

One day we found Udar-da sitting on a low stool and working on the walls. He had a chisel and a hammer which may have been of a medium size. He was removing chips of cements from the wall. His action was so measured and careful that one had the feeling as if he was taking all the precautions not to disturb The Mother and Sri Aurobindo in their rest.

He worked for days, may be months. The walls were to be covered with marble pieces. He examined every piece before putting it on The Samadhi wall. He supervised the whole operation from beginning till the last piece was fixed. It was an act of love and dedication that only a child of The Mother is capable of.

Jatin-da of Blanchisserie and Bakery was a well-built figure who went pretty regularly for March Past and Marching in The Playground. He had full faith on all those who worked with him. There were Bhavaniprasad-ji, Madan-da, my uncle Suren Datta in the Bakery; Mohanbhai, Bina and some others in the Blanchisserie (Laundry). One of them was Parbati-da who washed a particular set of The Mother’s laundry.

Jatin-da never intervened in anyone’s duty as he believed that he was given the responsibility only to oversee that the work is done in a most perfect manner. He had the conviction that all those who worked with him knew their responsibility and certainly tried their best. If anything went wrong he would be there to supervise till he was satisfied with the effort to mend it. A small ensemble may show his attitude. Kaku suffered on and often from gastric pain. His duty was to mix the yeast in the evening. If he was unable to go to the Bakery Jatin-da himself would mix it instead of asking someone else to do it.

During the Hindi language agitation in the South the anger of the local people fell on The Ashram and there was much damage to The Ashram Property. For safety’s sake the inmates of The Ashram were advised to stay in and around The Ashram main building. For a few days all those who lived a little farther away were asked not to go home. The main building, The school, The Playground became our shelter. Two rooms adjacent to Jatin-da’s were vacant at that period, so he asked us to make use of them. The first morning I woke up listening to a recitation of the shlokas from the Bhagvat Gita. For three days I heard Jatin-da reciting The Gita early in the morning. It was a great waking up call.

Pramila-di of Jhunjhun boarding was related to him. When Pramila-di was given the responsibility of the boarding, Jatin-da began to visit the children in the evening and talk to them, narrate stories. For the boarders it was a treat for like all senior sadhaks he was erudite and a good story-teller. By and by he also began to dine with them as his diet got restricted due to some ailment.

One evening after the dinner he sat on his usual armchair, began a story but it did not end. Amongst the children he went to his eternal sleep. When The Mother was informed about his death, it seems she answered, “I know; his soul has gone to “Surya Loka”.

Umirchand-da was a very simple man; one could approach him if one found out that below the stern appearance there was an individual who was accessible. He had an imposing figure and a sonorous voice, probably that was the reason why Ashramites instead of approaching him would go to Khirod-da for help (both worked in the same department). But once you knew him you could ask him easily for any help.

These old sadhaks had one thing in common. They believed in every one of The Ashram as we were all children of the Mother. He enjoyed meeting people, liked to converse and it would be even better if it was over cup of tea. He loved to visit the workers’ Dispensary once in a while at about 9-9.30 am. It was the hour when I went to help the doctor with stock taking of medicine, bringing out from the store whatever medicine was needed for the day. The moment I entered the dispensary, I was informed that Umirchand-da was sitting with the doctor. “Bonjour, Umirchand-da”.

“Oh there you are Jharna; I am waiting for my cup of tea.”

While he waited for the tea and myself making it, there were always some talks about the school. The tea had to be served on a very special cup which was much bigger than the ordinary ones. He sat in the doctor’s room and enjoyed each sip. Once in a while we spoke about other things, but one main subject was the sweets of Rajasthan & those of Bengal. He often tried to make fun of the sweets made out of paneer. Sometimes I tried to defend the Bengal sweets, then one could see the amusement in his eyes. He would burst out laughing. It was pure amusement. Because he had, I felt the attitude, “Good will for all, malice for none.

By nature Parichand-da was quite different. He was quite as the say in Bengali “dhir, sthir”. He was one of the gardeners of The Ashram. The garden in the main Ashram building was his responsibility. A gardener par excellence, he too like his brother Umirchand-da offered himself completely at the service of The Mother.

He was a scholar, and had a deep knowledge of Philosophy, The works of The Mother and The Master. One never saw him preach. If one had some question, one had to go to his place. Outwardly he tended his garden, saw to the health of his plants and flowers.

Rarely he came to the workers’ Dispensary, but it was always nice meeting him. He sat with the doctor and conversed, mostly pertaining to different departmental issues. If I happened to be there, I would ask him if he would like a cup of tea. Sometimes he accepted, sometimes not.

He like Nolini-da enjoyed cultural programmes. He would be present in most of the programmes presented on the school stage. In 1980 I composed a dance-drama on the last day of Yajnavalka’s life in the Ashram where he utters those immortal words, I needed some specific white flowers, went to him and also requested him to see the dance-drama.

Next day of the programme when I went to the dispensary, there was waiting for me a note and a big bouquet of flowers. The dance-drama had touched him so much that, that was his way of appreciation.