Table of Illustrations Page Frontispiece Sri Aurobindo in London, aged about twelve (author's collection) 22 A view of Marseilles' harbour early this century 25 An overview of Port Said 's harbour early this century 84 Rajnarain Bose in his later years (reproduced from his autobiography, courtesy the late Dr. Hara Prasad Mitra) 95 Krishna Dhan Chose (reproduced from Barin's autobiography) 104 Swarnalata with Manmohan, around 1877 (courtesy Sri Lab Kumar Bose and the late Sri Nirmal Ranjan Mitra) 107 Plaque at Khulna in memory of Dr. K. D. Chose (courtesy Smt. Lahori Chatterjee) 116 Facsimile of

26 Poets All "Have you written any stories?" asked a curious Nirod. "I have," replied Sri Aurobindo, "but they are all lost." He explained how it happened. "When there was the rumour that our house would be searched by the [Pondicherry] police, my trunk was sent off to David's1 place. After some time when they brought the trunk back it was found that all my stories had been eaten away by white ants. So my future fame as a story-writer perished." The way he said that made everyone burst into laughter. "But it is a pity I lost two translations of poems," Sri Aurobindo said more seriously. "One of them was a translation of Kalidasa's Meghaduta in terza rimas

8 The Jungle When trees are cut and removed from a forest, it becomes a jungle. The first thing that happens is a tangled spreading of the underbrush. In the same way, the Indian society was almost choked with undergrowth. So much so that the sustaining nourishment of India —the Vedas and the Upanishads —were all but buried under a vegetation of ignorance and customs. We have a shining example of the Vedic times in Rishi Agastya and his consort Lopamudra —man and wife together and as equals, "digging" to reach the Sun hidden in the depths of Matter. Gargi, of the Upanishad times, is an example of educated woman of India. In the court of King Janaka of Mit

4 Her Diamond Eyes Mother, in her communion with her Lord, did not note down the exact physical events on board the ship. But sometimes, in the course of conversations, she would recall one incident or another, for her ironical look never missed any incongruity. "The first time I came to India," recounted Mother decades later, "I came on a Japanese ship. And on this Japanese ship there were two clergymen, that is, Protestant priests, of different sects. I don't remember what sects exactly, but they were both English; I think one was an Anglican and the other a Presbyterian. "Now, came Sunday." It was Sunday the 15th of March, 1914. "There had to b

17 Brother Manmohan "Mislike me not for my complexion, The shadowed livery of the burnished sun!" "These words, spoken as if from some spontaneous compulsion in a voice low and thrilled that itself seemed to glow, caused all the class of school boys to turn their heads." Thus wrote Robert Laurence Binyon in his Introductory Memoir in Songs of Love and Death, a book of poems by Manmohan Ghose. "At the back of the room, behind the rest, sat a young Indian with thick hair falling about his forehead, and dark lustrous eyes. It was he who had startled us with his impassioned tones. Where had he come from? How had he mysteriously joined us? Perhaps I

24 Brother Benoybhusan Dr. K. D. Ghose said of his eldest son, "Beno will be his father in every line of action. Self-sacrificing but limited in his sphere of action." Sri Aurobindo said of his eldest brother: "He is a very practical man, the opposite of poetic, takes more after my father. He is a very nice man and one can easily get on with him. He had fits of miserliness." And he added, "Manmohan and I used to quarrel pretty often but I got on very well with my eldest brother." Imagine ... Sri Aurobindo quarrelling! And Manmohan? In a letter to Binyon (8 January 1890), he writes from his lodgings in Earl's Court, "I have been ill — stricken w

5 The Eternal Birth "Surely for the earth-consciousness the very fact that the Divine manifests himself is the greatest of all splendours. Consider the obscurity here and what it would be if the Divine did not directly intervene and the Light of Light did not break out of the obscurity —for that is the meaning of the manifestation." That was Sri Aurobindo. * * * 15 August 1872. "To the hill-tops of silence from over the infinite sea, Golden he came, Armed with the flame, Looked on the world that his greatness and passion must free." Mid-August. The heavens penetrate Earth's atmosphere in spectacular fiery showers of falling meteors —t

-20_St. Paul^s School.htm 18 St. Paul's School The three terms at St. Paul's School begin in January, April and September; the largest number of entrants being in September. Both M. M. Ghose and A. A. Ghose entered the School in the Autumn term of 1884. While Mano's guardian was named as 'W. H. Drewett,' Sri Aurobindo's was listed as 'Mr. Ackroyd': GHOSE, ARAVINDA ACKROYD. A. A. Ghose was elected to St. Paul's by competitive examination as a Foundationer. The Foundation Scholars received remittance of part of their fees, and were regarded as the intellectual elite of the school. It was the High Master, Dr. Walker, who examined Sri Aurobindo and elected him. He found the b

-14_Krishna Dhan Ghose Sri Aurobindo^s Father.htm 12 Krishna Dhan Ghose Sri Aurobindo's Father "Everyone makes the forefathers of a great man very religious-minded, pious, etc.," said Sri Aurobindo correcting a misstatement by a biographer. "It is not true in my case at any rate. My father was a tremendous atheist." Barin, Sri Aurobindo's younger brother, wrote, "Among my father's old, torn papers, I have found songs to the Mother Goddess, written by him, that are deeply devotional." The apparently contradictory statements by the two brothers are not really so contradictory as all that. Dr. Krishna Dhan Ghose,1 M.D. M. R. C. S. (Eng.), L. M. S. (Calcutta), wa

16 Manchester Sri Aurobindo was to live in England for almost fourteen years, from 1879 to 1893. Which reminds me of an Avatar of another Age: Rama, the son of King Dasaratha of Ayodhya, was banished from the kingdom by his father for fourteen years. Did Dr. Krishna Dhan Ghose know that he was doing the same to his son? We don't know. But what is known is that he placed his three sons with the clergyman and his wife with strict instructions that they should not be allowed to make the acquaintance of any Indian, or undergo any Indian influence. These instructions were carried out to the letter and Sri Aurobindo grew up in entire ignorance of India, her people,