In Memory Sri Balakrishna Poddar (4 December 1933      12 May 1994 )   The man who spearheaded SABDA is no more. After a prolonged ailment Sri Balkrishna Poddar, the Director of SABDA, breathed his last in the Ashram nursing home on 12 May 1994 at 7.45 pm.  At the age of nineteen, a young and energetic Balkrishna joined the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. The Mother immediately entrusted him with the work. of SABDA. Under her guidance he set out to make available to all the works of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother and all his life strove to fulfill this mission.  All those who knew him admired him for his singl

THE BIRTH OF BLESSING PACKETS   The tiny Blessing packets, associated with our Ashram, are unique in themselves in many and varied ways.   They have travelled all over the world, may it be by road, steamships, naval vessels, or on ordinary yet adventurous country rafts, on aircrafts like helicopters, supersonics, air buses, gliders, balloons, or even by Migs, by trains, by cars, by buses, by bullock-carts. But most of all they have travelled on bicycles, placed with love and reverence in the pockets of devotees. They travel very often close to the hearts of people.   If the small Blessing packet is seen—in whichever co

Sunanda Poddar {Caretaker of "Srismriti", The Mother's Museum, From The Golden Path)   Where were you born and what was your family life like ? Were your parents spiritual or religious people ?   What were your special talents ? Did they manifest early in your childhood? What were your childhood ambitions and dreams ?     Were you aware of a spiritual presence in your childhood? When did you first begin to aspire deeply for the spiritual life?     When did you come to the Ashram for the first time and  when did you have darshan of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother?   When did you return for your final stay?