7 JULY 1940

PURANI: Baudoin is furious with the British.

SRI AUROBINDO: Yes. He says that this aggressive action of the navy is a blot on English honour — people who are entitled to honour!

Have you heard that the banker and the Vice-Consul of Pondicherry are back?

PURANI: No.

SRI AUROBINDO: They are back and now the blockade will be withdrawn. Trains won't be stopped; the currency will be all right.

PURANI: They must have settled with the Madras Governor.

SRI AUROBINDO: Maybe. But nothing is known on this side. I mean, what the Pondy Governor has decided.

DR. RAO : Weygand, in a statement appearing in today's paper, has laid the blame on the British. He says that he asked them to fight in the southwest, but instead of that they went to the north so that

Page -786

they could escape, and by sacrificing the majority of the French army their Expeditionary Force was able to get away.

SRI AUROBINDO: To fight in the southwest would have been the maddest thing to do. They would have been completely destroyed — both the French and the English.

PURANI: Yes, by this move at least the English Army has been saved.

SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, that was the only course open. The French also should have withdrawn.

DR. RAO: They say that France is their own homeland; they can't leave it and get away.

SRI AUROBINDO: It is not a question of homeland. The question is one of military strategy and the only strategy was to withdraw as quickly as possible. If the French had done that, they could have come back to France again and fought. And it was not only the British who escaped. They rescued more than a lakh of French people too. The fact is that after the breakdown at Sedan and the Meuse, the French, British and Belgian forces were encircled, and then no other course was left but to withdraw. Weygand has done nothing and is now trying to justify himself.

NIRODBARAN: There is a notion among our people that the British played tricks and were treacherous.

DR. RAO: Yes.

SRI AUROBINDO: These people know nothing about war. Why would the British do that? Don't they know that if France falls England will be in the greatest danger? Besides, Churchill has proved that he sent more soldiers than he had promised to Reynaud.

PURANI: The British lost fifty thousand lorries.

SRI AUROBINDO: One thousand guns and other material.

SATYENDRA (after a while): Is there no news about the invasion of Portugal?

SRI AUROBINDO: No. It must have been a false rumour. Franco doesn't seem to intend to claim Gibraltar. He won't as long as the English navy is supreme. The Spaniards are only taking a promenade with one aeroplane and leaving a few bombs as mementos.

NIRODBARAN: The important news was vague today — about the Alexandrian fleet.

SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, they couldn't catch the keyword.

NIRODBARAN: The Italians can send their navy to help the French.

Page -787

SRI AUROBINDO: They will take good care not to.

PURANI: Alexandria is too far away, they might say.

SRI AUROBINDO: They have their fleet in the Dodecanese; they could have sent it from there.

DR. RAO: The Italians are said to be bad fighters.

SRI AUROBINDO: Till now they haven't proven themselves very good. Of course there have only been raids and skirmishes till now. One can't judge from that.

PURANI: Malta is such a small place and so near. The Italians have not been able to do anything till now. (After a while) Savarkar is not enthusiastic over the Viceroy's extension of the Executive Council, it seems.

SRI AUROBINDO: Nobody would be enthusiastic. It is like the old reforms, giving one or two seats.

PURANI: Since the Hindu Maha Sabha's and the Liberals' defence policy is the same as that of the Congress, it is asked why the Government should take the minorities instead of the Congress majority with them and win the confidence of the masses.

SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, but the minorities like the Maha Sabha and the Liberals merely advocate their policy and don't insist on it like the Congress. The Liberals say that they should have this and that. If nothing is conceded, they say, "All right, we shall wait till the next time." They are a peaceful lot like the PétainGovernment, Gandhi ought to like them.

EVENING

Due to the war there has been a Government rule that all arrivals and departures, even for only two hours, must be reported to the police. Dr. Rao had not been reported yet. As soon as Purani entered the room, Shri Aurobindo commented on it.

SRI AUROBINDO: Purani, have you reported this dangerous character?

Purani (smiling): No, I will do it tomorrow. Under cover of Sunday I was taking rest. Tomorrow I will go. (After a while) Is there any proposal by the Committee? Sikander Hyat Khan, it seems, has met the Working Committee and Gandhi, and is trying to come to a settlement. Fazlul Huque also was there.

Page -788

SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, but there is no proposal. They are still discussing. But Gandhi is making the Congress position as difficult as possible.

PURANI: How?

SRI AUROBINDO: Haven't you read his article today?

PURANI: No.

SATYENDRA: He is asking the Congress to keep aloof from the irresistible temptation of going back to office, to stick to non-violence and to declare independence as the immediate goal.

SRI AUROBINDO: And yet it was he who asked the Congress to accept Dominion Status and even made a proclamation about it.

PURANI: Yes. The French fleet has been demolished in Alexandria.

SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, and the British and French sailors are drinking together in the port. The French Senate met with only 450 members out of 932, a bare majority. The socialists, communists and radicals must have kept aloof because they knew the price of opposition. De Gaulle has been sentenced to four years' imprisonment and fined one hundred francs by Pétain .

PURANI: For fighting against Germany.

SRI AUROBINDO: Oh no, for that the punishment is penal servitude for life or death. I suppose it is for their lack of fidelity to their promise to Hitler. I have read about that statement of Baudoin. After Weygand took command in the southwest, the French, British and Belgian armies were encircled by the Germans. The Belgians were asked to take up a new position which they refused to do and then defected. As a result the British were exposed from the north, while the French were encircled. If the British Expeditionary Force had not retreated, all would have been encircled and escape would have been impossible.

After some had left, Nirodbaran brought up the topic of Gandhi again.

NIRODBARAN: Gandhi seems to have been in a hurry to bring out his article before the report of the Working Committee.

SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, he would have been too late otherwise.

NIRODBARAN: If Gandhi takes up this attitude there is no chance of a compromise.

SRI AUROBINDO: It is impossible.

Page -789

NIRODBARAN: His hasty departure for Wardha, his short meeting with Sikander Hyat Khan and everything else show he is in no mood for any compromise.

SRI AUROBINDO: Yes.

NIRODBARAN: And yet it was such a fine opportunity when Hyat Khan, Fazlul Huque and the Liberals were on the point of coming to a settlement with the Congress!

SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, it was a unique opportunity thrown away. With Bose on one side and Gandhi on the other, future unity will be difficult. And if Hindus and Muslims had now made a united demand the Government would have had to submit.

NIRODBARAN: C. R. and Azad are for a compromise.

SRI AUROBINDO: Yes.

NIRODBARAN: But I don't think they will dare to make a break with Gandhi.

SRI AUROBINDO: No. Gandhi would make a big row. Of course he is right in one respect. He says private armies will be of no use if you go in for defence. They will be like the Khaksars. Then you have to join with the British Government. I didn't see any reference to the mysterious letter to Gandhi sent through Aney. I thought it was impossible.

8 JULY 1940

PURANI: Gandhi has said that as the other party's programme is the same as that of the Congress they can form ministries and carry out the administration together. If that is so, why did the Congress seek an election at all?

SRI AUROBINDO: Where has he said that?

PURANI: In yesterday's Hindu.

SRI AUROBINDO: Does he mean that except for his point about non-violence the others agree? How can it be? The Muslims want Pakistan and if they are allowed to take up administration they will establish Muslim Raj.

SATYENDRA: No, no. Gandhi has said that only about the defence policy. Otherwise why should the Congress seek any election at all? He says also that if you follow his programme, India will get Swaraj even before the war is over, provided you are non-violent.

Page -790

SRI AUROBINDO: But what is his programme? His programme is to sit and wait as he doesn't want to embarrass the Government during the war. If he had started some movement for the goal, I could have understood.

SATYENDRA: He doesn't want to start civil disobedience as the country is not prepared.

SRI AUROBINDO: And the country will never be prepared according to the conditions laid down by him.

NIRODBARAN: How to explain this shift in him from Dominion Status to independence?

SRI AUROBINDO: Don't know. He doesn't know himself, probably. Caught by forces.

SATYENDRA: Or is it his principle of non-violence that is the difficulty with him?

SRI AUROBINDO: In that case why did they resign the Ministry? They shouldn't have resigned at all. Reforms of whatever kind would have come as a natural step.

Purani (after some time): Huque has started his tirade against Jinnah.

SRI AUROBINDO: How? He says that he wants a settlement with the Congress and the League.

PURANI: Yes, but he doesn't like Jinnah's asking the League members not to take part in the war committee. He wants, if he can, to come to a settlement with the Congress behind Jinnah's back.

SATYENDRA: What about the arrests connected with the Holwell monument?

NIRODBARAN: Still going on.

SATYENDRA: Bose has started the agitation, after all.

SRI AUROBINDO: What a thing to fight over!

NIRODBARAN: He has taken it up as a common measure between Hindus and Muslims, thinking they will also join.

SRI AUROBINDO: All joined against the monument? But his friend Huque arrested him.

NIRODBARAN: I thought it was the Central Government.

SRI AUROBINDO: The Central Government doesn't care about the monument. When Bose said that he would start Satyagraha, he was arrested by Huque. Huque says he is not going to be compelled by anything or any movement.

PURANI: Yes, he says he will do what is right and just, but not under any compulsion.

Page -791

SRI AUROBINDO: That is the advantage of popular government. It can do anything it likes because of its majority and say the country is behind it. C. R. has done the same. The Muslim League is exasperated with the Congress not because of any oppression by the Congress but because they are nowhere in the Government.

SATYENDRA: The Bombay Congress Committee observed silence on the arrest of Bose.

SRI AUROBINDO: In honour of his arrest?

EVENING

SATYENDRA: Just now, is the stress of the Yoga laid mostly on Karma, Sir?

SRI AUROBINDO: No stress is put on anything. If you mean that the sadhaks have to do more work now as the Mother had to dispense with many servants because of the war, it is true.

DR. RAO: Your patella should be moved by somebody to give it a greater range of flexion.

SRI AUROBINDO: I know. You have said that before.

DR. RAO: By passive movement the adhesions will break.

SRI AUROBINDO: Do you think so?

DR. RAO: Yes, Sir. You can guide Nirod to do it, if you can't do it yourself. It can be done for five minutes to start with, when the leg is in an extended position.

SRI AUROBINDO: Explain all that to Nirod.

NIRODBARAN: It is not the explanation but the sanction that is required.

DR. RAO: Yes, you are right.

SRI AUROBINDO (after a pause): The Purusha is a Drashta and merely observes all that is done.

PURANI: That means permission is given. You can do the flexing.

Page -792

9 JULY 1940

PURANI: The German troops are being concentrated on Franco-Spanish frontier. Hitler wants to march through Spain to Gibraltar.

Page -792

SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, that may be his intention. I don't see then how the British can hold out against him.

NIRODBARAN: Is Hitler working in collaboration with Franco?

SRI AUROBINDO: Of course.

NIRODBARAN: Then Portugal also would be left out.

SRI AUROBINDO: No.

PURANI: Hitler is trying to cut off supplies.

NIRODBARAN: Not only that. If he gets Gibraltar, he can block the Mediterranean gate.

SRI AUROBINDO: That must be his intention, as he can't invade England directly. With Spanish Morocco and Tangier on the other side, the route will be closed.

NIRODBARAN: Won't that put the British in a bad plight?

SRI AUROBINDO: Not in a bad plight, but certainly in some difficulty.

PURANI: Rumania has lined up with the Axis.

SRI AUROBINDO: It had already done that before.

PURANI: Yes, but now it has openly declared it and cut off oil supplies to England. Some Englishmen have left Rumania. The Nazis seem to say, "Oh, it is too friendly!" (Laughter) Obviously Germany is afraid of Prussia. To turn to Indian affairs: the Congress has asked for a declaration of complete independence in the future.

SATYENDRA: Yes, and a provisional National Government at the Centre.

SRI AUROBINDO: On what lines? What about the defence?

SATYENDRA: Nothing about it, perhaps. The details aren't out yet.

SRI AUROBINDO: In that case what remains of independence?

NIRODBARAN: They say that only when everything is in their hands can they throw their full weight behind the defence of the country.

SRI AUROBINDO: Defence against whom?

PURANI: Pétain has become a Führer.

SRI AUROBINDO: Not yet, going to be.

PURANI : He says that now is the last phase of the third Republic and the motto will be not Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, but Work, Family and Patrie.

SRI AUROBINDO: That is the Fascist motto.

PURANI: The priests are happy because Pétain is a Catholic.

Page -793

SRI AUROBINDO: Oh yes, but our position will be bad, If a Catholic government takes control, then our Ashram won't be allowed to exist.

NIRODBARAN: All moves seem to fall on us in some way or other.

SRI AUROBINDO: Of course. The Asura is more concerned with us than anything else. He is inventing new situations so that we may fall into difficulty. Nazis, Fascists and communists are all against us and we are safe under none of them. Mussolini perhaps may allow us to continue.

SATYENDRA: He has read some of your books.

SRI AUROBINDO: Yes.

NIRODBARAN: He will allow us so long as he is not criticised.

PURANI: It seems Bonvain is unable to communicate with the Pétain Government. The British office won't accept his telegrams,

SRI AUROBINDO: Then we may be safe, at least during the war, unless they send somebody by aeroplane which may be shot down by mistake by the British.

PURANI: But the aeroplane has to land at Karachi - unless they make a nonstop flight from Syria, for example.

The French are again accusing the British of having dislodged Weygand.

NIRODBARAN: The British staff officer's reply that Weygand's plan was good on paper but not in practice, makes one suspect that the allegation is true.

SATYENDRA: Yes, he should not have said that.

SRI AUROBINDO: But they don't say they disobeyed him. His plan may have been strategic at the beginning but after the German breakthrough and encirclement, things changed. And then they disagreed about the plan.

SATYENDRA: There must have been some agreement afterwards, otherwise how could the evacuation of French soldiers have taken place?

SRI AUROBINDO: Quite so.

PURANI: These are all political views put forth by the French leaders, not by the military. They are dictated by the German High Command.

SATYENDRA: If they have surrendered everything, why did they fight at all? Without their co-operation, England would have kept aloof.

Page -794

SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, England could have been on the defensive. But England has learnt one lesson from the fight. She could have gone on evading Hitler and then been put to some difficulty later, but now she knows all his tactics.

NIRODBARAN: Has Gandhi himself proclaimed independence for India or has the Working Committee forced it on him?

SRI AUROBINDO: It must be his own move. He is warning the Congress against accepting Dominion Status.

NIRODBARAN: Our fate seems to be changing. Before we were under the French and now perhaps we will be under the British.

SATYENDRA: Can't say; everything is in a flux.

SRI AUROBINDO: The British, at least, won't give in so easily to the Government in France.

SATYENDRA: No.

Purani (after reading a letter from X stating that a court judgment had been in her favour by the grace of Sri Aurobindo and Sri Krishna): Setalvad's son, who is the Advocate General and related to the lady, may have spoken to and influenced the judges against her husband who is a drunkard.

SRI AUROBINDO: But do the judges discuss a case with anyone when it is sub judice? If he is defending the case it is different.

PURANI: No, he is not defending it.

NIRODBARAN: In Calcutta the judges are said to take bribes.

SRI AUROBINDO: In Calcutta?

NIRODBARAN: Yes.

SRI AUROBINDO: High Court judges?

NIRODBARAN: People say so.

SRI AUROBINDO: People say all sorts of things. One can't believe what people say. Mofussil judges may sometimes take bribes, but I don't think High Court judges do. The British judges have so far kept a very high standard.

EVENING

SRI AUROBINDO : The Mother said that the 10th of last month seemed to have been significant.

Page -795

10 JULY 1940

PURANI: The Hindu says that Mittelhauser has resigned.

SRI AUROBINDO: Resigned? He was relieved, they said.

PURANI: No, the paper says he has resigned and that many French officers have joined the British.

NIRODBARAN: Yes, mainly those of a high rank. There seems to be unrest in Syria. The Syrians want independence and are being supported by Turkey and Iraq.

SRI AUROBINDO: Syria is a mandated territory like Iraq.

NIRODBARAN: What exactly is a "mandated territory"?

SRI AUROBINDO: It means that the French hold the country in trust and when the people are fit they will be given independence. The French have been going back and forth for some time in this matter — they have been vacillating.

PURANI: De Gaulle is bitter because the British have destroyed the French fleet. He says they cannot claim it as a naval success! there was really no fight and that every Frenchman is in grief and pain over the tragic episode.

Gandhi has appealed to Britain to accept the Working Committee's resolution.

NIRODBARAN: Yes, it seems to be a resolution brought by C.R. It was carried by a majority against Gandhi's. Gandhi has given a statement to explain the background of the resolution. C. R. gave a bit of the hard truth to Gandhi saying that Gandhi has become obsessed with the idea of Ahimsa by constantly brooding over it. Gandhi says, "He went on to say that my vision is blurred."

SRI AUROBINDO (smiling): He said that?

NIRODBARAN: Yes, Gandhi pays a tribute to C. R. for the patience and skill by which he carried the members with him. As an individual, he has placed his services at England's disposal, he says.

SRI AUROBINDO: Spirit of non-violence?

NIRODBARAN: Yes. But the demand of complete independence remains.

SRI AUROBINDO: That is difficult for the British to accept.

NIRODBARAN: And the National Government will include defence. Will the Viceroy give it?

Page -796

SRI AUROBINDO: It depends on how they work it out. But as for defence and war, they are all inexperienced. In England a minister can carry on with the help of the Civil Service, the Admiralty, etc.

Jinnah is already speaking against the National Government. He wants Pakistan. I suppose that if a Muslim majority is granted, he will accept such a government.

PURANI : In Pondicherry the officials are laughing over Gandhi's appeal of non-violence to the British. Of course it is beyond their conception. They are saying, "Is he mad?" (Laughter)

SATYENDRA: But by non-violence he does not mean what the officials have done in France.

SRI AUROBINDO: What then?

SATYENDRA: He says the British should refuse to carry out Hitler's orders, not cooperate. They may be killed for that. Still.

SRI AUROBINDO (laughing): Still?

PURANI: Even the Congress regime has adopted the police system.

SRI AUROBINDO: I don't see how non-violence can work in the administration.

SATYENDRA: The Americans are praising Churchill, comparing him to Pitt.

NIRODBARAN: I wonder what Chamberlain would have done if he had been the Premier.

SRI AUROBINDO: He would have committed twenty mistakes.

SATYENDRA: He may also be compared in the future to somebody and given praise.

SRI AUROBINDO: Praise in the sense that nobody has ever committed so many mistakes? (Laughter)

PURANI: No, people may say he worked for peace and reconciliation. During the Munich Agreement they were going to name streets after him.

SRI AUROBINDO: Chamberlain Street and Umbrella Square? (Laughter) Peace? Yes, it was meant to be peace for our time, but a short peace. This is how people like Pétain and Chamberlain, who make mistakes, get a following.

PURANI: The Italian navy is withdrawing under a smoke screen from contact with the British navy.

Page -797

SRI AUROBINDO (laughing): Yes, the meeting with the British navy was an unexpected surprise for them. If the British can destroy the Italian navy, then it will be a big gain in their favour.

SATYENDRA: On land too, the Italians are not shining. Perhaps Hitler will employ them to guard the French territories?

PURANI: If he can trust them.

SRI AUROBINDO: Trust? Hitler can drive them out and conquer Italy at any time.

NIRODBARAN: Nolini, in his translation of a chapter of The Life Divine, is finding some difficulty about the word "defy" in "defy matter". He has used the word abajna.

SRI AUROBINDO: Abajna implies "contempt" which isn't the case here. It should be something like "challenge".

NIRODBARAN: But we couldn't find the Bengali for "challenge", either. Asvikar, amanya, agrahya, etc. - none gives the sense of "defy".

PURANI: Bengal doesn't challenge anybody, so no word exists for it. (Laughter)

NIRODBARAN: Bose's talk doesn't do anything but challenge.

SRI AUROBINDO: Perhaps you could say in Bose's language: "Give an ultimatum to matter"! But has even "ultimatum" any equivalent in Bengali?

EVENING

SRI AUROBINDO (after some stray talk had been going on): By the way, the Government here has given up the 14th July celebration. Since Pétain has become a dictator there is no meaning in that occasion and, for that matter, the whole of France is now one big Bastille. Pétain has killed the Revolution, the Revolution which had required three more revolutions to make it firm and, established.

SATYENDRA: There is no hope of any revolution now.

SRI AUROBINDO: So long as Germany doesn't leave, no.

PURANI: Now the motto is: "Work, Family and Fatherland" most mundane and stupid. It doesn't evoke any inner feeling at all, while "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity" acts like a mantra.

SATYENDRA: Not stupid but mundane, as you say.

SRI AUROBINDO: Work and Family will always be there.

PURANI: Yes, so there is nothing new in it.

Page -798

SRI AUROBINDO: What does Counouma say about this Government?

PURANI: He is not here now. But he is against it. He said, "Armistice may be all right, but if they try to destroy the Republic, I will enlist myself. I don't know what Dr. André and others think about it. They still support Pétain in his peace move and say, 'People on the spot know better than others', and blame the British for their insufficient help."

SRI AUROBINDO: If people on the spot know better, it means Pétain and his minority know better than others. One may also suggest perhaps that Pétain is working to give bread to the people. (After-a while) If David were to become a dictator of Pondicherry and say that he would give bread, would he know better because he would be a man on the spot?

As for the inadequate help of the British, you can blame Chamberlain for their late conscription. But instead of trained soldiers whom they could have sent if they had started conscription earlier, they sent whatever army they had and could muster. And if they had adopted conscription earlier, the Labour Party would have made a row. It is no use blaming the British people for that.

PURANI: They blame Chamberlain's Munich peace policy for all this and say England has directed the French foreign policy so far.

SRI AUROBINDO: But all the Rightists who are now against it supported the Munich policy at that time.

SATYENDRA: De Gaulle doesn't accuse the English of destroying the French fleet. He only asks that it not be claimed a naval success.

SRI AUROBINDO: One man voted against the Munich policy in the Senate. His name seems familiar. (Turning to Purani) Do you remember there was somebody with the same name in Italy who was shot at by Mussolini's mistress?

PURANI: Yes, I remember.

SRI AUROBINDO: Is he the same man or does he perhaps belong to the same family?

11 JULY 1940

PURANI: Italy says that the change of the French constitution has come too late. Just because of the change, they can't waive their claims on France.

Page -799

SRI AUROBINDO (laughing): Of course not. That would be easy way to get out.

NIRODBARAN: Ireland is getting more and more into a difficult position. What do you think of De Valera's proposal?

SRI AUROBINDO: Which proposal?

NIRODBARAN: About provincial autonomy to North Ireland?

SRI AUROBINDO: They won't consent unless De Valera joins the British in the defence of England. I don't think De Valera is so foolish as to say that by remaining strictly neutral Ireland will avoid a German attack. Hitler may or may not attack as it suits him.

NIRODBARAN: Even after so many examples before his eyes, he doesn't learn!

SRI AUROBINDO: Maurice Magre has said that one of the chief characteristics of the human race is stupidity. I think he is right.

SATYENDRA: But even England's help would not be of much use in case of attack.

SRI AUROBINDO: Why not?

NIRODBARAN: The defence will be far more effective without it.

SRI AUROBINDO: Of course. Still Germany may start aerial bombing.

EVENING

NIRODBARAN: Roosevelt has declared that America won't join the European war.

SRI AUROBINDO: Yes.

SATYENDRA: What we have been hearing about America's participation is only from the New York papers which are pro-Allies. Other papers have not mentioned it at all. The isolationist sentiment is still very strong in all other parts.

NIRODBARAN: He says in case of aggression they will attack, which goes without saying. (Laughter)

PURANI: There won't be any choice left then.

SRI AUROBINDO: If New York is invaded, they may take action.

NIRODBARAN: But Roosevelt's attitude was strongly pro-Allies at one time.

SRI AUROBINDO: That was before the fall of France. After the fall, things have changed and now America is not likely to join.

Page -800

PURANI: Yes, but the Americans see that England can't stand alone against Germany.

SRI AUROBINDO: Besides, they can't send an expeditionary force if they joined. Where will it land?

SATYENDRA: In England there are plenty of people to fight.

NIRODBARAN: The Americans can land somewhere in England if Germany invades her.

SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, but if they can't do anything with forty million people, a few hundred thousand Americans won't help much. Of course America can help with munitions and the navy.

SATYENDRA: The American navy is not strong, either.

SRI AUROBINDO: No, but they are building fast. They have a navy for one ocean and now they will have navies for both.

SATYENDRA: England has sent the Duke of Windsor to the Bahamas, as far away as possible.

SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, he may be talking freely again, though not in public, and the Government thinks perhaps that he may be made a Fascist king if England is defeated.

SATYENDRA: Hitler has already declared that.

SRI AUROBINDO: Has he?

SATYENDRA: Yes.

PURANI: Sammer has a very nice idea. He says that all Europe will turn communist.

SRI AUROBINDO: Every communist says that. If Hitler is defeated, Germany may turn communist. In that case the whole of Europe will be communist. And after Hitler's death there may be dissensions in Germany and then communism may follow. But that is a remote possibility.

12 JULY 1940

NIRODBARAN: Dilip says he met a Turkish lady at Madras. She said England has not the ghost of a chance against Germany. "They won't fight at all, you will see," she said. "Don't live in a fool's paradise, Dilip." When Dilip asked whether Turkey would back Britain as she is her ally, she said, "That was before the fall of France. Now we have to save ourselves first."

SRI AUROBINDO: How?

NIRODBARAN: By alliance with Russia, perhaps.

Page -801

SRI AUROBINDO: Then she is a fool herself. (Laughter)

NIRODBARAN: Russia is following a very secret method. Behind all these rumours and denials of an ultimatum to Turkey nobody knows the truth. It may be true as in Rumania's case.

SRI AUROBINDO : If Russia has demanded free passage through the Dardanelles it would be quite natural, for free passage is quite different from control, and the denial of it would be unnatural.

NIRODBARAN: H has paid back seven out of nine rupees.

SRI AUROBINDO: Oh, then his character must have changed.

PURANI: Is Satyendra still with him?

NIRODBARAN: No.

SRI AUROBINDO: She refuses to be a party to his polygamous tendency and says that so long as this dancing girl is with him, she will have nothing to do with him.

PURANI: He is trying to start a school there for training young people and wants to give it the name of this dancing girl.

SRI AUROBINDO: Training in mutual borrowing? (Laughter)

PURANI: In Bombay also he got some money from the public for such a national school. When they came to know him they feared all the money —

SRI AUROBINDO: Would be nationalised? (Laughter)

EVENING

`

Purani was discussing art with Sri Aurobindo, apropos of Laurence Binyon's book.

PURANI: Binyon has not adequately dealt with Indian art here.

SRI AUROBINDO: Hasn't he done that in a separate book?

PURANI : Yes, with Mogul art. Coomaraswamy says that images were found in India even in the pre-Buddhistic period, before the Greek influence.

SRI AUROBINDO: What proof is there? It may be that they have shaken off the Greek influence and taken up a new line. Greek art had Egyptian influence, so why not Indian art?

PURANI: Gandhara art may be Greek.

SRI AUROBINDO: No, it is mixed. No scholar claims it to be pure Greek art.

Page -802

13 JULY 1940

PURANI: There is a rumour that Pétain may retire and Flaudin take his place. Pétain is having a disagreement with Germany.

SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, first it was Laval and then Flaudin. Flaudin is pro-German and worse than Laval. But will the name of Flaudin be enough to enthuse the people?

SATYENDRA: The15th of August is nearing.

PURANI: Yes, Hitler said he would dictate peace terms on that date.

SATYENDRA: Not only that. He will go to England, he said.

SRI AUROBINDO: And not come back? (Laughter) Did he say that?

SATYENDRA: Yes, it was on the German radio.

SRI AUROBINDO: There does not seem to be any preparation for the invasion of England. But, of course, he does not do what is expected. Evidently he has no intention of going to the Balkans. Could it be Spain he has in mind? Gibraltar won't be difficult for him to take and then he may cross over to Morocco. In that case it will be difficult for the English ships to cross the strait of Gibraltar. If thus he can break the British Empire in Africa with the help of the possessions of the French whom he will oblige to hand them over, it will be a great stroke. Unless he achieves this, I don't see how he can invade England. No doubt, Ireland is a weak point. But the British are raising a ten-thousand-strong army.

SATYENDRA: That would be nothing.

SRI AUROBINDO: But combined with the air force, it can prevent Hitler's landing.

15 JULY 1940

SATYENDRA: The British Government has issued a notice that France and her African possessions will be treated as enemy countries as regards trade. All trade is forbidden with them. They don't mention Indo-China or Pondicherry perhaps because they have declared a status quo. They know that if there is no trade, they won't get anything from outside.

SRI AUROBINDO: And nothing from inside. (Laughter)

Page -803

PURANI: Sammer must be glad over the arrest of workers in France. He says that Fascism, will help towards bringing about communism in France.

SRI AUROBINDO: How? It is Germany that has arrested the workers because they refused to work.

PURANI: Oh, I see.

SATYENDRA: But that was one of the conditions of the armistice.

SRI AUROBINDO: The workers didn't make the armistice! (Laughter) Gandhi ought to be happy because of their passive resistance.

PURANI: I think Germany may try to push the French soldiers to war against England.

SRI AUROBINDO: Not likely, because to do that Hitler will have to arm France which he doesn't want to do. He hoped to get the navy.

NIRODBARAN: He must have made a mistake if he hoped that.

SRI AUROBINDO: Evidently he hoped. Now that he can't get it, he is getting whatever he can by plunder.

SATYENDRA: Yes. All the money and jewels in the banks. Investments are prohibited without permission.

NIRODBARAN: England has made a three-month agreement with Japan regarding the Burma route. But China may not be affected much.

SRI AUROBINDO: It will be affected considerably.

SATYENDRA: The Japanese radio has been declaring that England must concede the demands. Otherwise they will have to take the necessary steps. So England has given way.

SRI AUROBINDO: England can't deal with anything else now except Hitler. She can't deal with Japan or Russia.

SATYENDRA: Churchill saw long ago the necessity of alliance with Russia and also the need of increasing the air force.

NIRODBARAN: And Chamberlain did neither. And still he has a big influence.

SRI AUROBINDO: That is because he looks after the class interest while Churchill sees what is good for England.

Page -804