AUTHOR'S NOTE

I had never even dreamt of writing Poetry in English, although I was familiar with writing it in my mother-tongue, Gujarati, since my High School days. But it so happened that in the early years of our Ashram here a movement of writing poems in English started and a few enthusiasts launched upon that enterprise with Harin Chattopadhyay as a brilliant example before them.

I too was one of such enthusiasts and although I was poorly equipped with the knowledge of English and English poetry I began to exercise my pen and with the Mother's and Sri Aurobindo's inner and outer encouragement and ever-ready help had not much difficulty in making a tolerably good beginning.

It was nothing but the Grace of Sri Aurobindo inspiring from within and executing from without, using me as a poor instrumental medium that I could write what I have done and even then it was Sri Aurobindo himself who had to do the corrections and give proper touches to my lines.

In this way with all my day-long work of sweeping the Master's house and doing all sorts of cleaning work, I was able to snatch a few minutes now and then to give expression to what was rising in my heart and wanting to be cast in rhymes.

1930 saw the start of this delightful activity which with intervals of rest continued and earned for me the Divine pleasure which is more to me than all the pleasant things of the world. In 1943 The Mother and Sri Aurobindo themselves selected and with the name "LOTUS PETALS" chosen by them, published 24 poems of mine of which 21 poems belong to the year 1942 and the last 3 to 1943. A second book "ROSARY" followed soon with its 264 Quatrains on the Divine Mother.

This "LOTUS GROVE" is the collection of almost all the poems, blessed by the Divine's gracious touch, together with a few more written after 1950 and which are naturally

deprived of Sri Aurobindo's own touch. But as almost all these poems are written on The Mother and are the expression of the faith, love, devotion and sentiment of child souls of all ages, I have thought it fit to publish all of them in this volume, dedicated to the Birth-Centenary of The Mother whom we know as identical with the Transcendental and universal Mother in Being, Consciousness and Delight.

It is She who has given all and to Her all in love must go for its final fulfilment. May the ever-present Mother graciously accept this little offering and bless me, Her child with Her gracious smile of love, the greatest joy for a human 'soul on Earth.

With loving obeisance,

PUJALAL