-037_PartIII Sri Aurobindo's Vision-Mohan Ramanan The Indian Intellectual and Making of Modern India   Mohan Ramanan   I   There is a particular appropriateness in writing a piece on the relation of the literary intellectual to the spiritual traditions of our country and the links between these to the idea of India. Amal Kiran's entire life was spent in engagement with these ideas. He saw himself as 'poetic' and 'philosophic' and able through the Grace of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother to comment on the political questions of the day. For him the life of the literary intellectual, for such we may characterise him to be, was not unrelated to public affairs, more especially to political questio

Revolutionising Ancient History: The Case of Israel and Christianity   Pradip Bhattacharya   BECOMING a poet, a political commentator, a literary critic while editing a monthly journal of culture without stirring out of an ashram in South India may not be a matter provoking comment let alone arousing wonder. But to revolutionise the very chronology of the ancient world based on minute examination of the latest archaeological findings and texts from within such confines - that, too, in the pre-internet era - could not but astonish. It becomes all the more amazing when the subject is not just the prehistory of one's own country but so dista

The Magic Shoes   Krishna Chakravarti   IN Satyajit Ray's famous film "Gupi Gyne -Bagha Byne" one comes across the king of Ghosts who gave three boons. One of the three was a gift of magic shoes. These were beautifully brocaded shoes of the Lucknow's Nabab's era. They carried Gupi and Bagha anywhere they wanted to go and finally the shoes carried them to Shundi, their final destination.   In case of Amal Kiran's magic shoes, I am sure they were not of Nabab's era but they were the "Bahanas" to have carried him to his ultimate destination - Pondicherry -not only physically but inwardly to a destination of soul's climb.   Born

-032_PartIII Sri Aurobindo's Vision-Arabinda Basu Part III   Sri Aurobindo's Vision   The Main Distinctive Mark of Integral Yoga   Arabinda Basu   I THANK Professor Sachidananda Mohanty for giving me an opportunity to be associated with this volume of tributes to K.D. Sethna. Sethna has written on almost all topics under the sun. History, Archaeology, Old Testament Studies, Egyptology, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, Science, Poetry, Aesthetics and last but not the least, facets of Sri Aurobindo's life and works. The clear ray of his luminous intelligence shed light on all of these subjects. However, the favourite subject that he holds most dear to his heart is Sri Aurobi

Soul Prompted: A Reading of Amal Kiran's Poetry   Aniruddha Sircar   Somebody once said, and wisely was it said, that a beggar might look on a king. In addition, we have this gem from the Bard, "Now, Sir, thought is free." Encouraged by these two dicta, I have made bold to give voice to my personal observations about a very small number of Amal Kiran's poems, letting, for once, "I would" wait upon "I dare not", unlike the poor cat in the adage.   As I was leafing through The Secret Splendour, I distinctly heard certain poems calling out, "Me, me, choose me!" as if they and I had an inner affinity and they wanted to whisper their secre

Amal-kiran - the Fire-Worshipper   R.Y. Deshpande   On the occasion of Amal-kiran's eighty-sixth birthday fourteen years ago Sonia Dyne had offered him a bouquet of flowers from an English garden:   Send to him snowdrops that the sun's cool kiss  Fathered in mossy glades before the spring; A riot of poppies scarlet in the grass; And every fragrance that the warm winds bring   From roses after rain - with clarion daffodils, First in the van of summer, celebrate this day, And golden buttercups from Sussex hills! All these dispatch to Amal...   The bunch is still fresh and fragrant carrying the authentic

The Clear Ray Beacons Suresh Dey   The Supreme Master's gift of the lovely appellation, Sweet, charming and all-inspiring name, As bright as the immaculate, radiating white rays  Of the Truth-heralding dawn's spiritual Sun.   Haven't you spent your glorious hundred years,  Trying to be a forerunner and discoverer Of Beauty's sunlit ways, chanting the Soul's anthem. Carrying fiery poetic words for wiping out tears?   Your inner psychic fire, the sublime Pavakagni, Is observed by a few to be blazing forth In the deepest recesses of your noble heart; Others get glimpses of your beatific soul-journey.

To the Centenarian (Amal Kiran)   G.K. Satyathy   Ripe in age and wisdom  He is loved by all Because he is he:  A poet and a scholar Of high stature, Of experience and erudition Banked on days of yore, Pragmatic of present's lore  Penetrating vision of future.  Nay, is he something more, For he himself loves all As a child does its mother.   And above all, Of no common clay He is made, rather Of another stuff altogether. As gives the banian tree shelter Guidance and care of Mother And the Lord he is under. Unaffected, not robbed of his grace By any stress of age

The Gift of Goddess Saraswati   Prema Nandakumar   CHAKRAVARTI Rajagopalachariar described the English language as the gift of Goddess Saraswati to India. There was, of course, a time towards the end of our independence struggle and in the first decade after becoming free when English teachers were worried whether the pro-Hindi leaders would oust English ultimately because of political compulsions to promote swadeshi. There was genuine concern that the English language itself would be expelled from India as it represented foreign domination and that India would assert its independence in spirit by enthroning the Hindi language in its place. Prof

-042_PartIII Sri Aurobindo's Vision-Anuradha The Integral Way of Self-Perfection: Practical Experiments in Integral Education   Anuradha   THE 20th century has brought to the forefront the needs of the child. The effect on education systems at large has been significant. Even though one may critique the many gaps still remaining even in simple terms of access and retention, there is no doubt that the concept of a child-friendly education has become the norm for people's thinking on education. Today when we take a look at the educational changes across the world, we see a curious mix of education based on ancient cultures and folk traditions, on colonial legacies, on educational theories, on reli