22 Acquitted As at Chandernagore, so also at Pondicherry. "I remained in secrecy in the house of a prominent citizen until the acquittal, after which I announced my presence in French India," Sri Aurobindo was to clarify later. He sent a letter to the paper The Hindu of Madras, which it published the next day, on 8 November 1910. BABU AUROBINDO CHOSE AT PONDICHERRY A Statement Babu Aurobindo Ghose writes to us from 42, Rue de Pavilion, Pondicherry, under date November 7, 1910: "I shall be obliged if you will allow me to inform every one interested in my whereabouts through your journal that I am and will remain in Pondicherry. I left British Ind

-10_The Government^s Dilemma.htm 7 The Government's Dilemma That the Government was extremely agitated at the situation developing in the country is well brought out by the following news item in the Modern Review of March 1909. "Human Pawns? The report comes from Berlin that Great Britain has entered into an understanding with the Sultan (of Turkey) by which in consideration for British support in the Near East, he shall cast his influence with his coreligionists in India in favour of the British rule." (Boston Evening Transcripts) "This extraordinary announcement, if true, would seem to betoken a curious nervousness on the part of the British in India The people we wonde

-56_The ^Arya^.htm 53 The 'Arya Under the date 1st June 1914 Sri Aurobindo wrote in his diary: "The idea came to ask Mme R. how soon they would go into the new house, but the question was asked only in the mind; in 15 or 20 seconds she answered, 'In one or two days perhaps we shall go into the house.' " It stands to reason that they would not stay at Magrie Hotel for two years! So the moment the elections were over a search for a house for them got under way On 8 May Sri Aurobindo wrote in his diary: "The following decisions in the nature of trikaladrishti rising out of telepathis were registered for observation of success or failure. "1. Both will come—i.e. Richar

55 August Fifteen Well, yes, there was no entry in Mirra's diary under the date of 15 August 1914. Look, even with her limitless capacity to work, was she not liable that particular day not to have a single minute on her hand? A day, after all, has only so many minutes. That was the day when the first copies of the Arya were publicly released. We know Mirra's role, don't we? And ... it was Sri Aurobindo's birthday. He was to be forty-two years old. This was his fifth birth anniversary at Pondicherry. He had been a recluse at Shankar Chetty's house on his first birthday. His second and third birthdays in 1911 and 1912 were 'celebrated' quietly in the

43 The Clue It is Bharati who wrote: "All new knowledge is 'revealed,' " Suvrata1 reported. She repeated what Bharati had said: "A few days back I asked Sri Aurobindo how he got his new and wonderful theory of the interpretation of the Vedas: 'It was shown to me'—he replied and I knew that he was saying that in an absolutely literal sense." There is no doubt at all that Bharati was but stating a fact. Sri Aurobindo said as much in the undated letter to Motilal Roy from which we quoted some fragments in the last chapter. Here are some more parts from it. "I am now getting a clearer idea of that work and I may as well impart something of that idea to you; sin

47 Social Customs My brother Noren was telling us tales from his school days at Santiniketan. All my five brothers were students there. I was too young to join it. In those days there were no nursery schools for children. Besides, the then prevailing custom was that at the age of five, not before, ceremonies were performed on a Saraswati Puja day, and the child was initiated in the art of learning. Well, Noren told us that once a month, in the school kitchen, all the students and teachers too, even the day students like him, would be invited to have lunch there. That was a special day because the sweepers-cum-scavengers would do the cooking. Of course the

51 In Pondicherry the Election is Done Sri Aurobindo was there. This time he took an active part in the elections. Specially on behalf of Paul Richard. He kept Motilal Roy of Chandernagore—the French enclave in Bengal—abreast of the unfolding scenario. Some of those letters have survived. A few selected extracts from them will help the readers to draw their own conclusions. "Dear M." wrote Sri Aurobindo in April, 1914. "I send you today the electoral declaration of M. Paul Richard, one of the candidates at the approaching election for the French Chamber. This election is of some importance to us; for there are two of the can

31 The Anglo-Indian Press Such then was the fixed idea of all British Police, of the entire administration, I dare say, from top to bottom, that 'Aurobindo Ghose' was a dangerous man plotting terrorism against Europeans and their assassination. The Anglo-Indian press spread that idea with utmost enthusiasm, for, were those papers not the mouthpiece of the government? So, like a circle of foxes howling at the moon, those newspapers howled at the Nationalists. We shall never really measure the extent of influence the media wielded. On the one side were Nationalist papers like Kesari of Maharashtra, Bande Mataram and Yugantar of Bengal, India