One needs a detailed background check before settling in to a hotel in South Asia. India was going through various foreign incursions with episodes of violence. India's open society is being sadly clouded with various plots designed to cause disruption in public life. The guard was right in demanding to record my particulars except the recording office was closed for the night. I had to settle with him to clear the papers when the office opened the next day. He trusted me.
He led me to a single room at the end of the corridor. It was a spartan room with a bed and a desk. I saw the supper packet on the desk. The room had an optional air-conditioner, which the guard turned on for me. Some of the old guards in guest houses in India do treat guests as family members. They are kind, affectionate and sincere. My friend coached me on water, lights, keys and security.
When I was just finishing my food, Dr Sampad showed up. He wanted to make sure that I was properly settled. We spoke a bit about Chennai. He advised me about the schedule the next day. He had arranged various meetings for the morning. My talk was scheduled at 4 PM. I had a taxi ride to Chennai the following night at 2:30 AM. He left after telling me that he would pick me up at 6:30 AM in the morning for the first meeting.
The bed was harder than the previous ones I had. It is said that sleeping on hard surface is good for one's back. Some people sleep on the floor itself as a habit. It is said that the surface has much to do with the quality of sleep. A good five hour deep sleep could be empirically beneficial to the body.
I did get up in my usual early morning time. I was ready for Dr. Sampad to escort me to the first meeting. We would go to the house of the famous author Sri Manoj Das, whom I knew as a child. Sri Manoj Das was a liberal Marxist during his early youth. My father acted as a mentor to many of the young radicals who wanted to see quick changes in Indian society. Many discovered the task was not so easy. Sri Aurobindo's Ashram was a refuge for many to harbor their free liberal thinking.
The Ashram was the brainchild of Mirra Alafasso (Richard) who had psychic visions of Sri Aurobindo during her early years in Paris. She visited Pondicheery and met Sri Aurobindo in 1914. The Ashram began formally in 1926. Because of her super psychic powers and meditative ecstasy, she came to be known as the "Mother." She engineered the development of the Ashram to a worldwide movement and also helped to develop a nearby international township in the model of Sri Aurobindo's vision. She called it Auroville.
Sri Aurobindo's secular outlook and analytic thinking was a magnet to many young scholars in the country. The Mother became an effective interface to the grand vision through her compassion, affection and dutifulness. The vision was to make the Ashram a self-sufficient intellectual community where the meditative energy can help lift one's mind. There is an element of calm and serenity in the Ashram amidst the bustle of the market and noise of the town. The Ashram has no religious or sectarian overtone.
Sri Manoj Das came to the Ashram in the '60s and taught English language and literature in the Ashram school. His wife Pratima became an ardent follower in the expedition. Her parents and brother had also joined. She had been sick for a while and Sri Das was busy in attending her. Sri Das is of age of my uncle in Mumbai and I have the similar association. I had met him a few times during his visits to the US. I had gone to meet him in Pondicherry in 19991 and 1992.
Sri Das is a brilliant wordsmith in Oriya language. Through fictional stories he highlights the social superstitions and helps direct the remedies. His works in English literature are equally powerful and have been the subject of research in literature. He has been rewarded with various national awards for his contributions to literature. He has a presence in the Ashram as one of its senior residents.
This morning Sri Das looked pensive. His wife was in intensive care in the hospital. His brother-in-law was also sick. He had a grim responsibility of handling difficult problems. I asked if I could help. He said that not much can be done except offering prayers. His joyful personality was wrapped in a cover of worry and tension. He had a good support system in the Ashram, but one has individual responsibility. He preferred to be left alone to take care of his chores. Old age anywhere is a lonely journey.
We left Sri Das's house to our next meeting with Sri N. K. Panda. He had a residence in Kolkata where we used to stay when I was a kid. He was a part of the radical youth wing in Kolkata in the '50s. He still treats me like the boy he met sixty years ago. An affectionate man, he was into Hindustani classical music. He greeted me with an affectionate hug. We sat down and chatted about the events in my life and his life. He lives in his own house that he constructed. He got up to make coffee and we had nice warm up. I admired his affection.
Our next stop was at the memorial of Sri Aurobindo in the Ashram. A fifteen foot by ten foot rectangular altar was decorated with fresh flowers. New flowers were being added by an old lady in a white saree. Many people were circumambulating the shrine. the shrine was under a big old tree in front of the two floor house where Sri Aurobindo used to live. All would kneel down at a side and offer their respects. I did. Sri Aurobindo was a scholar.
We had to go for breakfast in the next building. I was beginning to appreciate the power of personal affection people had to personalities. Sri Aurobindo experimented how to be a pure human being. His path had no strings. I love the thought that "man can continue to evolve!"
