In 1949, an opportunity arose for André to visit India and meet his mother after a gap of thirty-three years. “It was his first opportunity to arrange a business trip,” informs Janine, who also adds that before 1945, there were “no planes and vacations. It took at least three weeks to reach Colombo by ship. Such a long absence from work was out of question at that time.” [1] And in that year only, André’s younger daughter Francoise alias Pournaprema got married. Champaklal noted in his diary on 12 August 1949: “Mother informed Sri Aurobindo while leaving his room: ‘My granddaughter is going to marry.’ ”

 

On 4 November the Mother informed Sri Aurobindo: “André is coming today from France. They want to arrange things in such a way that he can meet me as soon as he comes from Madras without waiting. I do not know where to see him; there is no place where I could see him alone. Generally, I arrange these things in Mona’s office at Golconde. I think I will see him there.

 

It is many years since we last met. Perhaps if we met on the road without being introduced to each other I would not know him, and he too would not recognise me. For many years have passed—he was eighteen when I left—and in all these years hardly twenty letters have been written. He reads your books and understands them too. He had sent his wife’s photo; she resembles me. André had also written to me that he resembles me very much. That is true.” [2]

 

The Mother instructed André to make the arrangements for his stay in the Ashram from 20 November to 2 December so that he could attend the Darshan on 24 November and the anniversary of the Ashram School (on 2 December) as well. When André arrived in India, he was instructed by the Mother to drive with Mahadeolal Dalmia from Madras to Pondicherry and arrive at the Ashram on 21 of November at 5 p.m. in the room 3EI of Golconde (the Ashram Guest House). The Mother explained that she was desirous of spending some time with him. She told Sri Aurobindo: “Perhaps if we met on the road without being introduced to each other I would not know him, and he too would not recognize me.” Amal Kiran too, remembers the Mother saying: “I don’t know what he looks like now. I only hope he hasn’t become bald.” Nirodbaran remembers: “It [the arrival of André] was sensational news, and the Mother seemed quite excited about it. Often she spoke of him to Sri Aurobindo. As the arrival day was approaching, she said to him that she wanted to meet André all alone, but couldn’t find a suitable place. Finally it was decided that Golconde would be the best place and a room was made ready there for the purpose. She also doubted whether her son would be able to recognise her after so many years! However, on the appointed day Sri Aurobindo’s lunch was finished earlier than usual, since the Mother had to get ready and be on time. There was plenty of time in hand, but she liked to go much in advance and wait for him. That was very typical of the Mother in all cases where she had some important thing to do. In fact, she waited for more than three to four hours before André arrived.” [3]

 

Though André and Mahadeolal were supposed to leave Madras at one o’clock, yet they could not do so as they got delayed in getting André’s papers in order at the Madras Police Station and it was almost 2.30 in the afternoon when they finally left Madras. By the time they reached the Ashram, it was time for the sun to set. Pavitra greeted André and informed him that the Mother was awaiting him at Golconde. It was quite dark when André arrived at Golconde. He climbed the two storeys hastily and then,—let’s quote him: “…in the dim light of the corridor, I saw a white shape with her back against the door in a very familiar attitude.” It was the Mother waiting for her son.

 

Later, André remarked: “Though we had not seen each other since Mother left France in 1915, we were at once in full understanding and I had the strong impression of being still a small boy seeking safety in his mother’s lap.” [4]

 

Amal Kiran remarks: “She [the Mother] must have been pleased to find that though his hair was not quite bushy his head was far from having reached the billiard-ball state. The reunion of Maman and fils was said to have been a warm one.” He also remembers Andre as a “handsome and affable person, with a fine poise of mind.” [5]

 

During André’s stay in the Ashram, the Mother told Pranab to take André along with him, who on Sundays, used to cycle out with five or six boys and girls. She arranged a car for all of them and they visited quite a few places. Pranab remembers that André had enjoyed the trip and adds: “At that time I used to take the Blue-group Gymnastic Marching in the evenings. André-da too joined in, wore the blue uniform and did exercise with us during the whole time he was here on that trip.” [6]

 

On 24 November, André had the Darshan of Sri Aurobindo with the Mother sitting on his right. He wrote afterwards, remembering the memories of the Darshan: “The most extraordinary experience which one can get at the Ashram is however the luck of being present at the Darshan. No words can describe the overwhelming impression of benevolence, knowledge and strength which radiates from Sri Aurobindo and the Mother sitting on their thrones. It is not at all surprising that so many people undertake long journeys in order to have the privilege of paying their tribute of devotion. What they get in return is a glimpse of a higher and truer life which responds to the most innate aspiration of human nature.” [7]

 

About the celebrations of the Ashram School, he wrote: “The various displays which took place on the sixth anniversary of the Ashram school were remarkable achievements. There was nothing amateurish in the theatrical show and the display of physical education was surprisingly athletic if one takes into account the comparatively small number of people who received the training.” [8]

 

The Mother herself made all the arrangements which made André’s stay in the Ashram comfortable. He took his meals with Nolini Kanta Gupta, Amrita and Pavitra (in due course André would become Pavitra’s closest collaborator). He was also invited for lunch and dinner to the houses of several Ashramites who were well-known for their culinary skills and Pujalal, the poet, composed a laudatory poem on him. Through her flawless arrangements, the Mother made him feel at home. Thus, he developed a bond of unshakeable love with the Ashramites and it continued till the very end.

 

Gradually the time of André’s departure arrived. The Mother sent Kameshwar, a sadhak, to escort him to the Madras Airport. On the way, Kameshwar asked André whether he had always known who the Mother was. André replied that he had the sense of reality from a very early age. After André’s departure, Amal Kiran asked the Mother why he had not come to Pondicherry in all those years. She replied: “Why should he have? He had his own life to live in France; and actually, even while he was there, there was no real inner separation. Up till now it was as if there were a screen in my room and André was present behind that screen. What has happened now is simply that he has come out in front.” Later Amal Kiran wrote: “Talking with André on one occasion I learned from him that a subtle contact always existed between the Mother and him and that even at a distance he would know if she wanted him to do something.” (Our Light and Delight)

 

In an article published in The Advent, André recounted his visit to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram (it is lengthy but worth quoting):

During my trip through India I had often heard the opinion expressed that Sri Aurobindo’s Ashram was somewhat of a puzzle as it seemed against all common ideas to combine spiritual life with comfort. This is undoubtedly the Mother’s achievement. What strikes one first in the Ashram is the perfect harmony of the whole. All details fit together and it is impossible to imagine them fitting so well without the Mother’s presence in all of them. Vice versa, the spiritual leadership of Sri Aurobindo through the Mother cannot be imagined without the total surrender of all disciples to the Mother in the most minute details of their life.

 

This surrender does not, of course, mean the abdication of one’s own will; on the contrary, it is the way for each one towards the fulfilment of his own self, means by which he gets a clearer view of his goal. For anyone who would feel disheartened or even only hesitating between the ways, the Mother’s blessing is the greatest help.

 

That the Mother is always present, that she knows everything which happens in the Ashram, every preoccupation of each disciple, is probably the fact most striking to the new-comer. Another fact is that anyone who is totally devoted to the Mother very quickly acquires an ability of better understanding and a clearer view of his own aspirations.

 

It is therefore not surprising to find out that anything which is done or made at the Ashram is pretty near to perfection. Those who have freely chosen to contribute in manual work do it with the will to satisfy the Mother. If they are skilled workers they find out that their skill has improved. If the job is new to them they make it a point to master it thoroughly. All work is done with an evident pleasure and not as a necessary duty. This is also true of the physical education which is now an important part of the Ashram’s life. The marching which takes place every evening in the Mother’s presence and is followed by a concentration brings to all who take part in it a wonderful feeling of physical and mental relaxation. The children too are susceptible to the atmosphere and look strikingly happy.

On 21 November Champaklal notes:

Nolini informed Mother that he had received a letter from Calcutta stating that André spoke there at a meeting for fifteen minutes on the Mother.

 

Mother: About me? What can he say?

 

Nolini: He spoke of his boyhood memories and said that Mother used to say even then that she had come with a special mission.

 

Mother: Yes, it is true. [9]

 

After his first visit, André began to visit the Ashram every year. Once during one of the Darshan days, he had dressed up in a dhoti and punjabi, just like a Bengali. Bani Mutsuddi, Nirodbaran’s niece recounted to the author: “We could not move our eyes away from him. He was looking so good!” His visits became frequent following Sri Aurobindo’s mahasamadhi on 5 December 1950 (he was not in Pondicherry when Sri Aurobindo left his body). He spent six months in France and the remaining six months in Pondicherry after his retirement in 1963 (before that, he had only a month’s vacation in a year). And whenever he came to the Ashram, he stayed at his own expense and always worked for the Ashram.

 

“He had a multitude of talents and capacities”, writes Amal Kiran about him, “and could cope intellectually with almost any kind of commission.” And Nirodbaran reminisces: “I had the good fortune to have a cordial relation with him. Every time I met him—the times were not many—I had a feeling that here was a gentleman whose appearance and talk bore all the signs of a refined culture—a true French gentleman. In our talks on various Ashram topics, he was always impersonal; never a strong word of criticism or disparagement came out of his mouth. Nobility, dignity and sweetness breathed through his demeanour, and one always felt the presence of the Mother in his quiet company. It would seem that in this respect the son fulfilled in himself what the Mother had wanted of him, for she did not crave any greatness either for herself or for her son. Like her own mother, her aspiration for her child was that he should be noble and true. Every time I met him I came away with this impression.”[10]

 

As mentioned earlier, all the assets of the Ashram were in Sri Aurobindo’s name but after his passing away, the assets were transferred to the name of the Mother. As soon as the assets were transferred, she wrote to André asking him to give a written statement that he would not have any claim on the Ashram properties. André duly sent statements that neither he nor his family would have any claim to the Ashram properties.

 

[1] Personal communication to the author by Janine.

[2] Champaklal Speaks, p. 93 (1976 edition)

[3] Selected Essays and Talks by Nirodbaran, p. 146

[4] Mother India, January 1983, p. 39

[5] KD Sethna, Our Light and Delight, p. 67

[6] I Remember, p. 249

[7] Mother India, January 1983, p. 40

[8] Ibid.

[9] Champaklal Speaks, p. 95

[10] Selected Essays and Talks by Nirodbaran, p. 145

 

 

 André with Champaklal