Amal-Kiran - Poet and Critic

Preface

Kekoo D. Sethna was born in a Parsi family of Bombay on 25 November 1904 and in the Pondicherry Ashram as Sri Aurobindo's Amal-Kiran on 3 September 1930. By either reckoning we are late in honouring him today.   He has seen a thousand Full Moons long ago and, even as Amal-Kiran, has crossed four years back the traditional sixty for jubilation. Still he wanted us to wait for him to complete a hundred Autumns of the Vedic Rishis. Not that this is going to be too far away but, undoubtedly, it will be another grand occasion to celebrate. And therefore it is good not to miss at least the present one when he is becoming a nonagenarian.

Amal-Kiran is a polymath, knowing many arts and sciences, a learning lifted by enlightening intuition and deepened by spiritual insight. Confined to a wheel-chair, like Stephen Hawking, the legendary Cambridge theoretical astrophysicist, though hardly as a near-physical wreck, he can see with his mind's eye (--) or is it with the Upanishadic Eye of the Eye? — bright worlds stretching beyond our visible universe. His literary output in quality and quantity is comparable to that of any outstanding figure in the present age. In fact had he lived in, for instance, Hawking's England he would have received a much wider recognition as a man of letters. His cultural and intellectual achievements would have surely made a mark of their own in that circle of the elite. If his monumental Collected Poems running to something like 800 pages is a work of exceptional merit, his prose writings cannot be contained even in a few dozens of books. And what diverse topics! Poetry criticisms shedding light on Shakes-peare, Milton, Blake, Wordsworth, Mallarme, Sri Aurobindo; scrutiny of scientific thought while grappling with the philosophical questions of Relativity Theory and Quantum Mechanics no less than problems of biological thought; chronological researches in the history of ancient India and the beginnings of history for Israel; Christian traditions and the problems of Christianity; Fate and Free-will; comments and opinions about

national and international issues and events; hundreds of letters to friends and admirers dealing with matters spiritual, yogic, literary, personal; editorship of a monthly review of culture Mother India for more than 45 years; and, above all, interpreting Sri Aurobindo and the Mother in a most luminous way as something coming from his full-fraught spirit — any one of these should be sufficient to place Amal-Kiran in the top rank of the intellectuals. His writings could, as Devan Nair points out, provide excellent material for several PhD theses. Perhaps this suggestion of Devan Nair's should be taken up more seriously and pursued by establishing a suitable foundation.

There are many ways of felicitating such a celebrity. One could organise a series of seminars or have highly specialised talks covering several aspects of the genius, bring out in his honour studies with contributions from renowned writers, or there could be a scheme to publish a set of his selected, if not complete, works; or else one could adopt a critical biographical approach to present him as a poet or a researcher. Alternatively, a volume of personal letters from various correspondents depicting their associations with him could also be a fitting tribute. In the present festschrift we have, however, preferred to follow a somewhat flexible course of action, keeping as far as possible the poet and critic aspect of Amal-Kiran in focus. The overwhelming response in terms of contributions, in every sense, seems to indicate the acceptability of this approach.

Briefly stated, the festschrift consists of four major sections. In the first section we present the facsimiles of some of the letters written by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother to Amal-Kiran; there are also a few other important letters received by him. The second section makes a quick selection of the writings of this prolific author. The third section has essentially articles and tributes from various writers, past and present. In the last section there are pencil-sketches made by Amal-Kiran himself and a set of his photographs at various stages of his life; it also contains other miscellaneous matters.

We are extremely happy to offer this collection of essays, howsoever inadequate it may be, as a sincere token of our

appreciation to Amal-Kiran. He has endeared himself to us all in every respect by his sweet and charming manners which have their plenteous source in his soul that is indeed ever full of the Mother. His helping hand and radiant smile are always there for anyone who approaches him for support and guidance.

Our sincere thanks are due to all who have participated whole- heartedly, and especially to the Press, in bringing out this volume in such a short time. An article of an admirer, too long to be incorporated in this collection, is being brought out separately as an accompanying booklet.

Wishing Amal-Kiran again many joyous returns of the day.

THE EDITORS

Sri Aurobindo Ashram

25 November 1994