Among the Not So Great

Louis and his works:

There was a three-storied building (going West down the Rue de la Marine i.e. Ashram street. It was standing upright and healthy enough, though old. Louis brought it down. This was his first work. The plot lay empty and forlorn for a long time (no funds, no plans, no “some-one” to take on the job).

Much later a building came up, a three-storied one, named Orissa Boarding or more popularly known as “Shekhar-da’s boarding” or “Young boys’ home”. It came under the aegis of SAICE. Two or three generations of young students have enacted its history.

The last work Louis did here, in Pondy, was the civil works of our Swimming Pool (1956-57). (The filtration, and circulation were seen to by Udar and Vishwanath-da (that is another story for another day). As for Louis, he was sent to the Lake Estate, 10 km away (Tamil-nadu), a beautiful place bordering an expansive lake, with hillocks covered with pebbles, thorny bushes, dry rills carved by the rains and “denizened” by snakes, porcupines, monitor lizards etc. (no big wild animals).

Lake or Ousteri — eri=lake in Tamil — the reason why I titled Louis in this write-up as Lord Ousteri — this lake is locally known as Ousteri.

It seemed that Louis was at last in his element. I am pretty sure the Mother knew (She is Trikalagnya — knows Past, Present and Future). She only bided Her time — the right “Muhurtam” as to when and where to settle Louis.

Ousteri was a lonely place much of the time, a playground for the rich of Pondy. As such there was, on a hillock overlooking the lake, a 2-3-room tiled cottage. We now refer to it as the Main Land. The cottage and area belonged to one Mme. Gaeble, a French devotee of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo. Gone now is the country-tiled cottage. A concrete structure stands as its successor fortunately the “sloping roof” has been replicated forestalling further ambitions to build another floor (utilitarian considerations most often take precedence over those of beauty and environment).

The Main Land is of greater interest to us all (Lake-wallas included) for another reason. It is the chosen location for signing of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust Deed by the Mother, along with witnesses, in the presence of a Tehsildar from Tamilnadu. The event took place in 1954 when Pondicherry Govt. has no provision for Trusts. The date was the 1st of May. The Lake-wallas celebrate the day as their founding day with song and other cultural programmes. It is a Hallowed Day.

Louis was now in his element. The Mother gave him ‘Freedom’ — he spread his wings — flew, never settled. He set to work. Mother gave with a lavishness that we, the hoi-polloi (of Ashram) could not understand — not that we needed to — such swift march of events was too much to keep up with.

Louis set to work out his pent up ideas and energy. He was alone, but that was of no great import — rather helped him by “no opposition” and/or hindrance. I wouldn’t know if Louis had any knowledge of farming but that (i.e. the lack of it) was no hindrance to him. He started with locally available paid manual labour. He started with terracing the hillocks, removing the wild growth, and planting some hardy rain-fed plants like cashew. As more land was bought, where the hillocks flattened out and met the Lake, he planted coconut trees — nearly 3000 of them!

Once a week or so Louis came to the Play Ground for an interview with the Mother. Again needlessly we wondered: was he a prodigal or a prodigy?

One evening, after many years of Louis working in Lake Estate, news reached the Mother, thence us, that there was a strike by the paid workers at Lake. Louis was there to protect the property and oppose them if necessary. He was alone and had not eaten the whole day (a maid, I presume, cooked his meals on a normal day). The Mother asked 4-5 of us youngsters to go help him. We picked up some food and cycled off at about 7.30 p.m. (No motorbikes — the rage had not yet caught on). This was during the month of November. We reached there and this was the scenario we met with: a long thick bamboo lay across the pathway, as a barrier. On one side 12-15 workers were squatting and on the other side was Louis, erect, legs at “stand-at-ease”, arms folded across his chest. For how long this scene was in place I cannot guess. Louis said the strike was illegal — so, even though they were ready to resume work on the old terms, Louis was adamant and insisted he would take them back as NEW workers. This was obviously disadvantageous and disagreeable to them. On this difference they stood — so the bamboo, so the standoff! Louis also declared that they could cross the bamboo only over his dead body!

We stood in his place and got him to eat the food we had brought. So the night passed. I returned early the next morning and went up to the Mother at 5.30 a.m. — my usual time to see Her, along with Richard and Biren-da (Chunder), and gave Her the whole “story”. She said “Ah! Louis cannot force them to any terms. It would be illegal. Moreover, just because they have gone down in their consciousness, we cannot do the same.” (She is the Mother of All.) “So, go and tell Louis that he should take them back on the “old terms” (i.e. as ‘old’ employees). Then She said: “You need not go. You have 1st and 2nd Dec. practices. I will send someone else through Amrita.” My role was over — I know nothing more about the episode.

Time went by as it has to. Some more Ashramites, some old and many new, were sent to work under Louis. It was hard to please Louis. A stream of workers or helpers tried and failed. Kittu had a short stint with me — Batti — as an “Also Ran” along with him. I did not quit at the time and lay dormant for many a year then rejoined in 2002 as an “Overall Helper” to all the other farms of the Ashram as well. Norman (Jr.) and Grant were next to come and go. Then came the “Pal” family (Pal — no allusion to milk — Pal is milk in Tamil). Manindra, Sudhangshu, Shobha, Dilip, Ashwini & Bharati — they all trod the same two-way path! Promesse J. suffered the same fate. Atmavadan was sent to work at the dairy. He is as of date running it beautifully but he has had a bout of hiccups too, the “Why” of which I cannot tell — I do not know. Through all these minor storms (in a tea-cup) work went on — one could say ‘smoothly’. Then Fate took a hand — a hard cruel blow She dealt — Louis had an accidental fall from a low roof that had no hand-rail or parapet. He had a bad spinal injury. We took him to JIPMER. The approach road (to our Lake Estate), a kilometer or so, was a rain denuded earthen road. The van (taking Louis to hospital) bounced and lurched. It must have been agonizing for the injured man — but not a whisper of a whimper from him. This was the beginning of the end.

A long stint at JIPMER followed by one at our Nursing Home. Later he suffered a stroke, was partially invalided. He then gave up. (This was in the month of November of 1988. He was 85 years old. Working back, the year of his birth would be 1903. Assuming he started working at Lake in the late 50’s (after or just before the S. Pool was inaugurated in 1957) he served the Mother at least i.e. 32 years 1956 to 1988 — not too long as many here would aver, but solidity and intensity of his service, much of it physical and of a practical nature, would be hard to match. Another Great entry into the ranks of Among the Not So Great’s.