Champaklal Speaks

Flowers and their Significances

In those days, Mother opened the door to Sri Aurobindo's and her rooms early in the mornings. It was locked in the afternoons so she had given me a duplicate key to open it when I came in the evening, A tray with handles had been specially made by Chandulal. In it Nolini kept the letters for Sri Aurobindo and Mother that were given to him by inmates. When I went in, I took the tray which Nolini had left by then at the top of the staircase. Inside, Mother would receive the tray from me and take it to the salon where Sri Aurobindo was ready for correspondence work.

One day I got the idea of drawing flowers. I painted the flower Champa and placed the drawing along with the other letters in the tray, without saying anything to Mother. Imagine my surprise when she came out a little later, smiling, a paper in her hand and said: “Champaklal, here is something for you.”

It was unexpected, though indeed I had wanted it very much.

The paper she gave me was my drawing of the flower. Underneath she had written the significance of that flower, Psychological perfection.

After that, I went on drawing one flower every day. At times I had to skip my noon meal (in fact my only full meal) in order to be able to complete the drawing. But it was more interesting to me to receive her Grace that way than to eat. Every day I carried a drawing and received it back with its significance in her own handwriting. Those days are etched in my memory. I remember with thrill and gratitude how much interest she took in my drawings. They are now in four bound books and are consulted often.

Here I must record the help given by Ambu.¹ Every day he used to select a beautiful flower and bring it to me. And in those days it was not as easy to get them as it is today; one had to go very far in search of the uncommon varieties.