Champaklal Speaks

Revising “Savitri”

1944-06-09

When Sri Aurobindo needed to revise lines of Savitri he used to write on small chit pads. He would collect a few sheets and pin them on the original manuscript pages in their appropriate places. I often watched him doing it. One day I saw him having some difficulty with the pinning. What had happened was that the sheets were too many and it was not easy to insert the pin in all of them together.

Pussh, I heard and saw that the pin had slipped. Pussh, again heard this sound, and again pussh. Then I ran to him am showed me what he had been trying to do. It was indeed difficult do it in the way he wanted. Somehow I succeeded in doing it. I received a broad smile. Oh, what a look!

Thereafter he stopped doing that work himself and always called me to do it even when it was very easy. “Champaklal” would call. How sweet it was to hear the name from his mouth boundless delight filled me whenever he called me by name remember I had even kept a record of how many times in a day (and night) he called me by name for one reason or another. It noteworthy because he very rarely called anyone by name.

I felt the same ananda when Mother called me by name. C Amrita told me: “How lucky you are, Champak! How sweet it hear Mother when she calls you by name!” Whenever he moved, Amrita used to call me Champak.