Champaklal Speaks

Vase of Roses

As I told you, when Sri Aurobindo and Mother lived in Library House, Sri Aurobindo used to remove (with Chinese chopsticks) the bones from the fish that Mother fed the cats.

After coming to Meditation House, Sri Aurobindo used to arrange one vase of roses every day and keep it on a small table in Mother's dressing room. We still have that vase.

At nightfall, he would take all the flower vases from the rooms and leave them on a table—it was a folding table that Mother had ordered from France—in the passage one enters on opening the staircase door. At present in the place of that table there is a small cupboard near the door.

Mother did not like flowers to remain in the rooms at night, especially the red karan flower which she has named “Surrender of all Falsehood” [double pink Nerium Oleander]. Later I heard that even from the point of view of health it is not good to have flowers in one's room at night.