My Savitri work with the Mother

09 August 1960

The heat was enervating. I remembered desperately the most wonderful weather of London at that time of summer. I transported myself back in my thoughts to those days when I felt frozen in shivering waves of cold and recalled the heat of Pondicherry. Indeed, the human mind is so complicated. It doesn't get adjusted easily to the changing moods of seasons and situations. My only solace was to meet the Mother and talk to her. On 9th August she gave me the book, The Eternal Wisdom, to finish typing the quotations of the Second Part. The quotations of the First Part she had written to me when I had gone to East Africa in May 1958. She cautioned me that I should be very careful with the book, for she had only one copy. Then suddenly she asked me:

What perfume have you worn?

I said: "Apple-Blossom. Mother, do you like it? Tomorrow I'll bring the bottle for you. But, I am afraid, it has been used. Do you mind?" She smiled and said:

No, my child

So I brought her the perfume the succeeding day. There and then she sprayed it on herself and enjoyed its fragrance. She got up, opened her cupboard and took out a cut-glass bottle of rose-perfume and gave it to me saying:

Ah, my child, we exchange perfumes!

Those days I was often clad in slacks which she liked very much—she especially admired my butterfly white glasses. I was wearing lipstick. Some people remarked: "You have become fashionable." I said: "Why not?" People see only the outer appearance. If they were in the right consciousness, they would have a deeper impression of the way the Mother did her work in her children. Often interested people are led away by superficial observations. Some people thought that I had gone to London to get married and settle there. Some thought that I had gone for study, to take a job and earn money. They could not think otherwise. Their notions were petty, limited and meaningless. Their only intention was to hurt my feelings. But I did not care, because the Mother approved of my "fashion".

During my stay abroad I experienced many outer struggles, difficulties, troubles and setbacks. Nonetheless, all the experiences, good or bad, made me strong, steady and confident.

A few days later I showed the Mother the flowers and the bead-bag I had made in London. She regarded them with enthusiasm. She was amused to see the tools used for the flowers. Some flowers had become askew; she straightened them. I told her that I intended to make a rose-spray for her gold-silk dress which I would stitch and embroider with beads. She gave me a smile. Her eyes shone with delight.

Vasudha, who was present there, expressed her wish to learn the art of flower-making from me. Later the tools were made in Harpagon for Vasudha's Embroidery Department, and soon she would start her lessons.