Moments Eternal

Classes for the Little Ones

I have already said something about the classes for the little ones. Now, let me tell you how these classes began.

In 1950, on 17th November the captains of the little boys and girls aged between four and twelve decided that they would speak only in French with them during the sports activities. They informed the Mother and She was delighted. She too decided that everyday She would spend a little time with them and speak French. After their sports the children used to receive groundnuts from the Mother in the courtyard of the Guest House. This is the same Guest House where the Mother and Sri Aurobindo met for the first time on that auspicious day, 29 March, 1914.

On the first day the Mother asked Kokila, a little girl at that time:

“Quel âge as-tu?” (How old are you?) Kokila answered:

“Je m’appelle Kokila.” (My name is Kokila)

“Et comment t’appelles-tu?” (And what is your name?) the

Mother now asked.

“J’ai huit ans,” (I am eight years old) Kokila answered a little flustered.

All those present there could not control their laughter. The Mother too thoroughly enjoyed Kokila’s answers. For several days this story of Kokila’s first conversation with the Mother did the rounds in the Ashram.

Kokila’s story reminds me of another.

Frederic the Great knew each and every soldier’s face in his army. And whenever he saw a new face in the army he would ask three questions: How old are you? How long have you been in my army? Are you satisfied with your pay and food?

A new French recruit had just joined Frederic’s army. He did not know any German at all. So his general tried bravely to teach him the answers to the three questions he would be asked. Frederic would first ask about his age followed by the other two questions. However this time as soon as he saw the new soldier he asked him the second question first:

“How long have you been in my army?” The French soldier answered hurriedly: “Twenty-one years.”

Frederic was quite astonished and asked: “What! How old are you then?”

“One year,” the soldier replied.

“Dear me! Either you or I must be mad!” Frederic exclaimed.

“Yes, both,” the soldier concluded with a broad smile. That was the only answer he had learnt for the third question. Frederic was taken aback and remarked:

“This is the first time that any of my soldiers has called me a madman!”

When the French soldier noticed that the king looked rather displeased, he quickly added in French to try and calm him:

“Actually I don’t know any German!”

“Is that so?” said Frederic. “You don’t know German. Then you should get down to learning it as fast as you can. If you have decided to work in our army then it is absolutely imperative for you to learn our language.”

Tara, Usha, Nirata, Sumedha and some other captains resolved to speak in French with the little ones. The Mother also decided to take regular classes for the little ones. On 19th November 1950 the Mother brought Her first typed lesson. On this first lesson sheet was a drawing of a bee. The Mother distributed each day’s lesson to Tara who would see that all the boys and girls went through it very carefully. The next day the Mother would ask the children questions about the lesson.

The classes were stopped for a while because the Mother became extremely busy for the 24th Darshan. Then Sri Aurobindo’s sudden physical withdrawal left the Ashram in a daze. Therefore the French classes of the little ones remained suspended for some time.

The Mother resumed these French classes on the 17th of

December, the same year.

Sunday was for dictation, Tuesday for recitation and Friday for story-telling. The Mother used to write down the dictation and the recitation herself in Tara’s notebook. She generally composed the texts for the dictation and the recitation herself. The child who was best at recitation got a special prize from the Mother.

On Fridays She told them stories. This story-class started with Belles Histoires [Tales of All Times] and Paroles d’autrefois [Words of Long Ago]. From time to time She would humorously recount incidents from Her own life. She recounted so many stories from so many different countries: India, Persia, Japan, China, France and several others. The stories came alive because of the Mother’s way of narrating them. We felt as if we were living in the country where the story was taking place.

All these memories return to thrill me so very often…