Living in The Presence

  The Mother : Contact


Organising Programmes by Visiting Artists


After settling down in the Ashram, my classes of music with Dilip-da and Sahana-di and of dance with Anuben continued to my great satisfaction. I used to practise the Kathak dance compositions and its 'bols' at home with Mota-kaka's tabla and pakhawaj accompaniment. Mota-kaka was very fond of me as both of us shared a common love for music. One day, he told me that some artists were coming from outside, and he was making arrangements for their programme and asked me if I could assist him in the organisation. If I agreed, he would ask the Mother for Her permission. I was always very enthusiastic about such things, so I accepted at once. The Mother also gave Her consent and Mota-kaka and I started working together. The programme passed off well. After the programme was over, I think Mota-kaka told the Mother about my organizational capacities, as he used to go to see the Mother every day.

    A few days after this programme, the Mother informed me through Nolini-da that She had made an arrangement for looking after artists visiting the Ashram, and She was giving me the charge of taking care of these programmes. The subsequent programmes were to be more or less on the same lines as the one we had organised in the Playground. I was asked to go and talk to Pranab-da about it as the Mother had informed him in this regard. I went to see Pranab-da and as soon as I entered his office he said, "Come, come Shobhamoyi, Mother has spoken to me about you. All the arrangements had been made. The Mother also said that if She received any letter related to such programmes, She would send it to you through Nolini-da or me. If Nolini-da or I get any letter or information, we will let you know. Listen, Shobhamoyi, the Mother has given you the responsibility of this work and we will discuss it very frankly with you. If you make any mistake, I will shake you by the scruff of your neck, you understand? You will not escape." Everyone in the room burst out laughing, listening to Pranab-da's words. I folded my hands in salutation, and said, "Dada, I will try to


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do this work in all sincerity and I shall see that I don't make any mistakes."

    After discussing with Pranab-da, it was decided that the programmes of Visiting artists, if they were held in the Playground, would begin at 8.30 at night after the completion of the regular activities of the Playground and giving people half an hour for finishing dinner in the dining room. If the programme were to be held at the Theater it would start at 8. The Mother had selected the two venues for the programmes: the Playground or the Theater. The music programmes would be held in the Playground, dance and plays at the Theater. If any proposal for a music programme came to me, I was supposed to inform Pranab-da's office, as also for any programme that was to take place at the Theater. The date of the programme was fixed by them; I would then communicate with the artists to let them know about the date, time, place and other details about the programmes. After that, I would prepare the notice of the programme stating the date and time, to be hung on the Ashram notice-board after the Mother had signed it. In those days the number of programmes was very small. Now for these visiting artists' programmes, some arrangements had to be made in the Playground: setting up the stage, mikes and lights. Technicians of the 'Radio and recording section' of the Ashram took care of the sound and lights: Vishwanath-da, Arun, Mahi and Nirmal. The stage in the Playground was set up using wooden planks and hollow blocks, which were stored in a part of the Playground near the wash-basin in the gymnasium. I had set up a group of 10-12 boys to help me and they were the ones who assisted me for the Playground programmes. After the marching and concentration were over and the marching group members had left, we would set up the stage. The stage was set up in front of the Mother's room and the adjoining room to the east, just before the programme and disassembled either immediately after the programme or the following afternoon and the planks and the hollow blocks were put back in their designated places.


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The Mother was not present for these programmes. The door of Her room remained shut. During such programmes, we did not put up photos of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo on the stage. The atmosphere in the Ashram in those times was totally different. Those who came here, whether ordinary visitors or artists, came to a Yogashram. They came for Sri Aurobindo and the Mother's Presence. While Sri Aurobindo was still in His body, Ustad Allaudin Khan had come for Sri Aurobindo's darshan. When Omkarnath Thakur came, he sang 'Bande Mataram' to Sri Aurobindo in the Meditation hall. I was very young then, but I still remember his powerfully moving voice. I was present in the Ashram at that time, as a visitor for the Darshan. After Sri Aurobindo left his body, this flow of artists continued. Seekers of the darshan and musicians continued to come for the Mother's darshan. Mota-kaka was in charge of the Reception service in those days. Occasionally, on getting to know about guest artists, he would make arrangements for their programme, for instance the famous South Indian dancer Chandralekha. Her Bharatanatyam programme was organised by Mota-kaka after getting the Mother's consent. Chandralekha used to come quite regularly for darshan, once a year definitely. Sometimes, even more often. When I started doing this work, I too got the opportunity of organising Chandralekha's Bharatanatyam programmes at the Theater. What should be understood is that while Sri Aurobindo and the Mother were physically present, the principal purpose of the artists' Visit was to have Their darshan, however great their repute in whichever field. They used to come to the Ashram for darshan and not to present their spectacle or exhibit their skill. They performed with a sentiment of "offering" their art to Them.

    I organised programmes for quite a number of artists, such as Birendra Kishore Ray Choudhury, a veena-player, Tara Ghoshal, a dilruba player, Jyotsna Bhole, a well-known Hindustani vocalist, Chandralekha, the famous Bharatanatyam dancer and many others. While writing about visiting artists, I am reminded of an incident connected with the reputed singer


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and composer, Pankaj Kumar Mullick. I had learnt singing from him when I lived in Calcutta. He was a very dear friend of my second brother Robi, and used to come home and also teach me singing. He was aware that we Visited the Ashram regularly and he had heard a lot about the Ashram and the Mother from Robi. He had a very strong wish to come to the Ashram and have the Mother's darshan. Once, while in South India for some work, he came down to Pondicherry. Robi was here, then, although I don't recollect whether he worked in the Reception service at the time. He arrived straight home, along with Pankaj-da. I was quite flabbergasted. Needless to say, we requested him to sing. Unfortunately, the Mother had stopped going to the Playground or to the Theater. In fact, She had stopped coming down from Her room. Pankaj-da was extremely saddened to hear this, but he, however, told my brother, " Robi, is there any Sanskrit stotra on Sri Aurobindo? I would like to start my programme with such a composition. Since I will not be able to have the Mother's darshan, at least I can offer this prayer to Her. Who knows if I will ever be able to return to Pondicherry. That's why I would like to leave my offering at Their feet." Robi bought a copy of TV. Kapali Sastri's book Prayer: and offered it to Pankaj-da. He began his programme with his marvellous composition on the sloka jayatu sa bhagavan nah purnablago aravinda. We had all really loved it.

    As the pages of past memories start unfolding, I can recollect a lot of incidents. But I can't write about them all. Here is an incident that I feel was most illuminating. This is a story about our 'Dada'. I had gone to Pranab-da's office for some work. From the entrance, I could hear him speaking loudly to someone in English. "I am telling you that I don't do this work. This responsibility is someone else's. You should go and talk to this person. If she comes and tells us. then we can accept the programme. I can't do anything as it is not my work." By then, I was standing just a little behind Pranab-da. The gentleman enquired, "Where can I find this person?" "She teaches in the school," Pranab-da replied.


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"and her house is opposite the Ashram library. Her name is Shobha Mitra and she is in charge of this work Go and meet her. If she comes and tells us, then we can do the programme." Someone sitting in the room, exclaimed, "Dada, Shobha is right behind you!" Pranab-da turned around and looked at me and said, " Here, then, Shobhamoyi, take the programme down". And there and then, the programme got finalised. This incident showed me a very important aspect of our Dada: his sense of absolute duty and responsibility.

    Quite a few days after this, a group of artists arrived from Orissa. Some devotees from there wished to offer a recital of Odissi dance in the Ashram and requested Govind Tej, a well-known Oriya film director, to organise this. So, Tej-da wrote the script and directed the dance programme, with a group consisting of Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra as the choreographer, Bhubaneswar Mishra, the well-known violinist and director of All India Radio, Cuttack, as the music director, the renowned singer Raghunath Panigrali as lead vocalist, and the famous Odissi dancers Sanjukta Panigrahi, Nandita Mohanty, Kukumina, etc. The Mother had asked Kameshwar-da and me to look for a suitable accommodation for all of them. We found a large house which had a fairly large hall where they could rehearse whenever they wanted. This was my first meeting with an almost entirely professional group, I had to look after them during their short stay here and was also responsible for the organisation of the programme. It was a most memorable experience!

    A couple of days after their arrival, a very touching incident took place. Bhubaneswar-da was a violinist and music composer of great caliber. Very early one morning, l went to their house to check if they needed anything. There were not many guest-houses in the Ashram then. We had to take care of the guests. As I was climbing the stairs, I heard some exquisite violin music. I went and stood in the hall. Bhubaneswar-da was playing the violin. I quietly sat down in a corner of the hall without letting him know, in order to listen to him. After a while, on noticing me, he turned in my direction and said,


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"Shobha-di, it's so good you've come. Can you tell me what this raga is.? A melody has been playing in my head since this morning but I am unable to understand the raga. I have never played this raga before. It seems to be totally new." "Bhubaneswar-da, why don't you just keep playing this raga," I replied, "let me go and make arrangements for recording this." And so I came away and this new raga was recorded and the recording was sent to the Mother. After listening to it, the Mother called it 'aspiration'. Bhubaneswar-da was delighted, and so were we. Unfortunately, quite some time after this recording was done, it got accidentally erased from my spool.

    Raghunath chose to begin their programme with a sanskrit stotra to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother: jayatu sa bhagavannah purnabhago aravinda by TV. Kapali Sastri. He set it to music in a short time and when it was sung the audience was deeply moved by its soul-thrilling rendering! On their subsequent visits to the Ashram, Raghunath always began his performance with jayatu sa bhagavan nah.   

    The time I am writing about they had performed the "Bhagavad Gita" at the Ashram Theater. Kelu-babu lad directed Sanjukta Panigrahi as Krishna and Nandita Mohanty as Arjuna. It was an extraordinary piece of choreography, especially Krishna's 'Vishwarupa darshan': Sanjukta was completely transfigured! The group came to the Ashram several times after that and performed other dance compositions like Vikramorvasie, Geet Govindam, Symbol Dawn (from Savitri), etc. I have seen many other dancers and guns after Sanjukta and Kelu-babu but no one came anywhere near that quality of choreography and dancing. The sheer beauty of voice and expressive charm of Raghunath's singing added an immeasurable magic quality to these performances. The originality of composition and intensity of impact I experienced in their dance, music and lighting (also directed by Tej-da) were quite unique and I felt that I had witnessed Indian performing art at its best. That's why I feel that had we been able to record these exceptional programmes, not just our Ashram, but Orissa, India and the world would have benefitted from


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such amazing compositions preserved for posterity as a part of our national heritage.

    While organising these programmes for visiting artists, I had a couple of unusual experiences. I remember an incident which might be of special interest to readers who are connected With the Ashram. Once, a very fine sitar player came to the Ashram for a few days. In those days, the Ashram had a few guest-houses and he was staying in one of them. I organised his programme and the audience was mesmerised by his music. The Ashram listeners wanted to hear more of his music; however, it was not possible to have programmes everyday at the Ashram. So I organised sessions in different places informally. After finishing our Group activities and dinner, we would gather for these musical sittings. On some days, some of us lovers of music would assemble at the Hall of Harmony at 6 or 6:15 in the morning and listen quietly to his morning ragas. A few days later, it was time for him to leave and we all felt extremely grateful at having received so much from him. We had collected so many musical gems from him. He too was a musician of a very high order and when he found listeners eager to enjoy music, he would give most generously through his instrument. The responsibility of looking after all these musicians was on my shoulders. At the time of his departure, it fell on me to also inform them about their accommodation charges. I used to feel extremely reluctant and uncomfortable about this. One day, I met the Mother and told Her about it.

    I - Mother, we who love music so much, have received a lot from him. We have taken a lot from him. Can't we forgo their lodging charges?

    Mother - Did he say anything about this?

    I - No, Mother. This is just my feeling.

    Mother - Then, don't say anything to him. Let him give the money. I am not saying this thinking of the money, but because I believe that artists too should offer something to the Divine. This should be seen as an offering. That is why let him give. It can only be good for him.

    I felt as if a closed window within my heart had been


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opened, and through it, a ray of light from the Mother's divine consciousness had touched me. What a marvellous experience!

    I remember another incident, a deeply moving one. Two artists had come, a singer and a dancer who were a couple. The singer's parents were from a very conservative background. They did not appreciate their daughter-in-law's dancing in public. There was a lot of disharmony in the family due to this. It reached a point where the dancer decided that the only way out of this impossible situation was to get a divorce. She was determined on not giving up either her dance or her performances in public. The singer felt deeply pained about the separation because he did not want it. I was close to both of them. Both of them talked to me about their personal problem and difference of opinion but we could not arrive at any solution to it together. One day, I requested both of them to send two separate letters to the Mother and I carried them with me, when I went to see Her. After acquainting the Mother briefly about the problem, I handed over to Her their letters. The Mother wanted to know how long they were going to stay in the Ashram. When I told the Mother about their departure date, the Mother agreed to see them. I asked Her if I could accompany them that day. The appointed day arrived and all three of us went up to the Mother's room. Both of them offered the Mother their bouquet of flowers and bowed at Her feet. As soon as they raised their heads after the pranam, the Mother with an exceedingly sweet smile held their hands in Hers and meditated for a while; then, She said, "No more fighting, there will be no separation." After this, She blessed both of them by placing Her hand on their foreheads. Later, I found out from their letters that all disharmony and conflict had ceased and they were pursuing their respective arts in a happy, harmonious way.

    While organising programmes for visiting artists, a couple of questions had cropped up in my mind, so one day finding the right moment I put them before the Mother.

    I - Douce Mère, what should be my attitude and my duty Vis-à-vis these Visiting artists?

    Mother - Your attitude must be that of a simple child of


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the Mother. Leave the rest to me. Some among them might come in closer contact with the Ashram through you, try and be gentle and patient with them. Try and understand them because artists are extremely sensitive, sensitive towards beauty. Remember one thing always: Don't ever ask the artist from your side to do a programme. It is for them to feel that their programme is their offering.

    I don't remember for how many years these visiting artists programmes took place in the Playground. But I remember the last programme very vividly. Sanat-da's younger sister (Chandan-di's husband Sanat Banerjee used to live in Nant-euil on the first floor) came to the Ashram for a few days. The Mother had left Her body by then. She used to play the sarod very well. One day she played the sarod in the Playground. One of the problems with classical music is that the alaap (the slow elaboration of a raga) takes time to establish its mood. It cannot be dealt within 3 or 4 minutes. Classical music takes time. That night, she was playing so beautifully that we all completely forgot about the time. Her interpretation was absolutely exceptional and when she ended her recital it was very late in the night.

    The next morning, I was summoned by Pranab-da. I understood at once that it had to do with the late conclusion of the previous evening's programme. Hardly had I got into the office that Pranab-da told me, “These visiting artists' programmes can no longer take place in the Playground. Find some other venue." I kept excusing myself and assured him that this mistake would not be repeated. But Pranab-da was adamant. So I went to see Paru, who was then the Registrar of the school. I acquainted her with the situation and she agreed to host the programmes at the school. From then on, the programmes were organised at the school.

    Looking after these programmes by visiting artists, I have learnt a lot. I have come in contact with many great musicians and dancers and got a chance to experience their deep devotion and dedication to their art. The Mother had told me that artists were sensitive to things of beauty and I


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got ample opportunities to see this truth in reality. Among the artists who touched us very deeply was the famous sitarist, Kartik Kumar. His sitar playing still rings in our ears. Thanks to the Sangeet Research Academy of Calcutta, we have been privileged in the Ashram to hear a very large number of very reputed artists, both in vocal and in instrumental music. The director of the Sangeet Research Academy, Vijay Kichlu and his secretary Krishna Choudhury made it possible for us, through their extraordinary efforts, to listen to Zakir Hussain, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Girija Devi, Hari Prasad Chaurasia, A.T. Kanan, Malavika Kanan, V.G. Jog, Protima Bedi, Vijay Kichlu, Arun Bhaduri, Ajoy Chakraborty, Rashid Hussain Khan, Shubhra Guha and many other famous artists of India. There are far too many to enumerate here. We also had the famous golden voice of Carnatic music, Dr Balamurali Krishna and the reputed veena-player, Chitti Babu. There were also some semi-classical musicians who have left unforgettable memories in our hearts like A.T. Kanan (Bhajan), Purushottam Jalota (Bhajan), Sandhya Mukherjee, Pradeep Chatterjee, Chhobi Bandopadhyay, Pankaj Mullick, Hemant Mukherjee, Harendra Khurana, etc.

    By coming in contact with these celebrated, gifted artists, I have experienced a tiny fragment of that vast, fathomless ocean of music and I have seen firsthand through the work of organisation of their programmes, how persevering, one-pointed must the dedication be to music in order to be a part of this fraternity of music.


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