Down Memory Lane

André

During my November 1949 visit to the Ashram, I stayed at Golconde. One day there was a bit of stir in the fixed routine of the house. Monsieur Andre Morisset was coming on a visit from France and a room on the top floor in the eastern wing was being made ready for him. In fact, at Golconde there is nothing much like making a room ready, for the whole house is always kept in a tip-top condition. The stir, in reality, was due to the whispering that Monsieur Andre was the Mother's son and that it would be his first visit since the Mother settled down at Pondicherry in 1920. They were going to meet after a gap of 29 years, we calculated, and for me it was doubly interesting that the event was taking place in the house where I was staying. In fact, as it was learnt later, Mother had left Andre' in Paris in 1916 for Japan. He was a student then and they were meeting after 33 years.

Mother had wished to be present at Golconde in the afternoon a little before the scheduled arrival of Andre, and the visitors staying in the house were not expected to throng in the corridor, but they could have Mother's darshan near the stair case when she came and left. As usual the plane was delayed and Mother had to wait longer in the room. She must have spent the time in doing something more precious than bestowing her gracious smile on the people around.

Well, I was tickled then at the fact that it was that very year when both Monsieur Andre and I visited the Ashram for the first time. But, of course, as for seeing the Mother, he was much more fortunate in having seen her earlier, and for years together, and that too before my birth itself.

Anyway, I was curious, as many must have been, to know about their first meeting after such a long Reparation and how Monsieur Andre was to be treated at the Ashram, he being the son of the Head of the Institution. About the meeting itself, nothing of human emotion or sentimentality has been reported. Mother is said to have remarked once casually that she might

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not have recognised him, if she had not known about his coming beforehand.

André mingled with Ashramites as one of them, without any ostentation or special privilege or honour, except that he was seen with Mother along with the usual Ashramites when she came out. He soon endeared himself as Andre-da, brother Monsieur Andre. Henceforth, the room at Golconde would be always kept for him and he paid the usual Ashram charges for it. The frequency of his visits to the Ashram and the duration of his stay gradually increased.

In course of time he became an active participant in the Mother's work.

From the beginning I felt affinity with Andre-da, but for years we did not meet. I do not remember the occasion when I was first formally introduced to him; perhaps there was none—we started knowing one another casually or for some work.

One of our first contacts took place when the Comite Administratif d' Auroville was formed. The main enthusiasts behind this Administrative Committee of Auroville were Roger Anger and Navajata. I was inducted as a member in it and in this capacity I did attend its meetings, but I was not feeling happy. The meetings were held every week on the first floor of the Auroville office opposite the south-east corner of the Ashram and the minutes of the proceedings were put up before Mother. Once Andre asked me about my reaction—he was a member of the Committee attending it regularly and reporting to the Mother—on a personal level, and he could see that I was not happy over what happened in the sessions. Soon after, Mother asked me about it, and as 1 was not quite explicit for I was there with Mother's "Yes", she smiled in the same way as she did when she had spoken to me about my entry into the Comite and freed me saying, "You are not meant for committees, but for work." The next day or so, Andre gave me her message that thenceforth I was not to attend the CAA meetings regularly and that the CAA would ask me to attend when there would be some problem requiring my assistance. Andre also shared my feeling of relief.

Once I was asked by Navajata to draft a resolution for the operation of the Bank accounts of Auroville by four persons

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jointly viz Andre, Navajata, Roger Anger and Prem Malik. Till then Mother was the sole signatory in the Bank accounts and the volume of the Bank transactions was on the increase. There was rationality in the decision but Mother was not asked about the names of the signatories. The resolution was given to Navajata in the usual course for Mother's signature but he returned it saying that it should go through Andre. The resolution came back to me with Andre's note that Mother had deleted Malik's name and put my name and that she had also wished that I would be signing at the end.

In February 1971 the Mother gave me the responsibility of Auroville and the Comite was dissolved soon thereafter since my suggestion to the CAA members to meet every day and participate in the actual field-work was not acceptable to them. In a way, the CAA had a natural end. The Mother said,

No more committees,

no more idle talk.

It did not mean the end of the participation of the erstwhile members of the CAA in the Auroville work as individuals. After this event Andre and myself came nearer and became intimate.

At that time the Matrimandir work was yet to start. Soon it started for which Mother had been waiting for some years. But again there were quibblings and suggestions and counter-suggestions delaying the actual construction work.

Mother spoke to Andre about it and said that unless one person would take charge of the Matrimandir work it would not get done and that I should find someone for it. I thought over it and told Andre that no such person was coming to my mind and if Mother approved I could take it up. He replied that without consulting me he had already told Mother that he also had none else in view, but Mother remarked that I was already busy with the Auroville work as a whole and she did not like to strain me. But both of us could not see any alternative and then Mother gave me the Matrimandir project as well.

The other project to which Mother gave great importance was the construction of the cultural pavilion of India, Bharat Nivas. It was a costly affair with no Bank balance for support. The architectural design had been chosen after a competition and the land required for it was with us. Offers were invited for

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construction and some reputed companies had responded. The response of ECC (a Larsen Toubro concern) was adjudged to be acceptable but they wanted five lakh rupees at the time of signing the agreement. The decision was left to me and I was finding it rather hard. Andre stuck to the point that they all had left it to me and that I had to decide. One day he spoke about it to Mother and came to tell me Mother's remark about my need of faith. I tried to look within me but I remembered again that the cash box was empty and the matter won't stop even with the missing five lakh, and in front of me sat Andre just shrugging his shoulders.

And then something occurred in an instant. I decided to be on the right side of faith and pushed off the letter to ECC that we were ready for the agreement. Andre went back happy with sympathy for me.

It is interesting to say what happened next. The ECC expressed the wish of their two officers to see the Mother first for her blessings for this prestigious work. Mother gave them an appointment to come with me. When both of them raised their heads after doing pranam, Mother majestically asked them, "When do you start the work ?" "Immediately", they said Mother gave a happy smile. The ECC had become our friends.

The ECC did start the work as promised. They had forgotten that the agreement was not yet signed and according to the terms of the agreement the initial amount of five lakh rupees had to reach their hands first. The agreement was signed after a few days and by the time our cheque of five lakh came to the Pondicherry Bank from Madras for realisation our Bank account was rich enough with the five lakh just received by way of grant for the Bharat Nivas. Mother again gave me a happy smile. At this distance of time I am again thankful to Andre for his part in the matter.

Once Andre was asked by Mother to see and report the correct position regarding the existence of a road in Auroville. Roger had fixed a location for a proposed soap-unit in the Industrial Zone of Auroville. The Manager of the soap-unit had informed me that there was no infra-structure at the site and even no approach road was there and as I used to move about at Auroville, I also knew that it was so, but Roger was repeating

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before Mother that it was there and that the unit should be set up there. So Andre went to the site in a jeep and reported to the Mother that a sort of way was there but no road and that the making of the road entailed money and time. On the other hand, we had no funds and there was urgency for setting up the unit for otherwise the opportunity would be lost. So Mother sanctioned the setting up of the unit elsewhere. Roger was very much annoyed and the soap-unit Manager, Nautam Bhatt, suggested to me that he could drop the project. I encouraged him to stick on and the unit was set up at the Industrial Estate at Pondicherry. There was a sad accident on the first day. It was a pointer to the heavy toll disharmony could take at Auroville. I don't think we learned the lesson.

Andre was aware of the honest differences of approach between Roger and me in certain matters.. I had to take some hard decisions and naturally always some were unhappy over them. It seems Roger indulged in frequent protestations. Andre once told me that he had on one occasion mentioned to Mother that Roger and Shyam Sunder were two strong- headed bulls. When I asked him about Mother's comment, he said with a grin that there was none and shrugged his shoulders. I didn't ask him whether he informed Roger also about it. In all fairness he must have done it.

Well, everyone has to take decisions which at times may not be to the liking of some. After the passing of the Mother, Andre was taking decisions in several matters which came to be handled by him. I remember an occasion when he was unhappy over the lay-out of the first page of an issue of "Sri Aurobindo's Action" which was brought to his notice by an interested Ashramite. On the first page, at that time, there used to be Sri Aurobindo's picture and an article from Sri Aurobindo's writings. Just below Sri Aurobindo's picture the title of the article appeared. In that issue the title of the article was 'The Inconscient', and Andre agreed with his informer that the readers could take it as an attribute for Sri Aurobindo himself. I did not see any such possibility, but he was firm and as he had learnt much more than I had from Mother in this field, I agreed for a new print of the page. In order to economise, Andre suggested some pasting of a slip, but this being the first page, I went in for a new print of what meant four pages.

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When some time after the passing of the Mother, the Auroville trouble started Andre' tried to assist in sorting it out with his objectivity and reliance on Mother's arrangement. But in that upheaval he was not being heard any more. Gradually he withdrew from Auroville scene and confined himself to Ashram matters in which, I think, he was mainly associated with Nolini and Counouma in policy matters.

My outer contact with Andre went on diminishing and in the end there was little of it. He was sad over the Auroville happenings and just repeated to me more than once what Mother had told him, "For God's sake, keep Satprem out of Auroville." And we would find ourselves helpless.

In those years I was a much maligned person and am sure that Andre was hearing more than enough against me, but I could always feel his old affection for me. In fact he started sending me greeting cards on my birthday from France to which I, by habit, never responded outwardly. Once when I was in the thick of attacks from all quarters, the birthday card that I received from him carried the picture of a famous Knight-at-arms.

When I mentioned to him that in 1972 Mother was saying 'Yes' to all requests going through others, but I was getting 'No' sometimes. He said, "Fortunately, I also."

Towards the end he had grown quite weak in his body. During the last five years of his life he found it more convenient to stay with his daughter Pourna Prema, on the ground floor in the house in front of the Ashram. I saw him one evening talking to someone on the pavement outside. We just smiled at each other. That would be our last meeting.

He returned to France in January 1982. Pourna saw him off at Delhi. Two months later he passed away in the family's country house in France on 29.3.1982. He was 84 then.

I always remember his obedience to Mother. For he happily carried out Mother's wishes even when they went against his own preferences or judgements. And I always remember what he repeatedly told me, "Shyam Sunder, till now I have no instance of Mother's words coming out untrue."

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