Dortoir

Introduction

The house number 3, on Law de Lauriston Street, was also known as “Maison Dubreuil”. It was a double-storeyed house with a hanging balcony over the street. Its ground floor had a few rooms on the eastern side. On the western side there was quite a big open area with arches which looked like a stable for keeping horses or cattle. Its floor was made of compressed clay. Perhaps this area was meant to house cattle, which was a common practice in those days. A staircase could be seen behind the building on its southern side. This building was in a rather dilapidated condition. There were some outlying structures where a door, number 19, opened to St. Louis Street which was to the east of the building complex. The area consisted also of a small garden, a shed, a godown and some vacant place.

This house was sometimes taken on rent by the Mother, for housing visitors. On the 1st of April 1944, this property was purchased in the name of Sri Aurobindo by Surendra Nath Jauhar and offered to the Mother. The building was then thoroughly repaired and modified. The stable-like area was altered and a big kitchen with a washing and dining area were constructed here. This was the Dortoir.

We present here a few articles by people who were associated with it. The first portion is from the book 'My Mother' by Surendra Nath Jauhar on whose request the Mother consented to start a hostel.

I — Recollections of Surendra Nath Jauhar

Boarding-House

“Mother, my children are too small and you know there is no proper care, environment or atmosphere at home. Is it not possible that a hostel could be opened for the children to be kept and taken care of?”

The Mother said, “Why not? If you want I can immediately do that.”

She quickly called Chandulal, the Engineer of the Ashram, and asked him by making signs in the sky, “Chandulal, you know that dilapidated building at the back of the Play Ground?”

Chandulal said, “Yes, Mother.”

“In how much time can you clear the debris and raise a double-storeyed building on the spot?”

Chandulal, trembling, said, “Mother, in three months!”

The Mother said in a loud voice, “Three months! I want it within fifteen days!”

Chandulal said, “All right Mother, all right Mother.” And perhaps within a few minutes or an hour the work was started and continued day and night, for fifteen days in three daily shifts. During the night, work was carried on under the dazzling lights of the gas-lamps.

Poor Chandulal! He was alone all the twenty-four hours there. He never went to his room to sleep. He was supervising the work standing, dozing or sleeping simultaneously, perhaps sometime in the chair. His whole anxiety and concentration was to raise the structure within fifteen days as desired by the Mother.

The structure of the building was of course ready within fifteen days.

Hostel

On my next visit to the Ashram the Mother called me.

She said, “I have very happy news to give you. You see the Boarding-House for your children is now ready, I have made very beautiful and perfect arrangements for your children to be looked after. Suitable persons have been put as Wardens. You can now send your children to the Boarding-House.

“Separate arrangements have been made for the boys and the girls to be lodged in the Hostel. On the ground floor boys will live, and on the first floor the girls.”

The Boarding-House was started only with my five children, Snehlata, Tara and Chitra in the Girl’s Dormitory and Narendra and Jitendra in the Boy’s Dormitory, on the 15th of January, 1945.

Of course, gradually, in about a year or so other children were also admitted and the number became about twenty.

I was happy and felt relieved.

Hostel-Wardens

After a few days the Mother again called me and said: “I have, further, to give you a very happy news. I have been able to find a most suitable person as Warden for your children. She is a local person. She knows Hindi very well. She is M.A. in Hindi. She will be able to confer better with your children. She is good at cooking and she will also be looking after the food arrangements.”

My First Visit to the Boarding-House

Next time when I paid a visit to the Ashram I was full of happy anxiety that I will now be able to go frequently to the Hostel to see my children in the Boarding-House.

So, soon after getting into the Ashram, I took the opportunity to go to the Boarding-House. I knocked at the gate and a lady appeared to talk to me, opening the door only two or three inches. With all the confidence and ego, I told her that I wanted to come in to see my children.

She strongly said, “No! You cannot be allowed to come in. It is not permitted.”

She just closed the door and went in.

I was shocked, perhaps also for the reason in my subconscious mind that I had paid for the construction of the Hostel and no courtesy or consideration was shown to me. I felt that I would complain to the Mother.

Next day when I went to the Mother for Pranams, she spontaneously said, “You see, I have received a report from the Hostel-Warden that you wanted to go inside and she had to refuse you.

“You see it is a strict rule and discipline that no parents are allowed to go into the Boarding-House to see their children.”

So, I was put in my place.

(From the book 'My Mother', Surendra Nath Jauhar, published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram — Delhi Branch, New Delhi, 1982, pp. 19-22)

The next article is by Lata Jauhar, the eldest and the first boarder of this hostel.

This will be followed by two articles by the two care-takers, the hostel Wardens.

The last one in the series will be by Parul Chakraborty, one of the younger boarders.

Each one shares with us the experience of the hostel-life at that time.

II — Recollections of Lata Jauhar

DORTOIR, 1945, January 15th

I was 12 when I came in 1944. Dortoir was opened on 15th January 1945. I was the first child of Dortoir as I moved in two days before it was officially opened. This was due to my mother’s insistence that if I did not drink milk for breakfast she would not let me enter the house. I got nervous but as I was obstinate, I did not drink milk but went and told the Mother about this. The Mother sent me to stay in Dortoir immediately. Thus I was already staying in Dortoir before it was opened.

It started with Lata, Tara, Chitra, Aruna, Kokila on the first floor and Narendra, Jyotindra, Arun Kumar, Nirakar on the ground floor. Gul-ben and Sirin-ben were in charge of the girls upstairs. Chellamma was in charge of the boys downstairs and also the kitchen. Ichcha-ben was given charge of the servants. In a few months others from different families joined the group: Urmila, Usha, Arun (their brother) and later Urmila Pandya, her brother and others. I don’t remember exactly the names and the order of joining of other members. There were Babli and Miku and many others. Many came for a short period also. Gradually, as the Dortoir got extended, Anu-ben was given the charge of getting the clothes ironed. Sabita-di was looking after the Sick Room. Ravindra-ji was in charge of the all-round organisation: food and studies etc. After Gul-ben and Sirin-ben left, Anu-ben took up the charge of upstairs work and Kusum-ben came as her assistant. The Mother explained to them in detail, how the children should be treated with lots of love and patience. They should not be woken up abruptly, as they live in other worlds in their dreams.

We had our school classes and sports activities. During the free periods we were all doing some work and quite a few of us worked with Ravindra-ji. Of course there were also timings for going to the Mother for Pranams etc. After lunch we did our homework which Ravindra-ji used to supervise. He would also give us additional work in arithmetic: calculations like multiplications, divisions and tables etc.

I went to school and in the free periods I went to work in the Ashram with Ravindra-ji. Fruits and vegetables were not available in Pondicherry in those days. Some tomatoes, carrots etc. were coming from Bangalore once a week. These we washed in potassium permanganate, wiped and arranged in trays. Mother and Sri Aurobindo took a glass of carrot juice daily. There were no refrigerators then. The carrots had to be preserved for a whole week before the next lot arrived. For this, flat earthen pots were filled with moist earth and sand and carrots were arranged underneath. The pot had to be watered like plants to keep these carrots fresh. With too much water they would rot inside. I learnt the correct dosages by practice. Even the earth had to be changed from time to time or else it would get putrid. There were no electric gadgets in those days. I used to crush the carrots in a stone mortar and squeeze out the juice from a muslin cloth and would thus fill up two small glasses: one for the Mother and the other for Sri Aurobindo. My father used to bring from Delhi a boxful of seedless grapes of Chaman, Afghanistan. They were brought by air and as they are very delicate did not last long. These I used to peel, cut in two, take out the central thread and prepare two small bowls. Similarly I used to prepare two small bowls with chikus, oranges or other fruits and carry these in a tray directly to the Mother. This is how I could see her all alone in the passage on her way to Sri Aurobindo. She always showed a lot of interest and praised the work. How happy I felt then. On weekends, I used to churn milk on a hand-machine for 40-45 minutes to prepare milk-cream and then butter. I did this work as long as Sri Aurobindo was there. After that, gradually the arrangement changed.

In addition to this work, we used to fill up the fruit bags of sadhaks with tomatoes, musambi or papaya, that is, whatever was available, and keep them ready to give personally into the hands of the sadhaks.

On Darshan days we also worked at the Dining Room Counter serving rice or vegetables and we also helped in the washing and wiping of the dishes and bowls.

After dinner, as the Mother did not like the used vessels to be left overnight without being washed, some Dortoir girls and a few non-Dortoirians like Lilou, Pushpa, Kumud, Mridula used to give a helping hand in washing and wiping and tidying up the whole place. Chandubhai was the only male member of the Ashram who used to work with us and would accompany the other girls to their homes after their work. While washing, we used to play “Antyakshari” regularly. We used to form two teams and turn by turn each team had to sing a song starting by the last letter of the song sung by the opposite team. This trained our voices and we had a whole repertory of songs in our memory.

The rules for the boarders were formulated by the Mother. We could not go to a friend’s house, neither could he come to see us. There were no birthday parties. Birthday was only going to the Mother a number of times. We were all present for Balcony Darshan at 6 a.m. regularly. We had to be home by 8 p.m. On Saturdays we could stay longer in the Ashram, but always working most of the time. Later, every Saturday night we could go to the Mother for Pranam which would sometimes take place even after midnight. Some elderly people used to tell us stories while we were waiting for the Pranam and after that we used to fall asleep in the Ashram courtyard till we were woken up to go for Pranam.

Well, over the years there were constant changes. The Mother would make us write something and she corrected our notebooks. For every little problem we would approach the Mother. As we did not like Dining Room food she got made one special potato vegetable every day only for us. We did not like even that. The Mother’s own kitchen was supplying some savouries twice a week and they were just delicious and we used to look forward to that and the quantity was never enough. Of course, gradually we were getting the tasty dishes only once a week and these too were becoming rather infrequent. Sometimes only Papad, but even that was so special, so tasty.

On 15th January the anniversary of Dortoir we would put up some programme and could invite a few friends. In the later years, when the Mother started coming out, she came to Dortoir to see our programme. For one of our Dortoir programmes she dramatised her story “Les Vertues” and guided us, teaching us how to present it for the anniversary.

Innumerable are the incidents and innumerable the changes. One can’t remember or relate everything. The only thing I can say is that it was just beautiful in those days. All work was fun and learning and everything was centred around our dear Mother who kept us in a paradise on earth. We have been a really lucky lot.

III — Recollections of Anu Purani

Working in Dortoir

SOME people tell me that I was brought to Pondicherry when I was 6 months old, with my mother. After about two years, when I started walking, I fell very ill and the Mother told my parents that I was not able to bear the pressure of Sadhana besides the terrible heat of summer. She told them that I should be sent back and my parents decided to send me to my grandparents. Pujalal-bhai took me to Surat and left me with my grandparents. My mother came after some years to Surat. It seems I had come to Pondicherry twice or thrice but I was not allowed to enter the building as I was still very young, but I did see the Mother passing by.

When I began going to school my mother asked me if I wanted to visit my father and see Babuji (Sri Aurobindo). I jumped at the idea at once. When I came I could recognise my father as I had already seen his photograph.

After some time the Mother made me an Ashramite, when I was about twelve years old. I was quite a restless child. Once my father sent me to Madras with Udar. There I saw a dance performance by Uday Shankar’s troupe. It is only then I came to know about this activity known as dance. I came back and told my father that I wanted to learn dancing. Can you imagine his reaction? He flatly refused to send me for dance lessons. Finally the Mother had to step in. She told my father, “Purani, let her go.” So off I went. After two years of training in Kalakshetra with Uday Shankar I came back and then the Mother gave me some work.

I was told to work with Mona for Golconde, which was then almost ready. We were taught to embroider on bedspreads to be used later in Golconde. I worked for about two years with Mona in Golconde. She had asked me to keep Kusum as my helper in my work.

During that period, Dortoir was supervised by two elderly ladies, Gul-ben and Shirin-ben. Once the Mother told me to go to Dortoir and iron the clothes of the children there. I became very friendly with them. Sometimes the Mother would ask me about the Dortoir children and I would report to her my observations. This work I did perhaps for two years. One day, Amrita-da came and told Kusum and me that the Mother had called us at 4.15 p.m. We were excited and surprised at this rare opportunity. When we met her and she told us that we were to work in Dortoir and look after the children there, our happiness knew no bounds. Perhaps the next day itself I told Kusum, “We should treat the children with such care that they should not miss their mother.”

The Mother gave us a bell and said that the bell should be rung at 5.30 a.m. to wake the children. The Mother had told us that we should not touch the children while trying to wake them up. She had said that they are often in some other plane and it disturbs them if they are abruptly awakened by loud sound or by someone touching them. It was necessary to supervise their brushing of teeth and bathing. Breakfast time was at 7.30 a.m. Ravindra-ji came regularly at that time and checked that the children ate well. Sometimes he would tell them stories while they had their breakfast.

At about 9.00 a.m. I would go to the Mother and she would enquire if I had slept well, eaten well and if everything went well in the Dortoir. One day, as I was going up the stairs to meet the Mother I thought, “How lucky I am! Mother has given me so many children!” When I stood in front of the Mother she smiled and said, “How lucky to have so many children!” I stood stunned. I was convinced that she knows everything we think and do.

The children’s clothes were collected by some washermen and washed by them. Sometimes they did not wash them properly. So, I would myself sit down and wash the clothes with them. In the evening Kusum and I took turns ironing the clothes.

When the children came back from the Playground, we saw to it that they took their bath properly. After dinner we would sit with the children to get their homework done. About an hour after that Ravindra-ji would come and talk with them, tell them stories. At 9.00 p.m. we rang the bell and the lights were put out.

One day the Mother said that she had heard a complaint against me. I was truly shocked. Then she smiled and said “Tara says you are not telling them stories.” You cannot imagine my relief and joy. So a story session started. It proved to be very popular. At times both the children and I forgot our time limit.

One day, the children said they wanted some special food. In short, they wanted us to cook for them. I was a greenhorn as far as cooking was concerned but Kusum had some experience in it! We got hold of a book on cooking and we had a lot of fun. I would mix masala in a vegetable and taste it. The only thing I understood was that it was not the right taste. Then Kusum would try and taste it. Both of us continued this way till it turned out well. One day we had many tomatoes. So I thought to make juice of these and boil it. I told the Mother about it and she said, “Never boil juice. It is best as it is.” Sometimes when bread slices were not used for many days and they became dry, I asked the Mother what should I do with these. She told me to put the slices in a frying pan and to pour milk on it and just turn the slices twice over. This became a special treat.

Once, when I was ironing the clothes someone called me and I went down without putting the iron up. When I came back up Lata’s dress was burning. I informed the Mother about it. “What would you like to do?” she asked. I said, “I have a new saree. Shall I make a dress for Lata from my saree? It is new and I have not used it.” It was a pleasure to see her magnificent smile.

The Mother visited the Dortoir one day. She found it clean but the toilets were not clean enough. She said we should use phenyl in the toilets.

The Mother gave us a prayer to repeat every morning before going down for breakfast.

Those were wonderful days. It was a wonderful experience and I can never forget it. She taught us so many things! The best experience she gave us was the capacity to love children.

IV — Recollections of Kusum Nagda

My Early Life in the Ashram

MY first visit to the Ashram, and therefore my first darshan of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, was in 1935. I was then seven. Having met THEM, my future was fixed.

A date is fixed in the calendar of the Unknown.

For this fixed future to become ‘present’, I had to wait seven more years. But the day did dawn when Mother said, “Now you are mine, and all you need you will have from me.” In between, I had the good fortune of many darshans — short visits when the contact with the Mother grew closer and closer.

As I was already here when the School started in 1943, I also joined it. All we beginners stood in a row between Bula-da’s and Pujalal-ji’s room, waiting for the Mother to come onto the terrace of Dyuman-bhai’s room to see us and bless us. She came, all glorious for this grand beginning. She showered on us Her grace and love, and dropped a bouquet of flowers into the hands of one of us. Someone lifted the child up to receive it. It was an experience!

I loved the school — the study, the teachers and all; but for me it did not last long. Soon, Mother put me somewhere else. In those days much importance was given to work, and She made us grow in inner and outer perfection simultaneously through work. Her presence was very much felt.

I remember that while I was yet a student we had to write essays on what we had read in the literature classes. I would take hours over it, unable to get into it; and during all that period I was feeling far away from the Mother, and that was painful. In this regard, one day I approached the Mother, expressing my condition. She said, “It is not important. We study only to develop the mind, the rest follows.”

So I had full studies for a year and a half at most, and I did part-time work in Golconde. Anu-ben also worked in Golconde, full-time. One day, Amrita-da came there as a messenger from the Mother. He said that Mother would like to see both of us (Anu and Kusum) together that evening.

What could that be? A feeling of mingled joy and wonder! We returned to our work awaiting this happy unknown moment.

The evening came. We met Her on the staircase. It seemed as if She too was eagerly awaiting us. Somewhere there was lurking an excitement, an anticipation of something beautiful and promising that She willed to create.

She was entrusting us with a new assignment: She had created Her first Dortoir in the Ashram, and we were to look after the children. As she instructed and encouraged us, She poured Her infinite love and enthusiasm on us. The instructions were many, and seemed not easy to fulfil, but so intense was Her enthusiasm that some of it could not but filter into me too.

However, I could not meet it with excitement. There were palpitations: though not panicky or painful because She was there, yet thoughtful indeed. I was then 17 and not an extrovert, timid by nature, a lover of solitude who hardly ever spoke and whose feelings would not easily find expression. All this was tickling inside, when the Mother came out with, “This is the right age for this work.” Then again another instruction, a very touching one: “Now you will work like two bodies with one soul.” Then again, “With children you should be like children, play with them.” My nature-erected wall, that upon which I had been leaning so long, must crumble down it seemed — I must assume another nature!

There was yet another instruction which was to play a big part in our new life and work. This was: “Now nothing counts for you but the children.” We tried to fulfil this to our utmost possible; and in trying to comply with it, gradually one by one I had to drop the classes. My school career soon ended.

Our new task was not easy. It was a very very difficult one – especially if we were to follow all that She wanted.

She had said that one should not touch or shake a child to wake him up, but just call him by name, and keep on calling until he awoke. Sometimes this would take as much as half an hour. Then, in a similar way, with all tenderness, we had to see to brushing, bathing, breakfast, etc. It was not at all simple, because often the children were not willing; a lot of cajoling was necessary.

What a lesson in love and patience every day! This was the first lesson for the beginning in the ART OF LIVING!

Anger was not allowed: “Never lift your hand, my child,” were Her words, engraved in the heart.

If this was the manner of work to be followed, how could 8 hours a day be sufficient? I worked almost 18 hours, never knowing what fatigue was. Where did the energy come from? From Her smile.

Her kindly care was a sweet temperate sun.

We went to Her every morning. Every morning the greeting began with, “Bonjour, mon enfant” or “Mon cher enfant”, followed by “Ça va bien? Bien mangé, bien dormi?” — Is everything all right? Have you eaten well, slept well? If sometimes in our answer, “Yes, Sweet Mother,” She sensed some hesitation, with a few words, a caress, and Her ineffable smile, that hesitation was shaken away and the heart would burst open and feel that:

In a haven of safety and splendid soft repose
One could drink life back in streams of honey-fire,
Recover the lost habit of happiness,
Feel her bright nature’s glorious ambience,
And preen joy in her warmth and colour’s rule.

When we came away from Her, I felt uplifted, as if I could do anything She wanted, undaunted. So I worked for 18 hours untiringly, joy springing up from within.

It is also true that when She assigns some task, easy or difficult, in equal measure She gives Her help, in Her own way; and in fact that is what made anything and everything possible.

Harmony, beauty, perfection inner and outer in all we do — that was the ideal She set before us. We strove towards it. It is easier to reach when we have love for our work, and for the people around us too. Then we nourish a will to do the best, to give the best possible.

Thus when the children were asleep, or while Anu-ben was busy cajoling some child to wake up, (she certainly was better at it than I), I went down to see the maids washing clothes. They came early — by 5.30 or 6 a.m. Each washed cloth had to be lifted up and examined minutely, inside the collar, around the cuffs, to be sure that no stain was left. There were no washing machines then.

The food came from the Ashram Dining Room, but we all ate in the dining room of the Dortoir. It had the same set-up as our Dining Room: the small individual tables were set out and put away daily.

We loved the children, and wanted to make some extra dishes for them too; but we did not have much knowledge of cooking, nor the ingredients. What we had was love, and love of service. I have observed that these can serve as very good intuitive prompters to guide you in obtaining, inventing, creating something beautiful out of what is available.

This helped us to manage something out of Dining Room rice: rice altered into another kind of rice. The children cherished it and jokingly called it ‘bhat ka chaval’, meaning ‘rice of rice’.

Guided by the Mother, we made some sweet dishes out of bread too. One day I made some bhajis out of rice and sent them to the Mother — whatever we made was sent to the Mother, and She returned it in the evening as prasad. When She returned this plate to me in the evening, as She was giving blessings standing on the staircase, She put a couple of them in Her mouth and praised them. You can well imagine how I felt! I never saw Her doing this before. The good intention and sincere aspiration behind the work, even though it lacked absolute perfection, always met with Her deep appreciation and encouragement to do better and better.

Servants were there for the rough work, but all the finer details had to be attended to by us. Until the children went to school, we were with them; then there was all the household work, the careful dusting of the furniture, and many other tasks; then the food, and preparing the dining room with the tables set out ready so that when the children came in hungry they did not have to wait.

After that was the time for some homework, studies, or rest — whatever the children needed to attend to and make ready for the next session of the school. When they left, I ironed the clothes. This took two to three hours. At 4 p.m. the children would return for tiffin: bread with a bit of butter, some cut tomato and cucumber, milk, or lemon juice with lethene. Lethene was very popular then, loved by the children more for its effervescence than its taste.

When the Mother received from France some chocolate, tinned olives, or cookies She would send them for the children’s tiffin.

Then we had to prepare the children for the Playground. While they played, we prepared the dinner; and when they returned there was again bathing, dressing for the night, and eating.

Some time was spent with them for their homework; if there was enough time to spare, some amusement for them with Anu-ben’s dancing. She was a very good dancer, a pupil of Uday Shankar, the only one then in the Ashram. She was now Rama, now Ravana, now Sita, now the deer — oh! it was thrilling. Anu-ben was excellent at narrating stories, and the children listened simply spellbound.

Then a lovely-sounding gong tolled. The Mother had instructed us how to strike it. There was one way for waking up, and another for bed-time. This was the bed-time gong — it was 9 p.m. All rushed to their beds. We went round to spend some moments with each of them with a story, a song, a prayer or recitation, as befitting. Soon their eyes started closing and with a soft caress we left them to enter the dream-world.

Then came a quiet moment free of interruptions. This was when we started looking into the cupboards, sorting out the clothes they would wear the next day, wrapping each set in their individual towels so each child could recognise his own and pick it up as he made his way to the bathroom in the early morning. Once this was over, we mended what needed mending, or took up some embroidery so that there would be surprises ready for approaching birthdays.

All through the day the consecration was felt. The energy, skill, inspiration, came through little communications with the Mother and Her love, and on our part, an utter willingness to serve. Her prayer had taken deep root in the being:

Le corps est Ton instrument
Cette Volonté Ta servante
Cette intelligence est Ton outil
Et le tout n’est que Toi-même

And then who works? Not we — and so

All grows beautiful because Thou art.

I learned everything through work and life, and found there the best book and a real guide for how to live. Of course the guide was the Mother – she had to do a lot of shaping and chiselling. Bearing in mind that

All can be done if the god-touch is there

it was easy to throw oneself headlong to where

She wrestles with danger and discovery
In the unexplored expanses of the soul.

As long as it was the Dortoir, where I worked for 7 years, and then Golconde for 8 years, not having gone up to Knowledge for studies and having little education did not bring in any complexes because what these two demanded could be answered to by my knowings; but then came Senteurs: from where to where!

Perfume-making involved measuring ccs., mls., litres, chemistry, costing, selling, discounts, correspondence, packing, phones! To start with, I did not even know how to pick up the phone. The Ashram in those days was very different from the present one. I knew nothing, nothing at all of all this, I had never learnt any of all this. I think that in those days, with the fond love of the Mother, and with Her children’s zeal in serving Her, one did not doubt very much the fulfilment of the task set. She gives the work, one accepts it, and as if understood, it all gets done.

The news that I was to take charge of Senteurs was delivered to me by Udar Pinto. He had taken a list of names to the Mother, mine amongst them, and it was to this name that She pointed. I was still working in Golconde, so I would have to take care of two departments. I sensed the difficulty and wrote to Her, “Mother, I accept with joy, and at the same time I offer it to You to take the charge. With You I can do all, but without You, I can do nothing. Your help will be extremely necessary to be able to accomplish these two tasks.”

She wrote back, “Je suis toujours avec toi dans ton travail et tu peux toujours compter sur mon aide qui ne te manquera jamais”.

Innumerable instances, day to day, hour to hour, year to year, all throughout my life, bear testimony to this: “compter sur mon aide qui ne te manquera jamais” — and in all walks of life, under crushing circumstances, it has been tangible and made the walk a sunlit path even when it meandered through darkest dark.

However difficult or easy, I walk the path and enjoy it. Where and when I arrive is Their concern. To fulfil Their will is my aim. Sri Aurobindo wrote in a sonnet

I do thy works and pass

Remembering this, I march on . . .

V — Recollections of Parul Chakraborty

Dortoir

“Let us work as we pray, for indeed work is the body’s best prayer to the Divine.”
THE MOTHER

“There must be order and harmony in work. Even what is apparently the most insignificant thing must be done with perfect perfection, with a sense of cleanliness, beauty, harmony and order.”
THE MOTHER

Dortoir, a haven created by the Mother for Her children, started on 15th January 1945 . . . My brother Badal and I found our way to Dortoir on 26th August 1949. We were immediately accepted into the loving and caring family. I was then 11 years of age.

When one lives in a collectivity, discipline, collaboration and obedience are qualities that help one to grow in a healthy and progressive manner.

Every morning a bell would ring at 5.30 to wake us up. In Dortoir the girls occupied the first floor while the boys lived on the ground floor. Our day started with the Mother’s Darshan — the Balcony Darshan, around 6.15 a.m. If one of us missed it, Mother would notice the absence and later enquire the reason for it.

During these early morning Darshans, She gave attention and help to every individual present there for his inner growth and development.

Mother always encouraged us to be self dependent regarding our personal work like making one’s own bed tidily before going to sleep and after waking up, and placing the mosquito net properly. Each of our belongings had to be kept in its respective place — the shoes on the shoe rack, clothes, cleaned and arranged neatly on the shelves. As we were students a cupboard for books was given to each of us which we had to keep in an orderly manner.

Mother visited Dortoir from time to time during the Playground hours and by casting just a glance at our shelves, cupboards and almirahs She knew how each one of us was progressing. She could judge a person’s nature and habits instantly by seeing the way he kept his things. On one of these visits She complimented me after She saw my cupboard saying that I was well organised, well disciplined, and that I had clean habits.

Not to take care of material things which one uses is a sign of inconscience and ignorance.
You have no right to use any material object whatsoever if you do not take care of it.
You must take care of it not because you are attached to it, but because it manifests something of the Divine Consciousness.
THE MOTHER

As we grew up we developed a sense of awareness and responsibility regarding our work, our material possessions and other things. We were taught to be grateful for everything, and to be respectful towards all.

Our Playground and School were in the same place in 1949. Sisir-da was our headmaster. At 8 a.m. the school bell would ring and we would line up. Then Sisir-da would call out a student who had to face us all and recite the morning prayer and the rest of us had to repeat it after him.

Here is the French version of that prayer:

Douce Mère,
Permets que nous soyons dès maintenant et pour toujours, simplement Tes petits enfants.

Sweet Mother,
Grant that we may be, even from now and forever, simply Thy little children.

On 6th January 1952 our old school shifted to its present building.

One of my teachers to whom I will always remain deeply grateful is Pavita, a teacher during my childhood years in school. She not only inculcated in us the values and virtues of life, she herself was an example to us. She appreciated simplicity and straightforwardness, which she tried to bring out from within us.

At school in the morning she expected us to be in our classroom before the school bell rang. She laid stress on our personal cleanliness. She would check our nails, our teeth, our clothes and each of us had to have a handkerchief. She insisted that we develop correct posture, that we hold our pencils properly and practise good handwriting.

To us she was like a mother, a nurse, a friend and always a well-wisher. When any of us felt unwell she would make us lie down and rest. If any of us became sick and vomited on the floor she cleaned up the whole mess herself.

It was from her that I learnt flower arrangement. She taught us how to clean flower vases carefully and arrange fresh flowers in them attractively. We learnt to dust and sweep our classroom regularly and keep it clean.

She would always encourage us to learn, to do our work properly, and progress. She taught us to read well, to write well, to sketch, to draw and so many things that helped us to go forward in life with confidence and with the right attitude towards our aim and goal.

Our morning classes began at 8 a.m. After our 2nd period, that is around 9.30 a.m. we used to go to the Ashram for Mother’s blessings.

Lunch break was from 11.45 to 12.30. Most of us didn’t have the habit of having an afternoon nap. We would rest for a while and then begin our homework or read books. Afternoon classes were held from 2.15 to 4 p.m. Each one of us had a specific duty to do between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. The older girls — Lata Jauhar, Urmila R., Paru, Usha R., Aruna Pandya, and others used to go to the Ashram to help Ravindra-ji to prepare fruit juice or to cut fruits into small pieces to be served to the Mother and Sri Aurobindo. Then Lata would go to Harpagon to put plastic covers on books, while Aruna and Usha would proceed for work to “Prosperity”. Tara worked in P.E.D.

Others like Sumedha, Arunkant, Usha had to fill small cloth bags with groundnuts which the Mother distributed later on to everybody in the Playground after our group activities.

The boys too had different duties to perform. Arun Pandya used to go to Vishwanath-da to help him with radio repairing work. Narendra looked after the Playground equipment and watered the ground in the afternoons.

Chitra and I were given the task of making various sizes of envelopes out of paper that could not be used for any other purpose — waste paper. We got a lot of encouragement and appreciation for this work. These envelopes were used by the Mother and by some departments of the Ashram.

The Mother has said, “To do the work that one does with all sincerity, as perfectly as one can, is certainly one of the best ways to serve the Divine.”

From the early 50’s I began to work with Udar-da in Harpagon, — typing letters and filing them. I have always loved physical work, so I also took up the job of writing down the results on the notice board during the seasons of “group competition” organised by Udar-da.

Tara, Usha R., Aruna and I became captains at a very early age. We would lead our teams in various activities during group time at the Playground in the evenings.

Whether we were studying, working or playing or whatever, we were always enveloped in a beautiful atmosphere which inspired us to become better and better in everything we did. We were conscious of the fact that we had to become good instruments to serve the Mother.

We were encouraged to utilise our free time usefully. Whenever we had time on our hands we would either read or draw and paint, do some needlework, or dust and rearrange our bookshelves and cupboards. We had no time to sit and gossip. Mother told us, “Talk as little as possible, work as much as you can . . . the most important thing is to avoid useless talking. It is not work but useless talk which takes us away from the Divine.”

In Dortoir there was a sick room. Whoever fell ill was put in that room. Mother was always informed about it, and according to Her advice Nripen-da would attend to us and help us to get well. Once I was very ill. I had urticaria. My face and my limbs had swollen up to such an extent that I could hardly be recognised. I was put in quarantine. Owing to my unpleasant appearance I refused to meet the Mother. After six days of the attack Tara came and took me to the Playground to see the Mother in Her room. For a second, Mother could not recognise me. But at the very next moment I had a concrete feeling of certainty that Her glance upon me would work like a miracle.

And it did!

Within two days all the swelling subsided. The old skin got replaced by a new skin. I recovered completely and resumed my normal activities. It was all due to Her Divine Grace. Regarding an illness the Mother once said — “The illness has come like a test and gone like a purification carrying away all that was standing in the way of joy of an integral consecration.”

We only need to have faith, and offer ourselves entirely to Her. Whenever we think of Her or call Her we find that She is always beside us, helping us all in our endeavour to progress.

VI — Concluding Words

Here are the names of some of the children who joined the Dortoir in the early years. The names are more or less in the sequence of their arrival.

Lata, Tara, Chitra on the first floor. Narendra, Jitendra, Biju Agrawal on the ground floor.

Later the following children joined: Urmila, Usha, Paru Patil, Arun Kumar, Aruna, Krishna Kumar, Nirakar, Arvind Prasad, Prabhucharan, Arunkant, Arvindbabu, Brajkishore, Urmila Pandya, Kokila, Parul, Badal, Asha and Sudha Umachigi, Tulsa, Mina, Vasudev, Savitri U., Ravibala, Madhusudan, Anjana, Ashok, Kaké, Victor (Chhoté), Hema, Prema, Kavita and others.

At that time the way of life in the Ashram was very simple. Compared to the present day it may even be termed spartan. These little kids away from their parents were left in the Mother’s care. She bestowed on them Her Grace and Love and guidance.

It is interesting to observe that these children were not only taken care of in their study, play, food and sleep, but each child was also given some work to do. Work fitted spontaneously into the child’s everyday routine. Thus there was love in abundance and there was also a discipline to be followed. They would often receive special gifts and food items from the Mother. She personally came to their Boarding on their annual day, 15th January, every year. This was no ordinary hostel. This was the Mother’s Dortoir.

As these children grew up, some of them shifted from the Dortoir to their parents when they settled in Pondicherry. Some others were given separate rooms by the Mother to stay in. Most of these stayed in the “Guest House”. The Guest House now became an extension of the Dortoir and was known as Dortoir Annexe. These children stayed in the Guest House but had their meals in the Dortoir. By this time some older ones felt that they were competent enough to look after the younger members of the Dortoir and they did not need any caretaker for them. Thus, in 1952, when Anu-ben and Kusum-ben left the Dortoir work, the Mother gave the charge of running the Dortoir to Tara Jauhar and Aruna Pandya, both eighteen years old then. Tara had her room in the Guest House but the Mother had asked Aruna to stay back in the Dortoir and look after the very young ones. After December 1964, a new batch of children came to stay in Dortoir and Parul and Kokila were now given the charge of running the place.

In 1976 the children of this Dortoir were shifted to different buildings and the building was demolished for the construction of a new structure for Physical Education purposes. The new house where the girls were shifted is now known as the Dortoir.

Presently the students are accommodated in different houses. They are divided according to their age. A few students stay in each house with one or two caretakers looking after their needs. All of them go to the “Corner House” — a special kitchen-cum-dining arrangement for students and teachers.

The photo above was taken sometime in 1947 with the early boarders of Dortoir. Standing Row: Lata jauhar, Anu Ben Purani (warden) Kusumben Nagda (warden), Paru Patil, Urmila R Patel. Middle Row: Aruna Pandya, Tara Jauhar, Usha R Patel. Sitting Row: Kokila Pandya, Chitra Jauhar, Sumedha, Purnima Jauhar.

Group photograph taken on the occasion of Dortoir’s Fiftieth Anniversary on 15 January 1995 with the early boarders of Dortoir seated and standing in the same position as in the photograph taken in 1947.