The Three Sisters

It is difficult to speak about the people around you whom you meet and speak to them nearly everyday, yet we know very little of them.

Priti-di, Tapati-di and Arati-di if I may take the liberty to say, that they have always treated me as a younger sister. I visited and still visit them once in a while and yet there has always been an affectionate bond between us especially with Priti-di and Arati-di.

Priti-di was one of the Astha Sakhis of The Mother. The Mother’s grace and protection must have enveloped every moment of her life. Being one of the astha sakhis of The Mother indicates that she took very special interest in Priti-di and the other seven. She, I believe arrived in Pondicherry after her graduation and stayed back for good. She was young and alone. From the very beginning she lived in Nanteuil House and spent all her life there.

As we all know there are two halls in Nanteuil which have two table tennis tables. The Mother used to play Table Tennis with the young boys and girls (once while talking Maya-di said that they used to play with The Mother and now and then fight amongst themselves in front of The Mother). On the western side of the Table Tennis Halls there are three rooms, in one of them lived Priti-di. While playing whenever The Mother needed some help like rearranging Her dress before or after the play, The Mother would call for Priti-di for help, enter into Priti-di’s room and with her help She got the thing done.

Priti-di was very motherly. She taught French in our school and in her class if a girl student came with a button hanging or hair not properly tied, she would ask the student to come to her side and make her aware that in The Mother’s school one is not to come untidy. (a button should be stitched back when the thread gives away or the hair should be matted or clipped properly so that one is not disturbed while studying.) She hardly ever had a harsh word for her students, even the most lazy and undisciplined went to her class and at the end of the year came out quite changed; maybe it was due to her persuasive method.

She taught French in our school and certainly was one of the best. Though she never taught Bengali, her mother tongue, her knowledge of the language was profound. Once she had asked me to write down the recipe of a certain sweet, I naturally wrote in Bengali, after reading she pointed out to me “Look, we don’t say this the way you have written, you should have written well, you should have used these words.”

Once she narrated how she joined The Mother’s class in the Ashram. This is her version: She and Chitra-di used to sit in the Meditation Hall and read The Mother’s “Prieres et Meditations”. On one of Tapati-di’s birthdays when Tapati-di went on the first floor of the Ashram building for The Mother’s blessings, The Mother after pranam told Tapati-di to get in and wait. (As far as I recollect in that period one could go to The Mother quite a few times for pranams. It began early in the morning, then if there was blessings downstairs otherwise and went up to the first floor; then in the playground and again at night after She returned from the playground. These pranams stopped after she discontinued to go the playground. Then we went to Her in the afternoon in Her salon. Lastly after she stopped coming down to the first floor we had to write to Her praying for permission to go to Her and do pranam. After Tapati-di, Priti-di went for Pranam, likewise she asked Priti-di also to go in and wait for The Mother; That was Her order. While narrating this Priti-di in her inimitable way said, “I was so scared! Without any sign of anger or disapproval She just asked me to go in. I went trembling inside; what wrong have I committed!”

Thus the three ladies joined The Mother’s class. The Mother read “Priers et Meditations”, Pranab-da sat in front and behind him sat these three ladies.

I believe, it will not be out of place I also note down here what Violette-ji had to say about her joining this particular class. (Violette-ji or Bhabhi-ji as she was called by many in the Ashram was Aster Patel’s mother and Sumedha’s aunt (mami)).

According to Violette-ji The Mother began Her class with Pranab-da; then came Tapati-di, Priti-di and Chitra-di. This particular class The Mother conducted on the first floor of The Ashram main building. One morning as Violette-ji went to The Mother to offer her pranam The Mother asked her whether she would like to join The Mother’s class? Violette-ji was overwhelmed, she replied that it will be a great privilege. Hearing which The Mother asked her to come at a certain hour in the morning for the class. According to Violette-ji later The Mother asked Mme. Subrata, Bilkees and Vasudha-ben to join the others.

(There is an Entretiens of the year 1929; that too is a collection of Her talks to some sadhaks of that era. It is also mentioned as a class, and I believe Kanai-da, Rishabchand-da and others attended that class.)

As I had already mentioned earlier Ashramites were not encouraged to go out and eat in restaurants. Thus the young men who were friendly with Mona-da and lived alone once in a while were invited by Priti-di to dinner; naturally it was always a feast to cherish.

“I always pray to the Lord that partition may be no more and especially of Bengal.” How many times she has repeated this to me and always concluded saying “you too pray for it. It must go, it has to go.”

The unshakable faith in the words of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo of one sadhika can be a great source of inner strength for someone who is also the wayfarer of the same path.

Tapati-di was one of the sprinters of the white group. Paru-di was the other one. In the fifties of the last century whoever was a member of the groups of Physical Education participated in sports and games. Leaving green group members to have their own groupings, all the rest were grouped according to their capacity. As I mentioned earlier I had run 100 mtrs. with Nolini-da. Regarding sprints in white groups Tapati-di and Paru-di were best. The day they had their 100 mtrs. sprint, there was a lot of excitement, those who were present in that early era of sports still remember Tapati-di and Paru-di with the others in white shorts, sleeveless white banian and kitty cap standing at the starting point for Pranab-da to give the signal. And we could hear from all corners of the gallery some encouraging Paru-di and some Tapati-di. One never knew who would come first.

Tapati-di worked in the Ashram Press, I believe from the very inception of the department. And she has worked there all her life. She was considered the fastest typist of the Ashram, she was entrusted with the typing of the manuscript in most of the foreign languages. In order to be as perfect as possible in her work she learnt French, German and Italian. For the sadhaks of the earlier period of the Ashram all their work was an offering to The Mother, and the offering had to be as perfect as one’s capacity.

Tapati-di was someone who hardly missed her work in the Press. Even when she became unwell, a fever for instance, and if she had some very important papers to type, she wouldn’t listen to Priti-di or Arati-di, she would reach the Press on time, and complete the work. Work, that is, The Mother’s work was the priority of her life.
In the evening at about 8 pm she went to the Ashram and sat with Lata Jauhar near Bula-da’s room. It continued for years but in the course of time Lata had to change the timing but Tapati-di continued her schedule. For the last few years of her life she sat on a stool near the room from where they distribute incense sticks for the Samadhi. I too had the habit of going to the Ashram at that hour and we sat side by side; she meditating and I just sitting and bathing myself in the tranquility and peace of the Ashram atmosphere.

As she was aware of Priti-di’s affection for the younger girls of the Ashram including self; after Priti-di’s demise Tapati-di took her sister’s place at least in my case.

Nata-da our Italian professor called her “Seciattolo” squirrel; which was certainly an apt name for Tapati-di. She was as active as a squirrel.

Tapati-di lived a life of a sadhika and till the last day of her life she was one. Even when she suffered excruciating pain due to illness she bore it with fortitude.

The youngest of the three sisters is Arati-di, the chief administrator of our school. She has been working in the school library and helping Sisir-da from the very beginning. Leaving aside her teaching schedule which in earlier days were 3 to 4 periods a day, she was made in-charge of the school library. Though slowly she had others to help her, her work and responsibility didn’t diminish; they increased with the years.

The heavy work that she has to face comes at the end of the academic session (31 October). The students in our institution are supplied not only with the text books but also with stationary. At the end of the session the books are back in the school library. These are then counted, covered anew, those that are torn repaired and kept ready for the new session which begins on 16th December. She has also to see that enough notebooks are there at the beginning of the year. She prefers to have everything ready in advance.

This itself is a heavy task for a month and a half, but there is also the annual check up of the books in the school library. There are how many? Thousand! No, a few thousand books arranged under a library card system. They are all brought out checked with respective card, cleaned and put back in their respective place. She has a very old register of 7 / 8 hundred pages, in which she has written down the names of all the text books with the number of copies. They also are counted and put down in the register; and this is no mean work.

Before the session begins those books which are to be issued are noted down in well categorised sheets according to section and standard and then are arranged to be distributed. These issued sheets are again separated and kept in different folders for the future references and issuing of more books as and when need arises.

She tries to be in the know-how of all that happens in the school. Any accident to a student or a teacher, any illness – she makes a point to be updated regarding the condition of the individual.

With all these responsibilities she also arranges to prepare blessing packets on weekly basis.

And then she has been a captain of women’s group for decades, she has remained so because the younger captains want it to be thus so that they can always get her for advice and suggestion whenever needed.

With me her relation has been, as I have already mentioned of younger sister and an elder one. These three sisters had affection for the younger girls of their generation, and I feel fortunate that I too have  had a share in it.