Parichand

Parichand Kothari was born on 30 October 1904 in Azimganj, Murshidabad, Bengal in a family observing strict Jain traditions which never really appealed to him. As a young boy, he loved to meditate in solitary places, but instinctively avoided the sadhus who camped on the banks of the Ganges, and weaned away boys to the path of renunciation. He enjoyed life, his studies, his family and "there was never any sense of frustration". Inspired by Rishabhchand, his relative and mentor, he joined the non-cooperation movement in 1920 but went back to college after the movement fizzled out in six months. In January 1924, he received a nineteen page long letter from Rishabhchand who was recuperating in Shillong after a severe illness. The latter had been profoundly influenced by Sri Aurobindo and his letter expressed the new turn in his life. Parichand, deeply impressed by the letter, took an appointment with Rishabhchand as soon as the latter returned to Calcutta. He later recalled:

"I remember that day I crossed the Howrah bridge (he [Rishabhchand] was in Howrah and I was in Calcutta) to go to him. I spent my whole day there. I took food with him and he told me many things which I do not remember, because it was all new thinking for me. After spending about 7 to 8 hours, when I was about to return to Calcutta, he gave me The Yoga and its Objects [by Sri Aurobindo]. He said 'Take this' and I came away with it. My family members were all sleeping. I was awake and full of something new which I couldn't understand. I shut the door and read the whole book in two hours. It opened another chapter in my life."

Ironically, the enlightenment came nine days after he had been married. Had he received the book nine days earlier, Parichand said, he would never have got married. His interest in spiritual literature grew and soon he found his college textbooks dull and distasteful. He managed to secure good marks in B.A., but simply could not proceed further with his M.A. At this point, invited by Rishabhchand whose association he cherished, he joined the latter \s cloth business in Calcutta. Rishabhchand, who was in a similar state of spiritual incubation, had started The Indian Silk House in 1926. Several people connected with the shop eventually settled in the Ashram: Anilkumar, the painter; Rishabhchand. the writer; Umirchand of the Building Service; Parichand, the gardener and Raghunandan, of the Ashram Press. Parichand spent the next nine years serving his family and preparing himself inwardly to settle in the Ashram. When he came to the Ashram on 18 November 1934, he had made up his mind and knew he would not return. Sri Aurobindo and the Mother admitted him in the Ashram after a brief period of probation. His wife and one of his daughters came to Pondicherry to plead their case, but he remained unmoved, for a new phase of life had begun. His family — he had two daughters and a son — was soon taken care of by his relatives and the wherewithal arranged for their maintenance.

In the Ashram, Parichand was at first given gate duty and the work of cataloguing books in the Ashram Library under Premananda. He also took a few English classes for younger sadhaks such as Nagin Doshi and Deviprasad. His gardening career began with watering a few pots kept in the Cycle House under the charge of Benjamin. When Manubhai left the Ashram in 1938. Purushottam took over from him the charge of the garden in the Ashram main building and Parichand became his assistant. After Purushottam left in 1939, Parichand seems to have taken over the supervision himself. There were other gardens and gardeners in the Ashram because of which a centralised "Garden Service" was formed by the Mother around 1938. Parichand was its office-bearer and had to face the typical problems of maintaining harmony and co-ordination until the committee was dissolved. Meanwhile, as the gardening work increased, he devoted his full time to it and left all other work

Rassendren's garden, came under his charge after the passing away of Atal Chaudhury, another old timer who had settled in the Ashram in 1928. Every other day, Parichand, dressed in sparkling white dhoti and kurta, royally cycled 5 km through the narrow backlanes of Colas Nagar to take a shortcut to the two gardens in Uppalam. Those were the days when there were few motorcycles and cars in the Ashram. Later, he had assistants with vehicular conveniences and even a small Mitsubishi tiller.

Parichand's gardening career lasted a pretty long time — fifty years — from 1938 to 1988. The work was surprisingly mundane for those who expect the Mother to have taught occult action on plants to the sadhaks. His garden reports are full of Mother's practical and down to earth instructions such as not to over-manure or over-water plants, or to keep them in sun or shade, according to the species to which they belonged. The information came from Mother's own experience in France or from magazines on gardening. Seeds were regularly procured from outside Pondicherry with wonderful results. It was plain, solid and successful gardening which earned a lot of admiration for the Ashram. The deeper element of sadhana was a supporting matrix with the stress on the never-ending work of transformation with the help of the Mother's force. The most occult of all Yogas along with the most physical aspect of material life. In both the fields, he grew flowers out of the mud.