Sanjiban's Correspondence with The Mother

March 1933

Mother,

I have joined the work of book-binding. At night and in the morning I have tried to make some envelopes and I am offering them at Thy Feet. I also thought of offering a writing pad.

The envelopes are very pretty. A few more envelopes would be more useful than a writing pad.

March 1933

14 April 1933

O Mother,

Shall I try to copy human figures? If it is not yet time to do so, I shall wait for the proper time to come.

You can begin to study the human figure, but that from nature, not from books. Ask people to give you half an hour sitting and make pencil sketches.

14 April 1933

16 April 1933

O Mother,

I am sending three drawings. My attempts at life sketches have been unsuccessful. The first one is rather hopeless, but even in the second the real appearance of the person has not come out.

The attempts are not so bad for a beginning. You must persevere.

How to take measurements at the time of making these sketches? Can I know from Thee how to make such sketches?

I cannot very well explain these things by writing. I must show you. So I shall see you for that purpose next Friday, the 21st, at 11 A.M.

16 April 1933

28 April 1933

O my Mother,

I am sending a drawing in coloured pencil. It is quite unsuccessful. As the colours are waxen and as I am not accustomed to drawing with colours, I find it difficult to put shadings. The colours do not mix with one another.

It is not expected that they should mix — the technique is to apply the colours by dots or short lines very close to one another but not to mix them; it gives a much more living effect than the mixing and expresses well the play of colours and of light.

(To show the technique, the Mother made several quick colour sketches.)

You can make in that way all possible shades.

28 April 1933

3 May 1933

O my Sweet Mother,

I am sending a drawing to Thy Feet. I have tried to draw it like that book cover, but I am not successful in this attempt. I don’t know how I can make it better.

I find it good enough. You might try now on a sheet big enough to cover a book. You can make the same kind of decoration with greens, blues, reds. It is better not to mix many different colours for one sheet. The play of colours must be done by using several shades of the same colour; several greens or several blues, etc.

3 May 1933

19 May 1933

O my Sweet Mother,

I am sending a sketch of a human face. I thought of making a sketch of the front view of X, but when I began it I found that it did not resemble him. I am always afraid of these front views. Before I begin to sketch, many disappointing ideas arise, such as, it won’t come out successful, it won’t resemble a human figure, etc.; these ideas come to my mind and I get nervous.

Of course it does not resemble X but as a drawing it is not bad.

You must be prepared to be unsuccessful many many times before you can truly learn. It is with the effort of many failures that you prepare a progress leading towards success.

19 May 1933

23 May 1933

O my Mother,

I am sending a drawing to Thee. There I have tried to make a sketch of Y. But his resemblance has not come out in it.

I recognised him at once (before reading your letter) and liked the drawing well.

23 May 1933

24 May 1933

O my Mother,

I am sending a drawing to Thee. I have tried to make a sketch of Z. I don’t know how Thou likest it.

The shadows are made a little too roughly and thus give the impression that the face is dirty. But the resemblance is not bad.

24 May 1933

27 May 1933

O my Mother,

I tried to make a sketch of X in the morning today. I am sending it to Thee.

It is not very successful! She looks there quite like an old woman.

27 May 1933

6 June 1933

O my Mother,

I am sending a sketch of myself to Thee.

It is improving. Now you must try to bring out the delicate shades and a careful expression of details.

6 June 1933

27 June 1933

O my Mother,

I have tried to make drawings for book covers and am sending the rough pencil sketches to Thee. I think a very delicate brush will be necessary.

The drawing is all right.

Nagin had presented me with some water colour brushes. I have returned them to him. Perhaps among them you would find what you need. But if not, it will be better to look for one brush in the bazaar, or at Babylone (who sells books and drawing books) or at the Mission.

27 June 1933

4 July 1933

O my Mother,

I tried to make a sketch of Y today. I am sending it to Thee.

It is good. The nose is just a little too flat.

4 July 1933

4 August 1933

O my Mother,

I tried to make a sketch of Z today. The light and shadow fell on his face in such a way that I found it very difficult to make the sketch. I am sending it to Thee.

Before doing a drawing you must find the proper place for the model to sit. Generally near a window where the lights and shadows will be frank and precise, is the best — before starting the work, you must try several positions and choose the best.

4 August 1933

26 August 1933

I am sending you back the Japanese bridge that you have painted, along with two models of bridges. Generally these bridges in Japan are lacquered. The colour on the post card is exact. I have seen that famous bridge at Nikko.

I will ask you to send me back the post card when you have finished as it is part of a collection.

26 August 1933

2 September 1933

O my Mother,

I finished painting that book cover today. I am sending it to Thy Feet. I am searching for a new design and if I can get hold of one I shall begin another cover tomorrow. Ma, shall I use those tube colours for book covers? For one cover almost a piece of water-colour cake is required.

The cover is very good. But it would be a pity to use the tubes for that. The colours in cakes are much cheaper.

2 September 1933

14 September 1933

O my Mother,

In the new colour box I find that the paste in one tube has dried up. How can I use it? Shall I break the tube or try to put some water inside in order to soften it?

The easiest way is to carefully cut the tube open (cutting lengthwise) and to use the paint as you would a dry one.

14 September 1933

16 September 1933

O my Mother,

This afternoon I went to the colonial garden. There I made a sketch of some bamboos. I also did a portion of the trunk of a bamboo with coloured pencils. I shall try to paint them tomorrow if Thou likest. Ma, dost Thou like that I should try to copy things from nature in this way? Though there is nothing to be seen in the sketch, yet I am sending it to show Thee.

It is good to make sketches from nature. It gives richness, variety and precision to the execution.

I shall be interested to see what painting you will make out of this.

16 September 1933

25 September 1933

O my Mother,

I have received a letter from Bhupati. He has sent some Japanese landscapes on post cards for You. If you like I could ask him to send some more such landscapes, if possible.

These landscapes are not Japanese, they are either English or German.

25 September 1933

3 October 1933

O my Mother,

This afternoon I went with X to see a work-site. There I made a sketch which I would like to show Thee. Ma, I find difficulty in showing distance and can’t set things correctly. Shall I try it again with paints?

It is not bad. You can try it in painting. If you want the background to be far away you must be careful to keep it of a paler shade than the foreground. And pale mauve and pale blue can be used freely. Also details must be left more indistinct than in front.

3 October 1933

8 October 1933

O my Mother,

I have finished the landscape I began yesterday. I began it well but at the time of putting the back-ground I almost spoiled it, so I finished it rather carelessly. I am sending it to Thy Feet.

It is not bad. The background is just a little too dark and the houses on the right side a little too precise, which gives to them an air of toys.

8 October 1933

15 October 1933

O my Mother,

I am sending another landscape for Thy suggestions as to how to paint it. It is a night scene, so will not the sky and the water portions be of pale blue?

Surely not pale blue, but deep, dark blue as it is on a moonless night.

What are the white effects in the sky? Are they some fireworks? What should be their colour?

The fireworks must be of pale bright colours, golden, orange, and red chiefly. The reflections in the water must be of the same colours as the fireworks but a little fainter.

15 October 1933

1933

It is a question of shadows and light. The colouring of the shadows is wrong. The shadows are never of the same colour as the light but darker.

The colour of the shadows is always somewhat complementary of that of the light. The complementary colours are green and red

orange and blue

violet and yellow

and all the intermediary shades with all the possible combinations.

Thus if in the light your ground is green, in the shadow, it will be probably of a reddish brown. If it is of some kind of golden orange, the shadow will be of a bluish purple, and so on.

1933

8 December 1933

O my Mother,

I have coloured the landscape on the envelope given to me this morning. I am sending it to Thy Feet.

It is good. I am sending you another one. You will notice the mountains in the background with the white mist hanging over them. It is very Japanese.

Ma, I have done three sketches. First one of Y and then one of me at noon. And then one of Z done just now in the electric light. I am sending them all to Thy Feet.

They are quite good. Indeed there is a remarkable progress. Push on your studies now. You are on the right path.

8 December 1933

9 December 1933

O my Mother,

I have drawn two hands.

They are not bad, but you must be careful about the proportions of the fingers to the palm. In the classical hand both are of the same length. The fingers may be longer, it is rare that they are shorter and it makes always very heavy hands.

P.S. It will be good to do some more studies of hands.

9 December 1933

12 December 1933

O my Mother,

I have drawn two hands and two legs. The foot of one leg has become disproportionately long, I think. I also tried to make a sketch of the whole body, but I could not do the feet well, so I left it and drew the two legs.

The sketches of arms and legs are good except one foot (not the longest which is all right but the other which is a little clumsy).

The whole body sketch is not so good because you have not kept the right proportion between the bust and the legs. The bust is all right, the legs are too short by two inches at least. It is because you started the sketch too big and when you arrived towards the end your paper was too small. When you want to do a certain sketch on a certain sheet of paper, you must first establish roughly the whole of it, keeping in view only the proportions. For a whole figure it will make it easier to keep the right proportion by keeping in mind that a normal body contains 7 heads including the head itself; less makes a short man and more a tall one.

I am sending you a sketch of a man with the seven heads marked.

Ma, should I make these drawings and sketches smaller than I am doing now? If I go on doing them in the present way, shall I be able to do them well when I am required to do them smaller?

This size of sketch is all right. For study the bigger the better.

12 December 1933

14 December 1933

O my Mother,

I have drawn two hands and two legs. The legs were done very swiftly, so I think they have become a little clumsy.

No, they are all right and the hands also. Now you might try once more an “ensemble” to learn to keep the right proportion.

14 December 1933

16 December 1933

O my Mother,

I have done two sketches of the whole body. They are not coming out well. I don’t know how I can improve them.

There is some improvement; in fact they would be good except for the forearms that are weak and the hands which are far too small (especially in the standing picture).

Open your hand and place it on your face, fingers up, you will see that a normal hand goes from the chin to the top of the forehead. I have marked on the standing figure the size the hand ought to have.

16 December 1933

17 December 1933

O my Mother,

I have made a sketch of the whole body. I don’t know what are the mistakes but it seems somewhat unnatural. Has the throat become a little too long?

Yes, and the head just a little too small — not much. The fore-arms and hands are still clumsy, but on the whole there is great improvement. Continue to do sketches of the whole figure until you succeed completely.

17 December 1933

18 December 1933

O my Mother,

I have made two sketches. Have the proportions come out right in the standing one? It has become somewhat clumsy and that is due, I think, to my quickly finishing it. The other one was also quickly done as the model’s time was over and so it is unfinished.

The sitting posture can be finished. It is worth finishing as the proportions are almost all right.

In the standing posture, from the knees down the legs are once more too small, but you might take up the sketch again and correct it, making the legs one good inch longer. Send me these two sketches back when they are finished.

Henceforth I shall try to do one sketch, giving more time and doing slowly.

This is much better, and even if you have not finished in one day, you can continue the next day.

18 December 1933

19 December 1933

O my Mother,

I am sending back the two sketches I did yesterday.

I see that the standing posture (begun yesterday) has become now a little too long. The bottom part of the legs is all right now. It is the part between the waist and the knees that is a little too long. But you cannot correct it now.

I have also begun a new one and though unfinished I would like to show it to Thee.

It is good, you can finish it.

Be careful about the hands, they are still a little clumsy.

19 December 1933

20 December 1933

O my Mother,

I have finished the sketch I began yesterday. I tried to do the hand carefully, but I could not do it well. Has the left leg become a little too small?

It would be rather the right one that is a little long. But on the whole the proportions are much better and the sketch is good. Hands and feet need special attention. You might do, once more, some separate big (life size) drawings.

20 December 1933

21 December 1933

O my Mother,

I have drawn a hand and a leg. The foot seems too fleshy and it is due to shading, which I think is not right. At first I made it too big and so afterwards I had to finish it quickly as the model’s time was over. Shall I in this way go on doing some legs and hands?

I find the leg and foot very good. The arm and hand also are much better.

To continue the studies, it would be good if you could find some other benevolent model as a change in the form of hand and foot would be helpful.

21 December 1933

22 December 1933

O my Mother,

Thou hast written that it would be better if I can get another model but I don’t know whom I can get. Since the beginning when I was trying to learn the human figure, I was expecting somebody to give me a sitting, but I got nobody except X at last. At least today I got Y to sit for me.

Of course, so long as you find nobody else for sitting you can make drawings of X; it is very useful. But at the same time you might let it be known that you are ready to make a sketch of all those who will give you sittings and it seems to me that there are some who would be but too glad to have sketches made of them.

22 December 1933

23 December 1933

O my Mother,

I asked Z to give me a sitting and he told me to do it today. So I have made a sketch of his face and of his small hand and his foot. In the face I think the resemblance has not come well.

I recognised him at once and found the sketch quite good. The hand also is good, and the foot is well done but the position is not favourable. That is to say, to do feet it is better to sit on the floor, the foot will seem less flat.

23 December 1933

27 December 1933

O my Mother,

I have tried to draw two hands in the pose which I could not do well in the last whole body sketch. But they have not come out well even this time.

The one on the hip is all right now. The other one, leaning against the wall, was not in a pretty position, because it was not expressive of the movement of leaning. I have roughly outlined the changed position of the second finger which will make it all right, it seems to me.

27 December 1933

28 December 1933

O my Mother,

I have tried to make a sketch of X. These front views are very difficult for me. I can’t do them well.

It is rather good. You must do some more and they will become all right.

I have also tried to improve the last whole body sketch. Ma, my hand is still quite rigid and I can’t do fine lines, especially where I have to do something small.

It is by doing that the hand becomes conscious and loses its clumsiness.

28 December 1933

1 January 1934

O my Mother,

I am getting less delight in continuing the study of the human figure and I think I shall not be able to continue unless with a new inspiration. However, I shall try.

It would be a pity to stop as you are progressing very well.

1 January 1934

2 January 1934

O my Mother,

I tried to finish the last sketch of the whole body. First I did the hands and feet and then the face twice or thrice but failed and so left the sketch as it is. Afterwards I tried to draw the face separately in the same pose but could not do it well even there.

I do not find these sketches bad at all. But the lack of interest you find in them comes from the fact that they are done always from the same figure. The form becomes too familiar and the way of expressing it becomes almost mechanical and loses most of its interest. It is why I had said to try to find someone else to sit for you, because it would have renewed the interest.

2 January 1934

22 January 1934

O my Mother,

I have tried to make a sketch of Y. I think his resemblance has not come out well in it.

No, it is all right. You are improving, in your sketches, very much.

22 January 1934

23 January 1934

O my Mother,

How to do sketches like walking, running, etc.? In the present sketch I tried to show the movement of walking but it has not come. If the arm had leaned more towards the front, it would have shown the movement?

The movement is all right and would have been expressive except for the foot which is not in the walking posture.

When you want to express a movement, you must ask your model to do the movement and stop him in the midst of it just at the most expressive moment. If the position taken cannot be kept very long, look at it very carefully in order to remember and make a rapid rough sketch of the most important points: the movement of an arm or leg, the position of the feet, etc.

In the present case, make Z walk across your room and stop him in the middle of the movement which he must keep very exactly. You will see that the foot must be bent, it is the only way of showing the action of walking.

23 January 1934

26 January 1934

O my Mother,

I began a sketch of X but the resemblance has not come well, so I did not colour it. When I began the sketch, something in me was refusing to continue it and I was feeling very lazy. So I left it and have slept the time away.

It is a pity you left it because it was very good. Even as it is it is resemblant.

26 January 1934

29 January 1934

O my Mother,

I have tried to make a sketch.

It is good. There is great progress in the arms and hands.

29 January 1934

30 January 1934

O my Mother,

Y asked me to make a sketch of him. I tried one and it has become quite hopeless.

I find it very good.

30 January 1934

5 February 1934

O my Mother,

I have begun a sketch but it is not finished. I also tried to make a drawing of the cloth folds according to Thy suggestion, but I could not follow the precise details in it, so I have finished it soon.

The envelope is very good today. The sketch of the cloth is well done. As for the other sketch, the general proportions are good except for one arm (right side of the picture) which gives the impression of being small and the feet also which would gain to be enlarged a little.

5 February 1934

6 February 1934

O my Mother,

I have tried to improve yesterday’s sketch. Dost Thou find the arm to be all right this time? The feet I could not do well. I shall try to make separate sketches of them.

Yes, the left arm is better but it seems to me that the left shoulder is just a little too broad — it seems somewhat disproportionate to the right one. I mean to say that it looks as if you had drawn the left shoulder side-wise and the right one full front. They must necessarily be both seen from the same angle — like this [sketch from side] or like that [sketch from front].

6 February 1934

10 February 1934

O my Mother,

I am sending you a landscape I tried to copy from a British painting. I am not yet able to follow the technique of water colour painting.

The very composition of the picture is not quite successful, but that, of course, does not depend on your copy but on the original.

10 February 1934

5 May 1934

O my Mother,

I could not manage the leaves of the trees on the left side. How can the leaves of the small tree be shown to be behind those of the bigger one?

It is because you have made the leaves almost of the same colour. Those behind must be more dull (with a bluish tint) than those in front.

Shall I make the water in the foreground a little darker and shall I put darker lines for the ripples?

The water must be of a much deeper blue. This is a view of the sea in the south of France and the sea there is of a very deep blue.

5 May 1934

24 May 1934

O my Mother,

I am sending the sketch. Shall I leave it as it is or try to improve it? If it is to be improved I would like to have Thy suggestions.

The sketch has very much improved, but, I think, you can do something more; it is for the hair. So-called black hair is never black. Look at it attentively and you will see that in the shadows there are deep browns, deep blues and purples. The lights are pale blue if the hair is very black and reddish brown if the hair is less black.

Try to arrange that and you will see that it will improve the picture very much.

I want to ask you to make a drawing for the back corners of a sari. Z will show you the model of the design.

I would like also a few pink and white lotuses to stick on envelopes.

24 May 1934

2 June 1934

O my Mother,

I have done two small lotuses.

They are both very pretty.

When you will feel tired of doing lotuses you must tell me; and you can suggest anything else you would like to paint.

2 June 1934

13 June 1934

O my Mother,

I am sending three white lotuses. Ma, now I am feeling less interest in doing lotuses. So wilt Thou suggest something else to be done?

These lotuses are very good.

It would be better if you found out something that you would like to do.

13 June 1934

28 July 1934

O my Mother,

I have made the rough outlines of the smaller

border of the cloth. I have tried to put fishes with long heads and long tails. Shall I put scales on them as I have attempted on one or some small lines as I have done on the other? If I put scales I think it will take very much time for X to embroider them, but she asked me to do them in detail. If I do not put the scales how can I fill in the blank space on the body?

All the drawings are very good and the border is quite successful. I think that scales or lines on all the fishes would make a confusion. I propose that some scales should be put only on 2 or 3 of the biggest front line. The others can remain plain as they are.

28 July 1934

31 July 1934

O my Mother,

If I put scales on the five big fishes in front, will it be confusing or shall I put them only on the first two or three?

I suppose that some details are necessary on the front fish although they can be simplified to avoid confusion.

31 July 1934

8 August 1934

Sanjiban,

Could you paint two or three flowers of Realisation as a preparation for drawing a new sari with flowers of Realisation. As usual, a broad border behind, a more narrow one at the bottom and quite a small one at the top.

You can send me a rough sketch before doing the actual design.

8 August 1934

13 August 1934

O my Mother,

I have begun a rough design for the two borders for the sari — the top and the bottom ones — and would like to be corrected. In the portion behind I want to use some leaves also and want to put a big border.

Yes, these leaves are very decorative. I shall have them made in gold, so you must make them very light and in a decorative way. I am making behind a small sketch of what I mean.

The two borders are good.

Shall I put a small decorative border under them as I did in an earlier design?

Yes, it will be good.

13 August 1934

O my Mother,

I finished the peacock design. I also did a drawing of a lion yesterday. Even there the legs are not all right. I shall do more drawings of it.

The peacock design is very pretty. As for the lion he is still a little woody but with some practice it is bound to come.

With blessings always

20 September 1934

My Mother,

I attempted three rough sketches of swans. If Thou wilt like and select one, then I could try doing a bigger one. Of course I shall try to do it in more detail and clearer.

It is the swan swimming which I like best of the three. I have marked it. It will be quite well for the apron.

Blessings

20 September 1934

22 September 1934

My Mother,

I have begun a big sketch of a lion which I want to show Thee to know if the proportions are all right. As tomorrow is Sunday I hesitate to ask Thee if I could send it tomorrow.

You can send it tomorrow (Sunday) morning with Nolini.

Have you given the swan to Lila? I ask because I have to send her the cloth for the embroidery. I wonder if it would not be better to trace it yourself on the silk? Surely it would be better for the exactitude of the drawing. If you are ready to do it, I shall send the cloth to you.

With blessings

22 September 1934

24 September 1934

My Mother,

About the lion. Is it necessary to finish it in detail or shall I simply trace the outline on the cloth and go on putting the shading there? Tara said it is better to have the model. She also asked me to do it on paper.

It seems to me that the best is to do the full drawing on the cloth and Tara can have the photograph from which you have made the study.

Ma, to do it on the cloth I shall need charcoal as I do not have it. I have never used it before and don’t know how it can be managed. I pray for Thy Grace.

It would be better if you could find some in town as I am myself short of it.

You use the charcoal as you would use a pencil — it is not difficult.

With blessings

24 September 1934

25 January 1935

My Mother,

Something in me gets excited about doing painting and often it brings pressure and pain. Should I not get rid of it, as when I am calm I can better receive Thy Grace?

Yes, much better work is done when one is calm and concentrated. But surely you can become so.

With blessings

25 January 1935

7 May 1935

My Mother,

I am sending a painting. Ma, what a style with bright colour is coming! Am I going out of the right way or shall I continue? Thou wilt make me conscious if I ever go wrong.

You are surely not going wrong. On the contrary your painting has considerably improved and it is growing into something more and more interesting.

7 May 1935

18 June 1935

My Mother,

I thought of doing human figures for some time. I tried a coloured sketch of myself, but it is very difficult to bring out the resemblance. I wish to ask Thee how it can be improved. Should I not make the colour of the body darker to resemble me? If so, with what colour should I give a wash?

I find your picture very good and resemblant. Of course the colours are not exactly those of nature, but one is always free to interpret as one likes. I do not see that it would be good to give a wash to the picture. Better leave it as it is.

Ma, it strikes me to ask Thee how artists bring out the tint of the model. Do they manage to bring it exactly as the model is or do they paint it from their mind with the idea of contrasting the light with complementary shadows?

I cannot answer in such a general way. Each artist has his own technique and does things as he understands them. Some choose to give a vivid reproduction of nature, some like better to translate or to symbolise.

18 June 1935

July 1936

Mother,

I wish to show Thee one sketch I have coloured. I could not manage with the short hand and it looks very defective. I tried to bring out the colour of the body, but it is really so difficult; I could not succeed and there is not a clarity of vision. Also I could not choose a proper background or manage with the technique — I mean the application of colours on the paper. Everything is difficult.

You must not be discouraged because it is difficult. Moreover you are progressing. It is by practising that you will form your own technique and also increase the sense of colours. The arm “en raccourci” [foreshortened] is not so bad, it can very well remain.

July 1936

23 June 1937

Mother,

I wish to ask Thee if Thou wouldst like me to do some pictures from imagination or to confine myself only to portraits or to nature and still-life studies.

I do not see the necessity of sticking to one kind of thing only. In diversity you can find more occasions of progress.

Love and blessings to my dear child

23 June 1937

22 October 1937

Sanjiban,

Your design for the curtain is very beautiful, but Lila finds it difficult to trace on the satin cloth. Will you kindly do it for her so that it may not be spoilt?

My love and blessings

22 October 1937

6 June 1939

Mother,

I came here to worship Thee and not with any other desire. I am myself weak and poor and my need is not much, but things from outside enter and torture me so much.

I don’t feel depressed any more now and when I can open myself to Thee I am all in joy. But I did not let Thee know of my difficulties and that was why, it seems, I had to suffer so much.

Yes, if you inform me at once when the difficulties just begin they will have no power to last.

My love, blessings and help are always with you.

6 June 1939

16 June 1939

Mother,

I am sending Thee an oil-colour sketch of a corner in the dining-room. I could not keep to the drawing well while colouring. Is it not true that I am always careless about the details and so the pictures look unfinished?

I find your painting very good and do not think it would be improved by putting more details; as it is it gives a stronger impression.

For my paintings, truly I do not know when I can find time to show them. But perhaps I might put a few of them (the small ones) in Pavitra’s room and you might see them there.

My love and blessings

16 June 1939

11 October 1939

Mother,

I was again feeling much like singing. Will you tell me if it would be a hindrance to my Sadhana or harmful to me in any way if I accept music again? If not, will you permit me to sing.

I can’t do much painting now. I have not sufficient energy for it nor do I feel any inspiration. It is so dull!

If by singing you get some satisfaction there is no objection to your singing. But I regret that you have left painting because you were progressing well.

My love and blessings

11 October 1939

13 October 1939

Mother,

I did not say that I have left painting. I am dragging on with it still. Whatever I try turns out to be hopeless. I did not show them to you or you would have seen what I say. But I have not and will not leave painting especially as you have encouraged me throughout.

Mother, I wanted to ask you something. Do you have a Tanpura (the four-stringed instrument with the accompaniment of which people sing) which may be lying with you and not used by anybody? If you have no objection, could you spare it to me? I shall use it and return whenever you want it back or if I myself don’t feel like singing. I am not sure it is with you but somebody told me you may have one — offered to you by someone.

Let your will be fulfilled in my life.

Indeed I used to have it (the tambura) for some time. But since a long time I do not have it with me. It may be in a box kept in Chandulal’s room, or I might have lent it for use to somebody but in that case I do not remember at all to whom. You might inquire from Chandulal about it. If it is found I shall lend it to you very willingly.

I have received nice catalogues of oil paintings from Lefranc in Paris. Just now it is impossible to order anything but we shall see about it later on.

13 October 1939

1940

My dear child,

There is no reason to be discouraged about the sex. However difficult it can be conquered and will be by keeping up perseverance and the will.

As you like singing what you can do is to do it as an offering.

You can be quite successful in painting; you were making very rapid progress at one time. If there has been a setback it is because you were not concentrating on it owing to your being very busy with other things.

You can come for pranam on the staircase whenever you have something to show, as you used to do before.

With my love and blessings

P.S. You can come in the morning, afternoon or after meditation, any of these three times.

1940

6 April 1941

Mother,

I have come to know that X is going to play the harmonium at Y’s place tonight. Will you permit him to sing only one song (for a short time, say 40 to 45 minutes)? I would like you to hear him.

40 to 45 minutes is a very long time for somebody who has a sore throat.

I cannot give my permission as by doing it I would be false to my own view of things.

With my love and blessings

6 April 1941

19 May 1941

My dear child,

Keep your faith and your courage — sooner than you believe your difficulties will be over.

I cannot give the flower work to anybody else because you are the only one who can do it as I want it to be done.

With my love and blessings

19 May 1941

Notes on the Texts

Series Three—Sanjiban. Sanjiban Biswas joined the Ashram in 1933 at the age of twenty. His correspondence with the Mother began in that year and continued for the next eight years. Many of their exchanges deal with the Mother’s guidance to Sanijban as an aspiring artist.

Most of the material presented here was first published in issues of the quarterly journal Bulletin of Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education between August 1996 and February 1998. The present complete correspondence, which contains additional entries, has been prepared from Sanjiban’s manuscripts. The correspondence is in English.