... Puraniji etc. tried to plead, cajole, convince Mridu-di to move. Nothing doing. Finally the Mother came out of the other smaller door (side room) and the March Past started off. Mridu-di had not budged. Then — someone hit on the idea of calling in Nolini-da. Nolini-da came through the Guest House, looked at Mridu-di, said in a normal tone and volume, “Mridu, chalo,” turned round and started back towards... truest sense) and the Prasad-maker — Mridubhashini (or simply Mridu-di) along with her old cranking-up-type gramophone and discs, numerous stoves (13 if I remember right), delightfully tasty khichuri, rasagollas etc. and lastly walls festooned with Sri Aurobindo’s writings to Mridu-di, all framed. What a change — or what a fall!! Mridu-di, born in Bengal in 1901, was widowed when quite young — a... have been a foregone conclusion. Mridu-di’s convictions were not so easily shaken. Even when the Balcony Darshan was discontinued, Mridu-di would wait upstairs for the Mother to put the first morsel of food into her mouth, before starting her day. There was once a move to extend Harpagon to include Prasad House. The process was well on the way in spite of Mridu-di’s shrill protests. She could, even ...
... hardly recognise Mridu-mashi. Her features looked strangely altered. Suddenly the Mother stood up and strongly pressed Mridu-mashi’s head down with Her Foot. I felt as if Durga was slaying the demon Mahishasura. For an instant the Mother revealed Her Durga aspect. Mridu-mashi’s uncontrollable laughter would not cease as the Mother, her eyes blazing, stood with Her Foot firmly pressing Mridu-mashi’s head... Aspect The Mother is arranging flowers in Her first-floor room. Mridu-mashi is sitting by the door with her flower-garland. Mridu-mashi would come daily at this time to offer pranam to the Mother with her flower-garland. I don’t know what happened on that day but as soon as I entered the Mother’s room to get her flower-blessing, Mridu-mashi exclaimed: “Mother, Priti is Saraswati, Pratima (Sarkar) ...
... in order to anger her: 'But Mridu-di you are a Hindu widow. Would you like to taste some beef-soup? Beef is supposed to be very good.' Mridu-di was furious and complained to the Mother. However her English was not very good. She told the Mother: 'Mother! Mother! Boys say cow eat vegetable.' the Mother replied: 'Yes, it is true.' Mridu-di was quite befuddled hearing this... :not begin but Mridu-di went on blabbering. There was no way of stopping her. This lasted about forty-five minutes. Then Nolinida came and took Mridu-di away from near the Mother. Sri Aurobindo had recently left His body and the Page 37 Mother was upset and She is said to have told her:' such that Sri Aurobindo had to leave His body because of you. One day Mridu-di told me: 'You... Aurobindo had eaten the Mother would come and take a little 'prasad' from Him and put it into her mouth. Only then would Mridu-di go back to her house and would distribute Sri Aurobindo's 'prasad' to a lot of people. That's why her house was called 'Prasad House'. Mridu-di was a very nice woman but a little short-tempered. She would get terribly angry over little things. And Page 36 ...
... spicy in this case. 1.12.32 (About learning singing) Mridu is very categorical, — it is for the every Thursday permission that she accepts. We have sanctioned the every Thursday. No Date L can learn by herself, so she can do with only twice a week; on these two days you can omit K. As for Mridu, she has to pass her entrance examination first. 7.12.32 ... all right there is nothing that you need discontinue. 19.4.32 The difficulty is that if you show the house to one, everybody will want to see! Page 6 25.4.32 If Mridu has no ear or possibility of it. it is no use teaching her; she can always sing for herself as she has been doing. You can certainly postpone your sitar and your singing lessons. It will be... English means "I intend to". You intend to sing, but you do not intend not to have an opportunity. 4.9.32 You did nothing wrong and there is no displeasure. Page 12 About Mridu we did not reply because we had come to no decision. About the cheese we replied to L and thought the matter was settled. You can give it to her. About the tea for A we did not reply because ...
... work and realizations; he probably cast them in this form ‘to front the years’, just like his deeds, and to be conserved for posterity. Also worth mentioning here is the informative case of Mridu. ‘Mridu was a simple Bengali village widow,’ writes Nirodbaran. ‘She, like the other ladies, called Sri Aurobindo her father, and took great pride in cooking for him. Her “father” also liked very much her... Aurobindo would console her with, “If you commit suicide, who will cook luchis for me?”’ 22 Strange to say: ‘One regular interlude during his meal was the arrival of our rampaging luchi-maker, Mridu. I do not know how she obtained this exceptional privilege. She would come like an innocent lamb with incense and flowers, kneel down in front of the door and wait with folded hands for “her Father’s... had manifested her violent temper, she was threatened with the loss of this Darshan. ’ 23 And stranger still the Mother later reported, as one reads in the Agenda , that the by then deceased Mridu was one of those she had met, after Sri Aurobindo’s passing, in his permanent dwelling in the subtle worlds! Which shows once more that it is difficult, especially in spiritual matters, to judge from ...
... acquaintance, vociferous and stubborn Mridu, was involved in the coming about of these daily darshans. Prabhakar writes: ‘Mridu-di took it into her head that no morsel of food would pass into her mouth until she had the Darshan of the Mother. And so it happened, an event of great import to all of us. The Mother consented to appear on the “Old Balcony” – so Mridu could see the Mother from her window... Hundreds of others [every morning] were the beneficiaries. It would almost seem the Gods await some excuse to bless us only if we would keep still and maybe lower our heads and raise our eyes. Maybe Mridu-di was the excuse.’ 68 The Mother gave us some insight into what happened when she stood there on that balcony at the back of the main Ashram building. ‘Every morning, at the balcony, after ...
... going to dance in front of my Deity! The Mother was supposed to come to the Balcony at 9.15 in the morning. The three of us arrived at Mridu-di's house well ahead of time. Mridu-di had already opened the doors, cleaned the place and lit some incense. Along with Mridu-di , we stood there waiting for the Mother. My costume and make-up was very simple. I had put on a very ordinary frock for the dance and... voice full of tenderness, he added, "She will also listen to you sing. Don't make it too long. Take 15 to 20 minutes for both. The Mother will come to the Balcony to see you dance. Do you know Mridu? (Mridu-di's house was situated opposite the Balcony - now the house has been renovated and is known as "Prasad House".) You will dance at the entrance to her house. If you open both the doors of her entrance... fell at Nolini-da's feet. Nolini-da blessed me placing his hand on my head, "We'll also come to see you dance!" After informing Ma and my brother, I ran to the Balcony street. I knocked on Mridu-di's door and checked out the 'stage' on which I was to dance. Standing there I decided on the songs and dance I would present to the Mother. Nolini-da had informed Ma and Dada not to tell anyone about ...
... known is not necessarily equivalent to their spiritual realization, known to their gurus alone. Let us conclude with a woman who ‘looked like a volley-ball on top of a balloon,’ the quarrelsome Mridu. Mridu was born in a village in Bengal in 1901, lost her husband early – a catastrophe for an Indian wife – and joined the Ashram in 1930. ‘She was a great cook, one of the greatest, for she cooked for... Bengali preparations. Nirodbaran, however, writes in his Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo : ‘One regular interlude during [Sri Aurobindo’s] meal was the arrival of our rampageous luchi- maker, Mridu. I do not know how she obtained this exceptional privilege. [Nobody was allowed to approach Sri Aurobindo.] She would come like an innocent lamb with incense and flowers, kneel down in front of the... later about some deceased sadhaks who were together with Sri Aurobindo in his dwelling in the subtle worlds, after he had left his body in 1950. She named several of those sadhaks, and among them was Mridu! Which goes to show how difficult it is to judge by appearances with our ordinary human knowledge. × ...
... little from a dish was offered to him and all the rest was sent back as prasād . For his regular meal, there were a few devotees like Amiya, Nolina and Mridu selected by the Mother for their good cooking, which Sri Aurobindo specially liked. Mridu was a simple Bengali village widow. She, like other ladies here, called Sri Aurobindo her father, and took great pride in cooking for him. Her "father" liked... added with a smile, "but it is I who ought to lament for having missed her fine dish." We all had a good laugh. One regular interlude during his meal was the arrival of our rampageous _luchi-_maker, Mridu. I do not know how she obtained this exceptional privilege. She would come like an innocent lamb with incense and flowers, kneel down in front of the door and wait with folded hands for her "father's ...
... there who lived on earth, but not many. That's where I met several times (very often during the first year after her death) the woman who used to cook for Sri Aurobindo. What was her name? Mridu. Mridu! She has also changed a lot, quite a lot, but... ( Mother smiles, amused ) in a way she is still the same! But I felt (it was yesterday, I think) that things are much simpler Page 247 ...
... told him, "You mustn't touch this without Mother's permission"! 4 ( Mother laughs heartily ) Oh, this is priceless! But didn't you see Mridu? 5 No. She's there ( huge gesture, laughing ), just as she was!... I saw Purani, I saw Mridu, and the other day (I told you) I saw Amrita and Chandulal talking together. That whole place looks like downstairs, but it's not downstairs. So ...
... suddenly become concerned with food! But in a very different form. It's always to give me indications about people, about things. The night before last, there was an amusing incident. You know that Mridu, the fat woman who used to cook for Sri Aurobindo, is in the subtle physical. When she died, Sri Aurobindo (I didn't even know she had died), Sri Aurobindo went to fetch her in her house, then brought... I didn't understand what had happened; I saw Sri Aurobindo go into Mridu's house, then come back ( laughing ) with a small bundle like this, and put it at my feet! I was flabbergasted, I saw it was Mridu, and I ran after Sri Aurobindo to ask him, "What on earth does this mean?!" Then everything vanished. The next day, I was told she was dead. And she lives like that, in the subtle physical, and I see ...
... to know what happened to the scrotum of the vital being. (Laughter) After this, Satyendra gave Sri Aurobindo a Bengali poem to see, as requested by Mridu. The poem was written by Jyoti on the presentation copy of her book Red Rose to Mridu . SRI AUROBINDO: She says that Mridu's business is cooking and hers is writing. The "friend" finds the cooking sweeter than poetry. NIRODBARAN: An old ...
... building. It was then that she is said to have declared that she would not have her breakfast until she had a darshan of the Mother. The Mother agreed to come to that balcony, so as to be seen by Mridu from her window across the street. * The usual time of the Mother's coming was 6 to 6.15 a.m. and soon some sadhaks and visitors too began to gather for this early morning grace. It became an... the question of the Mother's aura in general, Sri Aurobindo had written in November 1933: *This darshan came to an end when the Mother fell somewhat seriously ill on 16 March 1962. Curiously, Mridu passed away in September 1962. Her house came to be known as Prasad House due to her practice of distributing the "prasad" that came back in the dish she used to take to Sri Aurobindo. Page 362 ...
... Part IV – Correspondence Champaklal Speaks 12 November 1932 Mridu is quite mistaken in thinking Champaklal is greedy; he eats much too little and works enormously hard. If he wanted the prasad, it must have been because it was prasad and not as food for the stomach and palate. 12.11.1932 Sri Aurobindo ...
... the manifestation. The Mother would later report that together with Sri Aurobindo in his supramental dwelling there were other people close to him. She named Purani, and Amrita, and the amazing Mridu. The explanation of their presence there is not difficult. We remember that, after her experience of the ship of the New World, the Mother had said that some people on Earth were supramentalized in ...
... coming late to the general meditation, inwardly absorbed and with his eyes half shut, and taking his way to his usual seat after putting one foot in the lap of whoever sat on the fringe of the group! Mridu, the usually vociferous explosive, often happened to be in that place. You can imagine her indignant state. But she had to keep mum as meditation was going on. Whatever his idiosyncrasies, the Mother ...
... before, I spent at least two hours in a world—the subtle physical world—where the living mingle with the dead with no sense of difference, it makes absolutely no difference there. For instance, when Mridu 1 was in her body I used to see her at night maybe once a year (maybe not even that much). For years she was utterly nonexistent in my consciousness... but since she left her body, I see her almost ...
... Second World War broke out and it became difficult to buy textbooks let alone novels. Our mother ( Bibhavati ) would write down the lessons by hand in a notebook. When I first came here in 1941, Mridu -masi (aunty) showed me all her books and said: “You can take any of these books to read, if you wish.” It was as if I had been given the moon. I first picked up a novel, Sandhaney written ...
... from the house much earlier. Daylight was just dawning then. The streets were quite deserted still except for some sadhaks and sadhikas, all heading for the same destination. We went and stood near Mridu-di's house because from there we could see the Mother very clearly. The street was almost full with people who were waiting in pin-drop silence. Some were waiting for Her with folded hands, some were ...
... (Correspondence with Amrita) Amrita's Correspondence with The Mother 23 September 1933 Amrita, Mridu says that the big cane table is too big for her; if you have a smaller one of the same kind she will take it; anyhow she wants the big one to be removed. So you can take it away. 23 September 1933 ...
... several sorts of disasters could take place. The catastrophe that did frequently happen was that on his passage into the hall he put one of his feet right into the capacious lap of a fat lady named Mridu who used to sit just at the entrance, (laughter) She was outraged and indignant, but it was impossible to make any protest when the Mother was deep in trance. In the period of Ashram ...
... well. If she is not prepared, then why is she here and what is the meaning of her professed bhakti for myself or for the Mother? 23 May 1944 Sri Aurobindo P.S. Explain all this carefully to Mridu. It may be best to make a translation of this letter and give it to her to keep with her. ...
... questions I remained silent, the Mother would comment, "Oh, he doesn't know. If he knew, he would at once speak out." A humorous instance comes to mind. Once I prescribed a mixture to our bumptious Mridu, Sri Aurobindo's luchi -maker, but forgot to write precise directions on the label. She caught hold of this slip, came in a flurry to the Mother and burst out, "Mother, Nirodbabu is a poem, he is no ...
... ridiculous to preoccupy myself with food, be it even a feast or a picnic. However, even in the Ashram, I find that the demands of the palate are overpowering. There was once, here, a sadhika named Mridu. Have you heard of her?" "Yes. Wasn't she the one who made 'luchis' for you?" "Yes. Whenever she got annoyed or fed up with the life here and threatened to leave, I stopped her by saying, 'If ...
... hit. DR. MANILAL: Yes. Fomentation, embrocation, massage, etc. SRI AUROBINDO: Perhaps you tried too many things, each reacting with the other and producing no result. EVENING DR. MANILAL: Mridu was weeping today, Sir, because she was late and you had finished your meal. SRI AUROBINDO: She shouldn't have been told. NIRODBARAN: It was I who unguardedly told her about it. SRI AUROBINDO: ...
... told Sri Aurobindo: “Only today I learnt that Mridu's full name is Mridubhashini.” Sri Aurobindo: “Oh!” M: “And another is her pet name Khendurani.” Sri Aurobindo: “One realistic, the other idealistic!” 1 × Khendu in Bengali means broken or flat nosed. Mridu's voice carried a nasal tone, as if she were speaking ...
... the Dancer Bimalendu was a talented and gifted dancer. He was on a visit to the Ashram and was very anxious that Mother should see his dance. It was arranged that he would dance at night in Mridu's room [in Prasad House] and Mother would watch from the Balcony from where she used to give morning Darshan. Mother saw his dance and was very pleased with it. It was remarkable. ...
... Perhaps it is the ’pans’ you speak of that call him - his horoscope was found to be brilliant and almost Leninesque. Perhaps one day you will gaze at the figure of pāglā [mad] Jaswant (I think that is Mridu’s description) presiding over the destinies of a Communist India! Why not? Hitler in his ’handsome Adolf days was not less pāglā or prettier, so there is a chance." Page 72 Let me be permitted ...
... Perhaps it is the "parts" you speak of that call him—his horoscope was found to be brilliant and almost Leninesque. Perhaps one day you will gaze at the figure of (mad Jaswant) (I think that is Mridu's description) presiding Page 11 over the destinies of a Communist India!! why not? Hitler in his "handsome Adolf " days was not less (mad) or prettier, so there is a chance. ...
... blessings. Perhaps it is the "parts" you speak of that call him—his horoscope was found to be brilliant and almost Leninesque. Perhaps one day you will gaze at the figure of পাগলা যশোবন্ত (I think that is Mridu's description) presiding over the destinies of a Communist India!! Why not? Hitler in his "handsome Adolf" days was not less পাগলা or prettier, so there is a chance. Really, how things happen here ...
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