Sunday, October 07, 2007

Navajata, whom she called 'My faithful'

To carry out her work the Mother chose Navajata, whom she called 'My faithful'. His name appears in various documents both as Keshav Dev Poddar, his earlier name, and as Navajata, a name given to him by the Mother, meaning the 'New Born'. He was the Society's first General Secretary and Treasurer and later, after the Mother left her body in 1973, became its first Chairman.
Along with the Mother, the two other persons who sat on the first Executive Committee of the Society were Navajata and Arunendranath Tagore of Calcutta, an advocate and Notary Public. Significantly, the first few meetings of the Executive committee were held in the Mother's room in the Ashram.
Following the usual procedure, the Minutes noted the names of the persons who were present, including that of the Mother, and she signed the Minutes as the Chairperson of the meetings. Even the Balance Sheets and the Annual Reports of the Society were signed by her - a rare privilege.
A tiny seed holds the blueprint of a mighty tree. It was the divine Mother who planted the seed of the Society's destiny and nurtured it. She provided the force and the inspiration and encouraged each individual and each group to grow in complete freedom, to progress and work in a spirit of service and sadhana. But simultaneously she was always ready to come forward to help and guide, whenever the need or the call was there.
Whether it was a question of purchase of land and building, of starting schools and guest houses, of organising conferences, of opening centres and branches in India and abroad, of enrolling new members, of publishing books and journals, the issues were referred to the Mother for guidance and decision. She gave the names to the journals, chose the editors and sometimes gave directions about the layout.
One of the projects the Mother started through the society was the constructions of her dream city of Auroville. It was a dream the Mother had since the 1930s, of a model city which would reflect the outward reality of the descent of the Supramental and go on to become the centre of a perfect world. She named it after Sri Aurobindo, calling it Auroville, The City of Dawn.

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