Sri Aurobindo’s Plate Of Fried Chilli Rice “See what happens to Desabhakts in an occupied country…" Apr 17 2007 5:54 AM Tags: pondicherry indian freedom struggle aurobindo ghosh subramania bharathi british india narensomu.sulekha.com
Before we discuss the page from the book in continuation with the blogs I posted earlier, I feel a brief bio of Sri Aurobindo is in order. You can skip it if you are already familiar with his life story and please add any snippets from his life that you know ...
Sri Aurobindo Ghosh was born on August 15, 1872 at Calcutta to Krishnadhan and Swamalata. Aurobindo Ghose had a privileged upbringing.
He was sent to a Convent School at Darjeeling when he was five. In 1879, Aurobindo Ghosh, was sent to England for higher studies. He completed his schooling from St. Paul's in London and in 1890, Sri Aurobindo got admission into Cambridge. Here, he distinguished himself as a student of European classics.
In 1893, Aurobindo Ghosh, returned to India, and became the Vice-principal of the State college in Baroda. He drew a salary of Rs.750/-. He was held in great respect by the Maharaja of Baroda.
Sri Aurobindo Ghosh was born on August 15, 1872 at Calcutta to Krishnadhan and Swamalata. Aurobindo Ghose had a privileged upbringing.
He was sent to a Convent School at Darjeeling when he was five. In 1879, Aurobindo Ghosh, was sent to England for higher studies. He completed his schooling from St. Paul's in London and in 1890, Sri Aurobindo got admission into Cambridge. Here, he distinguished himself as a student of European classics.
In 1893, Aurobindo Ghosh, returned to India, and became the Vice-principal of the State college in Baroda. He drew a salary of Rs.750/-. He was held in great respect by the Maharaja of Baroda.
Aurobindo was an accomplished scholar in Greek and Latin. From 1893 to 1906 he extensively studied Sanskrit, Bengali literature, Philosophy and Political Science.In 1906, after the partition of Bengal, he resigned his job and joined the Bengal National College on a salary of Rs.150/-. He plunged into the revolutionary movement. Sri Aurobindo Ghosh was one of the pioneers of political awakening in India.
He edited the English daily Bande Mataram and wrote fearless editorials. He advocated the boycott of British goods, British courts and everything British. He was arrested in connection with the Alipore Bomb Case and for a year he was an under trial prisoner in solitary confinement in the Alipore Central Jail.
There he had a vision, about the divine mission ordained by God. During this period he studied and practiced of the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. Chittaranjan Das defended Sri Aurobindo, who was acquitted after a famous trial. During his time in prison, Aurobindo Ghosh, had developed interest in yoga and meditation. After his release he started practicing pranayama and meditation. Sri Aurobindo Ghose migrated from Calcutta to Pondicherry in 1910.
There he had a vision, about the divine mission ordained by God. During this period he studied and practiced of the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. Chittaranjan Das defended Sri Aurobindo, who was acquitted after a famous trial. During his time in prison, Aurobindo Ghosh, had developed interest in yoga and meditation. After his release he started practicing pranayama and meditation. Sri Aurobindo Ghose migrated from Calcutta to Pondicherry in 1910.
At Pondicherry, he stayed at a friend’s place. At first, he lived there with four or five companions. Gradually the number of members increased and an Ashram was founded. In 1914 after four years of concentrated yoga at Pondicherry, Sri Aurobindo launched Arya, a 64 page monthly review. For the next six and a half years this became the vehicle for most of his most important writings, which appeared in serialised form. These included Essays on The Gita, The Secret of The Veda, Hymns to the Mystic Fire, The Upanishads, The Foundations of Indian Culture, War and Self-determination, The Human Cycle, The Ideal of Human Unity, and The Future Poetry. In 1926, Sri Aurobindo Ghose retired from public life.
Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy is based on facts, experience and personal realisations and on having the vision of a seer or Rishi. Aurobindo’s spirituality was inseparably united with reason. The goal of Sri Aurobindo was not merely the liberation of the individual from the chain that fetters him and realization of the self, but to work out the will of the Divine in the world, to effect a spiritual transformation and to bring down the divine nature and a divine life into the mental, vital and physical nature and life of humanity. Sri Aurobindo passed away on December 5, 1950 at Pondicherry at the age of 78.
***
We know that even though Puducherry was a French territory, the Government tried to curb the activities of Desbhakts by blocking their sources of revenue. Desabhakts like Aurobindo and Bharathi went through untold miseries at that time.
A leaf from the book “Mahakavi Bharathi”by Va. Ra….
“I was staying at Aurobindo’s place at that time…We [ young nationalists] used to take turns and cook. One day we had nothing to cook and we told Sri Aurobindo about the situation.
He asked us what was there left and we replied that we had some rice, some oil and dried chillies [The kind that is marinated in buttermilk , sun -dried and stored for a long time to be used as a particularly hot “pickle” [ after frying it in oil]..
“Cook rice, fry those chillies in oil and mix both! “He said and he didn’t seem to be perturbed at all…
He was the only one who ate his usual portion that day as Va. Ra. says they had a hard time with fried chilli rice…
“Can there be a doubt in any one’s mind that he was indeed a saint?” He asks about Aurobindo…
“See what happens to Desabhakts in an occupied country…the man who drew a salary of Rs. 750/- from Baroda college and he who was a scholar in many languages had to eat fried chillies with rice…the sort of fate that arranged that!”
[The elders in my family, whenever we talk about finances, compare gold prices of yesteryears to the prices today…they say even Rs. 500/-was a princely sum ["We could've bought so much gold!"] in the 60’s…imagine the sum Aurobindo was drawing as his salary before plunging in to the fire of the struggle for freedom…
Most of us eat more when a favorite side dish is present and eat less when we don’t like a dish. what Va. Ra. says about great souls to whom riches and adversity are all one and the same is a point to be noted.]
A leaf from the book “Mahakavi Bharathi”by Va. Ra….
“I was staying at Aurobindo’s place at that time…We [ young nationalists] used to take turns and cook. One day we had nothing to cook and we told Sri Aurobindo about the situation.
He asked us what was there left and we replied that we had some rice, some oil and dried chillies [The kind that is marinated in buttermilk , sun -dried and stored for a long time to be used as a particularly hot “pickle” [ after frying it in oil]..
“Cook rice, fry those chillies in oil and mix both! “He said and he didn’t seem to be perturbed at all…
He was the only one who ate his usual portion that day as Va. Ra. says they had a hard time with fried chilli rice…
“Can there be a doubt in any one’s mind that he was indeed a saint?” He asks about Aurobindo…
“See what happens to Desabhakts in an occupied country…the man who drew a salary of Rs. 750/- from Baroda college and he who was a scholar in many languages had to eat fried chillies with rice…the sort of fate that arranged that!”
[The elders in my family, whenever we talk about finances, compare gold prices of yesteryears to the prices today…they say even Rs. 500/-was a princely sum ["We could've bought so much gold!"] in the 60’s…imagine the sum Aurobindo was drawing as his salary before plunging in to the fire of the struggle for freedom…
Most of us eat more when a favorite side dish is present and eat less when we don’t like a dish. what Va. Ra. says about great souls to whom riches and adversity are all one and the same is a point to be noted.]
To be continued… Information on Shri Aurobindo's life was taken from the site at the link below . I have tried to condense it a bit and pasted the info here. http://www.iloveindia.com/indiaurobindo-ghose.html an-heroes/
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