Pramila Sen
(Sunayana Panda:) “Pramila Devi (Pramila Sen) was born in the early 1920s near Chittagong in what was then undivided India, ruled by the British. There used to be a centre of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Chittagong which she joined when she was in her teens, having been widowed before that. It was a time when little girls were given away in marriage and if the husband died they became widows, sometimes even before they could understand what marriage was. She had to wait in that centre until she was allowed to come to Pondicherry. She came to the Ashram in November 1941.
When she joined the Ashram, she was given work at the Laundry and the Bakery because her cousin, Jatindranath, was in charge of these two departments. In this way she also had a guide close to her. Jatindranath had come to the Ashram much earlier...
She was barely educated before she came to the Ashram, so at first she had difficulty communicating directly with the Mother. But when the School opened the Mother allowed her to join the classes where older children were being taught French. This is how she learnt only only English but French as well. Later, she could speak to the Mother directly in French.
... She was very close to Bharati-di, a French lady who was a renowned scholar of Buddhist texts. ...
Pramila Devi worked and lived in the Laundry until 1962, when she was asked by the Mother to look after one of the hostels for the students, Jhunjhun Home.”[1]
(Pramila:) “Once for Vasudha's birthday the Mother went to Cazanove and celebrated the birthday there. We, Vasudha's [French language] students, as well as some of her close friends and the ladies of the embroidery department were present at the celebration. On the appointed day, in the evening, we went ahead with Vasudha in a car and waited there for the Mother's arrival. In a beautiful and clean open place, which was in the shade, a seat was prepared for the Mother. In front of it was a high path. Along this path were planted neat rows of papaya trees. The short trees were full of green leaves and green papayas. The papayas were growing barely a little above the ground. It was an enchanting sight. It was evident that the caretaker of the garden had put in a lot of care and was very knowledgeable about his work.
We were all praising his work when we heard the horn of the Mother's car. Vasudha went up to the care and brought the Mother to where we were. She spoke affectionately to Vasudha then came and sat on her seat. Looking around her and seeing us she gave us her sweet and radiant smile. Then she shut her eyes and went deep into meditation. We also joined her. After the meditation she gave some prasad first to Vasudha with a smile and then to us. When the distribution of prasad was over, Vasudha bowed down to the Mother, and each of us did the same. Then it was time to come back. Following the Mother's car, we too came back to the Ashram.”[2]
(Pramila:) “One day when I went to see Janina, she gave me a blank sheet of paper. I found some very fine pencil lines on it. I could not understand anything. Janina pointed to a spot with her needle and drew my attention. There was a picture of the Mother embracing a young girl with both her arms. The girl also was embracing the Mother. In surprise I said, “This is the Mother's picture.” Suddenly Janina got up and went into her room. I kept looking at the picture with deep concentration.
It seemed to me that the young girl had entered a dark forest and was trying to walk through thorny bushes. There were needle-like thorns stuck to her body. Janina came back after almost fifteen minutes. Her face was swollen. There were marks of tears on her face. She sat beside me and smiled a little, then said, “My friend, let's take the day off today. I have to finish my stitching. Come back after seven days. I am relieved to know your classes are going on well.”
Later I learnt from Bharati-di that during the Second World War Janina had to grapple with death in the German concentration camps, month after month. Dr. Heippe and Mrs. Heippe were Janina's very dear German friends. They were highly placed officials. Secretly they used to make enquiries about Janina. No one in Poland knew anything about this. Unknown to others they looked through many German concentration camps until they found Janina in one but she was in an unconscious state. Using all their guile they managed to put her in their car and to bring her out. If they had been caught they would have been punished with death.
They worked very hard, nursed her selflessly and had her treated until she got back her consciousness. The first words she said were, “Where is that goddess who was holding the blue and white lights in her hands? She was so sweet! I found limitless joy in having found her.”
Soon after Janina got well, Germany surrendered. She want back to her own country, Poland, then with her own efforts and with the help of Dr. and Mrs. Heippe she found out about the Mother by reading her books. Janina recognised that she was the same compassionate Mother who had pulled her out of the jaws of death. She held in her hands blue and white lights representing power. That was the picture she had drawn.”[3]
See also
- Nolini Kanta Gupta (Pramila's brother)