Mother India

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(Amal Kiran:) “In its origin it was the idea of a young businessman, Keshavdeo R. Poddar, now known as Navajata but even at that time secretly what the name signifies: ‘The New-born’. For, although not yet a resident of the Ashram, he was devoted to the cause of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Feeling the need to bring into the dust and heat of the common world's arena the breath of the New Life they embodied, he conceived a paper which would busy itself with that world's problems without any narrow business-concern. It was meant to make current the gold of a spiritual light at any material expense, and no calculation was made about the length of time it might take for this celestial coinage to be accepted.
         Poddar put his project before the Mother. She, in consultation with Sri Aurobindo, approved it. Then he proposed Amal Kiran (originally K.D. Sethna) as Editor. ... As the two Gurus had said ‘Yes’, Sethna could not say ‘No’. Forthwith, the periodical was fixed to be a fortnightly and the date of its publication planned to coincide with February 21, 1949, the Mother's seventy-first birthday.”[1]


(Amal Kiran:) “How would a fortnightly with a spiritual background fare in the commercial capital of India where the word ‘spirit’, if it meant anything at all, might connote simply what Prohibition puts out of the way of celebrating or relaxing commercialists? Bombay was also a centre of furious political activity, with culture and idealism no more than a suggestion of infra-red and ultra-violet beyond the multi-passioned spectrum of contending or co-operating shades of opinion in practical politics. The desperateness of the proposed venture and its need of Grace from the Divine was finely hit off by the message (dated January 29, 1949) received from Aldous Huxley for the first issue:

“I wish you all success in your venture. You will, of course, be a voice crying in the wilderness. But if a few individuals pay attention, something will have been accomplished.”[2]


(Amal Kiran:) “The Editor was rather worried over that part of his job which was to consist in writing thousands of words on various political themes in a manner that would be clear, cogent, penetrating, widely informed, easily authoritative, enlightened by a view of national and international situations from the height of Sri Aurobindo's thought. Although conversant with this thought, the crowded and chequered field, to which he was expected to apply it with full cognisance of what was going on there, was mostly foreign to him. More than a little puzzled, he unburdened his mind to the Mother: “Mother, I have to be an expert political thinker and writer. But I have no turn for politics and no touch with it.” She smiled a cool sweet smile and answered: “Neither have I.” The Editor got a start: “Well, then what shall I do?” Again the imperturbable sweetness and then the reply: “There is Sri Aurobindo. He will guide you in everything.” A sudden flood of power swept over the hearer. “Oh, yes,” he said, “Sri Aurobindo will surely do the impossible.” And Sri Aurobindo did.
         Not only did he put from afar his mighty spiritual force to the task of ‘politicising’ the Editor's grey cells. He also got every editorial, however lengthy, read out to him before publication and sent a telegram of approval or modification. Matter for Mother India received preferential treatment among the sundry calls on the precious time of the Avatar of Supermind. And his interest in it had a directly personal touch. On one occasion, when a sadhak's sceptical attitude to the opinions expressed in the fortnightly was reported to him, he said: “Doesn't he know that Mother India is my paper?” ”[3]


(Amal Kiran:) “Once, in the period when it was a vital issue whether or not to recognise Red China, an editorial came out in strong criticism of the current national policy. The Mother looked at the opening sentence in the printed copy that had come into her hands. It is reported that she was rather surprised at the way the thoughts had been voiced. She went to Sri Aurobindo's room and said: “Amal has written very violently. Did you see and pass the expressions before he printed them?” Sri Aurobindo, with his Himalayan calm, just smiled and said: “Yes.” This was enough for her: the Master was in sole charge of politics. She never took his disciple to task over any editorial. And when once he got into a little trouble with the authorities for a somewhat slashing article on Kashmir and was called up to be questioned, both she and Sri Aurobindo, on being informed, assured him of their spiritual support. The confrontation with the authorities got happily resolved.”[4]


(Amal Kiran:) “Two days before Sri Aurobindo passed away, the disciple had an interview with the Mother late in the evening. As the Master could not do his usual job, the Mother listened to the new editorial. She let it stand, but asked the writer to be cautious in certain matters. On her own responsibility she would not like to allow extremist expressions on some points. There should be no fear or faltering, but forces of a particular sort were not to be encouraged. After the passing of Sri Aurobindo all editorials were necessarily read out to her. At the end of a year or so, she expressed her boredom with political writing. Then Mother India was converted wholly into a cultural review and from a fortnightly it became a monthly, altering its format in the process. This was in February 1952.
         Suddenly some time in 1953 the Mother decided to shift the office from Bombay to Pondicherry and to get the monthly printed at the Ashram Press. The Editor was not himself yet ready to settle in the Ashram. So he had to do his work from Bombay, leaving the final arrangements in the hands of his editorial associate who was in Pondicherry. When, on a visit he asked the Mother why she had effected the sudden shift while he was still making preparations for a move to the Ashram, she replied: “I did not want anybody to create obstacles in your way. If your office, your work are here, you have every reason to say that you should be in Pondicherry. I have made your path of Yoga clear.”
         From February 1954 the Editor was helped to get fixed where his office had been moved. Now the Mother could be consulted directly at all times, and she presided most generously over the month-by-month run of the periodical, giving “Words” each time, and other contributions now and again, attending to diverse problems of cultural policy and practical management. Questioned on the issue of becoming more ‘popular’, she ruled that wanting to please readers as a means of obtaining a larger circulation was a form of vulgarity: one must write at one's highest and give the readers what, according to one's best lights, one believes they should have.”[5]




  1. Amal Kiran, The Sun and the Rainbow, p.56
  2. Ibid., p.57
  3. Ibid., p.58
  4. Ibid., p.60
  5. Ibid., p.61


See also

External links