Chachaji

The day was Wednesday, the date the 4th December 1956 and the place the Safdarjang Airport. The dazzling sun from the clear, cloudless sky had bathed the whole airport in its rays, thus dispelling the chill of December and making the afternoon bright and pleasantly warm. A crowd of quite a few hundred eager men, women and children stood just behind the railings, their eyes lifted towards the heavens keenly waiting for the descent.

Crowds at the Capital’s airport these days are almost the order of the day. But the atmosphere at the airport on this day was distinctly unusual. There was no jostling of crowds, shouting of slogans or stampede and garlanding. There were instead serenity and devotion writ large on the faces, investing the atmosphere with dignity and reverence. The crowd manifested clearly the cosmopolitan character of the Capital. Those present included leading politicians, parliamentarians, teachers, students, businessmen, journalists, and press photographers. A sprinkling of foreigners and saffron-robed Buddhist monks and swamis had made the scene not only a representative one but also quite colourful.

The Advent

At about ten past four there was a stir in the crowd and in a few minutes a giant Viscount of the IAC was wheeling on the metalled airstrip, a few hundred feet from the railings on which rested a thousand hands of the waiting devotees. A minute later the exit door of the plane opened vertically and we saw the lean and serene figure of Dr. Indra Sen carrying a small leather box, placed on a blue velvet cloth which lay on his outstretched hands, followed by the modestly smiling Anil K. Jauhar who was acting as escort.

As Dr. Indra Sen began to alight on the steps, a small group of people, consisting amongst others, of Dr. C.D. Deshmukh, Shri Surendra Mohan Ghosh, Shri Haribhau Upadhyay, Kaka Sahib Kalelkar, Shri Himangshu Niyogi and Shri Keshav Dev Poddar and myself, and flanked on the two sides by a boy and a girl carrying Sri Aurobindo’s and the Mother’s flags respectively, came forward to accord reception. Heralded by the sweet, continuous melody of the conches and under the glare of the whirring movie cameras and exploding flash bulbs, the small group slowly headed towards the waiting van containing the palki.

Those gathered at the airport had now occupied every vantage position on the small route leading to the waiting van. Students of the Delhi Ashram School and the Modern School stood in formation on the two sides of the route and as the core of the procession passed, they showered rose petals. When Dr. Indra Sen reached the van containing the palki, the crowd pressed forward for a fleeting glimpse of the box in which lay the relics. He then placed the relics box in the small silver palki which rested on a raised wooden platform fixed in the rear open part of the van. Dr. Indra Sen and myself sat in the van facing the palki.

The Procession

Piloted by a motor-cyclist and a jeep, which carried Sri Aurobindo’s flags, the relics started the journey to the Ashram in a procession made up of a score of cars and some trucks which were packed with the devotees and school children. It was about 5 p.m. when the procession reached the Ashram where a number of persons were waiting for the reception of the relics. Dr. Indra Sen took the relics inside the Ashram and kept them on a decorated table in the Meditation Hall the air of which was thick with sweet fragrance of incense. The Hall was crowded immediately and the devotees started filing past the relics while many more waited outside in a long queue.

At about 5.10 p.m. the meeting scheduled for the occasion commenced its deliberations in the long and decorated front lawn of the Ashram with a few minutes’ meditation. Amongst those who briefly addressed the congregation were Shri Jay Smith, Shri Haribhau Upadhyay and Dr. Indra Sen. The meeting concluded with a devotional song by Mr. Ramesh Kapur. Long after the termination of the meeting, a number of people remained behind in the Ashram, most of them seated in the Meditation Hall, wondering at the marvel and drawing upon the Divine Presence.

The Meditation Hall, wherein the relics lay prior to enshrinement was the scene of constant meditation by the aspirants whose prayers mingled with the sweet fragrance of flowers and incense to create a deeply devotional atmosphere. Men and women, deeply touched by the serenity and solemnity of the occasion, peered at the casket containing the relics, marvelling at their power and force which had so highly surcharged the atmosphere with divinity.

The Second Day

The advent of the relics in the Capital, the touching reception accorded to them at the airport the previous day and its wide coverage by the Press and the AIR had, one might say, made the Delhi air breathe the name of Sri Aurobindo. Thus, defying the chilly breeze on the December morning, the devotees had started trickling into the Ashram since early hours. A number of sadhaks came from different parts of the country — Calcutta, Bombay, Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Assam, Panna, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar etc. — many of whom stayed in the Ashram.

By about 9 a.m. when the function was scheduled to begin, the front lawn of the Ashram, which was the venue, was fully packed with devotees. People came to pay their homage to the Master despite the distance, the overcast sky which actually broke into a drizzle twice or thrice and the fact that it was a working day. Clouds and the sun competed with each other to offer their shradhanjali, thus investing the atmosphere with enchanting and dramatic colour and beauty. Gods also did not lag behind and they sent the rainbow as their colourful offering.

On a specially erected four feet high dais, about twenty feet from the Shrine, sat Dr. C.D. Deshmukh, Kaka Sahib Kalelkar, Shri Haribhauji, Dr. Indra Sen, Shri Yashpal Jain, Shri Hansraj Gupta and myself. The audience included Shri K.C. Reddy, Shri K.C. Neogy, Shri Surendra Mohan Ghosh, M.P., Shri K.D. Poddar, Shri Himangshu Neyogi and others. On the right side of the platform was the Press enclosure with a contingent of correspondents representing the Delhi Press besides the ace commentator of the AIR, Melville de Mello.

It was in these settings that the fuction started at 9 a.m. sharp, with a sweet rendering of sarod by one of India’s top musicians, Shri Nandlal Ghosh. The music ushered in deep meditation for about 10 minutes. Shri Yash Pal Jain then read out the messages of President, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Vice-President Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, the Congress President Shri U.N. Dhebar and others. The Chairman of the Sri Aurobindo Samadhi Working Committee, Shri Haribhau Upadhyay then read a brief welcome address and requested Dr. C.D. Deshmukh to enshrine the relics.

The Enshrinement

The relics were now brought out from the Meditation Hall in a small procession led by a boy and a girl carrying Sri Aurobindo’s and the Mother’s flags. The procession entered the gaily decorated lawn in which lies the grey marble Shrine around which sadhaks had woven beautiful patterns of multi-coloured flowers which formed symbols alternately of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. I lifted the red marble lotus bud and Dr. Deshmukh, his head bowed and hands carrying the casket, advanced and placed the relics in the marble bowl on the top of the cube. The marble lotus bud was now put back into its place — over the casket containing the relics — and thus ended the brief, simple and dignified Enshrinement Ceremony.

The resumed proceedings of the meeting began with Dr. Deshmukh’s address, alternating in English and Hindi. The address was scholarly, analytical and eloquent. It made a great impact which was further enhanced by the quiet dignity, modesty and humility of his person. Dr. Deshmukh was followed by Kaka Sahib Kalelkar. It was well past noon when Dr. Indra Sen, whose countenance glowed with deep gratification and devotion, rose to speak on the significance of the occasion and the Shrine.

Towards the close of the function Shri Dhebarbhai arrived and straightaway went to the Shrine where he placed flowers as a token of his shradhanjali. In a brief address, I said that all those who had been associated with the enshrinement ceremony, in one or the other capacity, were indeed privileged and blessed, and doubly blessed were those fortunate souls to whom it was given to discover the twin prophets of the age. The proceedings were formally concluded with the Bande Mataram rendered by a group of girls.

The New Era

And thus came to an end a ceremony which has, so to say, ushered a new era into Delhi. Establishment of Sri Aurobindo Ashram Delhi Branch earlier and now the presence of the Master’s relics in New Delhi have made a momentous contribution towards filling an important void, a near vacuum of spirituality, in the life of the rapidly growing and internationally important metropolis of India. That the Shrine of Sri Aurobindo should rise in an area dotted by the ruins of great kings and kingdoms is symbolic of the perpetual triumph of the spirit over matter. Sri Aurobindo’s Shrine is not simply another historical monument amongst the cluster of ancient monuments. It is no monument to a king or a wordly kingdom but to the immortal, ever-inspiring and ever-elevating soul, immune to the ravages and vagaries of time and space.