I am not going to study⁵⁹

Gabriel Monod-Herzen was in charge of all the high schools in Pondicherry.⁶⁰ His mother was at the Ashram. Alas, alas, when I wanted to get permission to study in Pondicherry, outside the Ashram, I went to the wrong person, my French teacher. The Mother wanted me to go to another person, a Frenchman named Saint-Hilaire (Pavitra) who was the Mother’s foreign secretary. He and Gabriel were very close friends. She said, “If Pavitra takes you and tells Gabriel, who is an inspector for all the high schools, they will definitely accept you.”

By that time I had changed my mind. I said, “I am not going to study at a school in Pondicherry any more.”

Sometimes you want to go in a certain direction. You are absolutely sure that is the right way. But before long, you come to realise that it is absolutely the wrong way.