Surendra Mohan Ghosh drinks tea with Nolini-da²³

Surendra Mohan Ghosh was a seniormost Parliamentarian in India. Then he became President of the Calcutta Commission. He was a disciple of Sri Aurobindo. He is the one who used to get private interviews with Sri Aurobindo even after Sri Aurobindo stopped giving them. At that time, he was a Congress leader and Sri Aurobindo used to advise him. Even in those days, in 1945 or ’46, Sri Aurobindo was interested in knowing about Indian politics.

Surendra Mohan Ghosh was also our Nolini-da’s best friend. Whenever he used to come to the Ashram, he used to drink tea with Nolini-da around one-thirty in the afternoon. My cousin Nirmala was the one who used to make tea for Nolini-da twice a day.

My first meeting with Surendra Mohan Ghosh took place in Nolini-da’s room. One day this gentleman was there and he and Nolini-da were drinking tea and chatting. With folded hands, I entered the room to get some papers. I knew they would not mind. I was going out again very respectfully when Nolini-da asked me to stop. He introduced me and then said in English, “Chinmoy is my only authority on all my writings and everything about me.” By that time, I had translated hundreds of Nolini-da’s articles from Bengali into English.

Afterwards, Surendra Mohan Ghosh asked me to come to his place and he was so nice to me. He was one of those who helped me considerably to get my Indian passport when I was having so many difficulties. He liked me very, very much.

When my second book came out, I gave him a copy. The name of the book is The Mother of the Golden All. After he read it, he quoted a very well-known verse from Kalidasa. It means:

Then he said, “Through the Mother’s Grace, everything is possible.” He knew that I did not complete my schooling and I did not have any degree, but the Grace descended upon me.