India - the Mother

August 15, 1954

(A note written on the occasion of France's cession of Pondicherry to India. Mother requested the government of India to allow her to have a dual nationality, Indian and French, but the government expressed its inability to do so.)

I want to mark this day by the expression of a long cherished wish; that of becoming an Indian citizen. From the first time I came to India in 1914—I felt that India is my true country, the country of my soul and spirit. I had decided to realize this wish as soon as India would be free. But I had to wait....

I am French by birth and early education, I am Indian by choice and predilection. In my consciousness there is no antagonism between the two, on the contrary, they combine very well and complete one another. I know also that I can be of service to both equally, for my only aim in life is to give a concrete form to Sri Aurobindo's great teaching and in his teaching he reveals that all the nations are essentially one and meant to express the Divine Unity upon earth through an organized and harmonious diversity.

Words of the Mother - I: Outer Life