Amal Kiran's Correspondence with The Mother

Amal Kiran was born Kekoo Dhunibhoy Sethna in Bombay on 25 November 1904. He joined the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in February 1927 at the age of twenty-two. After eleven years in the Ashram, he went back to Bombay where he lived for the next sixteen years. There in 1949 he started a journal, Mother India, which was largely devoted to the spiritual teaching and practice of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.

Amal returned to Pondicherry in February 1954 and remained for the rest of his life. His principal work was editing the monthly Mother India. Artist, poet, literary critic and all-round intellectual, he was a prolific writer and the author of more than a dozen books. On 29 June 2011 he passed away at the age of one hundred and six.

Amal’s correspondence with Sri Aurobindo was extensive. His interest in poetry elicited hundreds of comments by Sri Aurobindo on poetic creation and the composition of his epic Savitri. Amal’s correspondence with the Mother was also substantial. More down to earth, it dealt largely with personal problems, family affairs and the editing of Mother India. Many of these exchanges are included here to show how the Mother handled this brilliant and spirited disciple; they also reveal her deep concern for him.

The correspondence covers the period from 1930 to 1970. Most of the entries are in English; those in French appear here in translation.