Esha's recollections of some episodes of her life, as narrated to Nirodbaran in Bengali, who translated it in English. This is presented here in form of a book.
Sri Aurobindo : Contact
Nirodbaran on Esha's story : Esha, the late Dilip Kumar Roy's niece, was a little girl visiting the Ashram when I came to know her through my niece Jyotirmoyee with whom she had become very friendly. She wanted to settle in the Ashram, but her mother did not want it as she was still a minor. When after many years she came to the Ashram again and stayed with Sahana Devi, I became more closely acquainted with her. By that time she had already married and obtained her divorce and had decided to settle here. I came to her help and made all possible arrangements for the purpose. Since then I have come to know her well and listened to her narration of the incidents of her life. As I found them interesting I began to note them down and was thinking of publishing them in Mother India when somehow she got wind of it and strongly objected to it. As I felt I had Sri Aurobindo's sanction for it, I did not listen to her. In spite of my disregarding her objection, luckily she did not stop recounting her saga. Of course she narrated it in Bengali and later I put it down in English as faithfully as I could. When the story began to appear in Mother India, she insisted more than once that I should stop it. My answer was that I believed it could be helpful to many readers and that Sri Aurobindo seemed to support me.
THEME/S
My mother was ill, and as I could not look after my property, I thought of handing its management over to Fowler and Co., a well-known Calcutta firm which does this kind of business. I wanted in fact to sell our big house and buy a smaller one to suit our needs. I gave over the charge of the building to the company and signed the document without scrutinizing the terms and conditions. They made an estimate of all my property and charged Rs. 50,000/- for the contract. When I showed it to my advocate, he fell from the sky. "You have signed the document without reading it even once!"
"Well, I thought they must be honest people!"
He was dumbfounded at my naiveté.
In such eventualities, my only refuge is the Guru. I heard him saying that if I went on worrying, then whatever had to happen in the natural course of things would happen. If I wanted otherwise I should leave it to him. That made me free from worry. I could sleep well as I felt he had taken up all the responsibility.
Then I went to the manager of Fowler and Co. and made a clean breast of everything and said, "I haven't a pie at home. My mother is bed-ridden...."
"But why didn't you read the document?" he asked. "Who will pay our expenses?" I looked at him helplessly. He went inside. After a while he came out with our contract papers and, looking straight at me, said, "I believe you. We won't charge a thing." So saying he tore up the document in front of me and said: "In future be careful: Don't repose so much trust in people's honesty. You're very simple-hearted. You have a large property and you should consult your elders before taking any important decisions." So saying he bade me goodbye.
A few years later he died. When I came to know about it I paid a visit to his wife to offer my condolences and thank her for her husband's large-hearted gesture towards me. As she looked askance at me, I explained the predicament from which he had saved me. She listened to the story quietly. After a while her eyes moistened and she told me how he had a heart-attack and had quietly passed away. As I was leaving the house I felt a guardian presence in it.
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