Recollections

The Hut under the silk cotton tree

The silk cotton tree is a very special landmark of Pondicherry town. Though the house in which was this giant tree belonged to a local gentleman, yet it was rented to the Ashram. The house was called “Chettiar House”. Chettiar might have been the name of the proprietor.

When this particular property was in the hands of the Ashram, it had three buildings. On the eastern side there was a long building with a narrow verandah in front: it had five or six rooms and were occupied by some Sadhaks. Then there was an annex to the eastern building; two Parsi sisters lived in that and lastly on the south there was the main building used as the tailoring department of Albert-da.

There was a long courtyard running from south to north and at the north most side was is this giant silk cotton tree. And this courtyard was under Nirmal-da’s care.

Nirmal-da, was one of the gardeners of the Ashram like Parichand-da, Jotin-da, Jiban-da, Atal-da (Maret Garden).

Nirmal-da loved dearly the children and particularly the boys. He had a very soft corner for the boys of green group. He had built a hut under the silk cotton tree, probably to store his gardening tools. But it so happened that some young boys fell in love with that hut and wanted it as their nook of special retreat. Nirmal-da willingly handed it over to them.

The green group boys who are now of grand parent’s age began to feel very special. They would just get into the hut and sit inside whenever they had some free moments.

In the fifties there wasn’t a lot of money around and neither were there any individual or family connected with the Ashram and yet lived a private life. For young Ashramites there were no night out or such amusement but only one picnic after the 2nd December programme. So whenever the youngsters wanted a little diversion they would bring slices of Ashram bread, butter (which was distributed every Sunday and that too quite generously) and some bananas and have a picnic in that hut.

These green group boys had a brilliant idea and that was to grow vegetables for The Mother. They approached Nirmal-da with their proposal, naturally Nirmal-da was extremely happy to help and be their guide. He supplied them with seeds of radish and ladies finger, asparagus and some other vegetables. He chalked out a small plot for each one of them.

The work began in earnest. The young boys learnt to till the ground, remove pebbles and stones, add manure, smooth the surface, make the bed and sow the seed.

Sowing over, one has to wait for the germination. For the enthusiasts it was a test of patience. Whenever there was a short break in school one or the other would rush to Chettiar House to find out if there was any further development.

One morning, before the school began there was great excitement among the young gardeners. In whisper the news spread among them that a layer of green is visible on the surface. At 9.30 break most of the members of green group rushed to Chettiar House to witness the miracle. As days passed, the plants grew, the leaves sprouted, then one of the boys discovered that there was also bud like growth on the ladies finger plant. The radishes were naturally underground thus it was not possible to examine their growth.

Meanwhile Nirmal-da informed them that the Vegetables have to be tender for the Mother’s kitchen. When he realised that it only made him visit those plots a few times a day at the insistence of the young gardeners, he assured them that he would let them know of the correct harvesting time.

At last the eventful day arrived and Nirmal-da gave the green signal. The first lot of vegetable were the radishes. They were uprooted and with Nirmal-da’s help washed and dried with great care and love.

It must have been Nirmal-da who found a brass plate to carry the produce to the Mother. The boys washed and polished the plate till it shone like one of gold.

The radishes were arranged in that plate and were covered with a beautiful crocheted cover.

It was the period when the Mother came thrice a week to give blessing in the morning. She used to sit where there is Her enlarged seated photo at present in the Meditation Hall.

The boys in a group stood in front of Her and offered Her their labour of love. She took the plate, removed the cover, saw those tiny radishes so beautifully arranged and then looked at the boys and gave a smile. The smile She bestowed upon them was a gift for one’s whole life time.

Mother blessed the boys, gave each an extra flower (a rose) in addition to the regular one that she distributed in general. The young gardeners’ joy knew no bound.

The girls of the same group too began to grow vegetables for the Mother but they were unable to continue. As to the vegetable cultivation by the boys continued for a period and then it stopped. But the hut remained in their possession. The ownership was handed down from generation to generation of green group boys till the house was sold off to someone.