Sri Aurobindo and Mother to Prithwi Singh

31 December 1949

Ma douce Mere,

Yesterday a big glass pane of one of the doors at the farther end of the room where I work in the Library was broken by the boys while playing. The actual person Krishnamurti who had broken it while pushing aside a spinning top of another boy admitted it himself and cleaned the room full of scattered bits of splintered glass. Fortunately no one was sitting there at the time.

The children play and shout so lustily before Satyen's⁷⁰ room that after 10 or ten-thirty it becomes difficult to work. When told they move away a little farther, but again return after a few minutes and start their noisy game.

It is not the children so much as their parents who are more to blame. Their contention is that the Mother is looking after them and they have no responsibilities. But when the milk is a little short of supply they are the first persons to howl, lamenting about the ill nourishment of their children and the danger of illness, etc., etc., in spite of the very nourishing general diet of the Ashram, supplemented by almost cent per cent of the families here by extras, prasad or otherwise. Then nobody remains satisfied by reposing on the Mother's responsibility!

But I hope, Mother, that it may be possible to do something to prevent the Ashram building from being turned into another playground.

With deep devotion I prostrate myself at Thy Feet to offer my pranams.

Prithwi Singh

All that you say above is quite true—as for the children playing, we shall try to stop them.

With my love and blessings

Mother