Flame of Love

Sweet Memories

My earliest memories of Motiben — Foiba as I have always known her — are those of a strictly disciplined sadhika: not very communicative, very quiet and reserved, ever concentrated only on her assigned work. She always dressed in a spotlessly white Ashram sari, draped in her native Gujarati style and cowling her head.

In the last two decades, I found her completely mellowed down — at all times she would be full of love and affection. But most apparent was her unshakable faith, love and adoration for Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. She would tell us that often Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, and sometimes Sri Krishna, came and talked to her. This was, she said, mainly because she was living in the room that Mother herself had once occupied. I remember her telling me once that Sri Aurobindo had come that morning and enquired after her health. Sometimes, however, people around her would see her gesticulating angrily, as if at some invisible being, ordering it to go away. Who were those beings or forces has never been known, because she never responded to questions on that subject.

Foiba had her own way of showering her blessings and offering guidance. For instance, she always told us to do japa of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. "Never forget them even for a moment," she would emphasize. "For, one day we shall have to leave everything in this world and go, and at that time they alone will be with us. Always remember them and pray for their guidance and protection."

Foiba possessed a deep and vast wisdom which gave

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Champaklal's family

Top: Taraben (Sunderlal's wife), Motiba, Ambaben (Champaklal's elder sister), Kantilal

Center : Sunderlal , Pavatiben (Motiba's elder sister), Chhotelal & umiya ( Champaklal's Father & mother), Champaklal

Bottom : Laxmi (Ambaben's daughter ), Bansidhar

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her an inner eye to know and comprehend all who came to her. She would catch the person's vibrations and thoughts but kept a perfect control over her own reactions to them; nothing in her conversations or expressions revealed what she had seen or understood.

She was wont to burst into devotional songs, often singing her bhajans for hours together. Even at a hundred and eleven, her memory, I must say, was just fantastic. The atmosphere created by her pure and unalloyed bhakti has turned me into a lifelong devotee of Foiba. I gratefully bow to her boundless faith and her immeasurable inner development.

There is another thing I recall with great pleasure. Although Foiba never asked anyone for anything, there would appear an unforgettable sparkle in her eyes when she was presented with something she liked or needed. "Thank you, thank you, thank you very much," she would say. It was a sparkle that thrilled us to the very core and made us grateful for the opportunity of witnessing it.

I bow down once again to the great souls who offered themselves so absolutely to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. I pray to the Mother and Sri Aurobindo to grant us the strength, courage, and complete faith to be able to follow their luminous footsteps to reach the Goal.

ASHA KOTHARI

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Four brothers

Kantilai, Sunderlal, Champaklal. Bansidhar, 28 February 1932

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