Born on 10 April 1932, Snehalata Jauhar — better known as Lata in Sri Aurobindo Ashram — is the eldest daughter of Surendranath and Dayawati Jauhar. Surendranath Jauhar was a freedom fighter and entrepreneur who established the reputed firm ‘S.N. Sunderson & Co.’ In 1939 Surendranath and his friend Dr. Indra Sen went on a ‘Travel-as-you-please’ tour of India. During the course of their journey they visited Pondicherry in the month of December. On reaching Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Surendranath enquired about Sri Aurobindo and was told that He had not stirred out of His room in the first floor of the Ashram main building for the past several years and that a French lady was known as the Mother in the Ashram. The very sight of the Ashram roused his interest and curiosity for here was an Ashram where there were no hermits wearing ochre robes. He went to have the Darshan of the Mother. When he saw the Mother for the first time he was captivated; he felt as if an angel had descended from heaven. He surrendered himself to the Mother. He visited Pondicherry for the second time in February 1940 and had the Darshan of Sri Aurobindo. In December 1942 he visited Sri Aurobindo Ashram with his wife and children. On 12 February 1956 with the blessings of the Mother, Surendranath established the Delhi branch of Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
Lata visited the Ashram for the first time in 1942 at the age of ten. She visited the Ashram for the second time in 1944 and stayed back. She was one of the earliest students of the Ashram School. When the Mother started ‘Dortoir’ — the first Boarding for young children in the Ashram — on 15 January 1945 Lata became one of its first occupants. She had the privilege of serving Sri Aurobindo (and the Mother of course) by preparing carrot juice and making cream and butter for Them. She also used to cut fruits into small pieces to be served to Him and the Mother. Another work that was assigned to her was putting plastic covers on books. Later she joined the Ashram School where she taught Mathematics, Science and English. She is a linguist and a teacher of foreign languages at the Higher Course of Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education. She has also worked in the Batik Section of the Ashram for three decades.
My Ashram life started on 1 August 1944. That was my second visit and I stayed here. I didn’t go back. Although till 13 January 1945 I lived with my mother and after that I entered the Boarding. I was alone at that time. And then there were these veterans who were appointed — two Parsi ladies — Gulben and Sirinben. Upstairs on the first floor was for girls; ground-floor was for the boys. For the boys there was another lady appointed; she was from South India, Chellamma was her name. I was always alone with the ladies. We were sent before to the Boarding to see and look after the place and keep it ready. And so I was alone but I was quite a naughty person so these people had a hard time with me and they complained to Mother. Everything used to go to Mother because in those days the Ashram was smaller and we immediately could talk to Mother. Anyway, on the first day I felt very nice because in the evening Mother sent to me a basketful of fruits, chocolates and biscuits — all for me. I thought I was really spoilt because at home we didn’t get so much attention. All the things I liked I got on that day. At that time again I had this feeling that this is my home. And She is my mother. It was something which gave me a lot of joy. Then on 15 August the others came also. It was officially a Boarding. Mother gave lot of importance to this Boarding because we were the first children without our parents and She had given instructions. Purani-ji’s daughter Anuben was also coming to work there in the beginning and after that she took over the charges of ‘Dortoir’. And there was Kusumben from Senteurs; she also was working and they were given instruction by Mother about how to bring us up. When we sleep, we are in another world so we should not be woken up abruptly; very softly, very gently they should bring us back to this world. And they followed everything what Mother said. We didn’t have this type of Boarding life with so much love and all. So when they used to come to us I used to purposely remain in bed longer so that I get a little more of caressing and all. So we were really very much spoilt by them.
We used to see Sri Aurobindo on Darshan days only. And I can’t tell you much about it. The only thing was that we felt a lot of devotion and love. I can only tell you the feeling that we had. For us He was our Guru but the word ‘Guru’ we did not know what it was at that time. For us He was someone who was above this world, like a God. As children you don’t put words in anything. You just feel.
So that’s how Boarding started and since then I am here.
There were no sports at that time. We were living in the building adjacent to the Playground which was next door. When Playground started with us, everyday we used to run and play and Purani-ji used to make us do races. But it was not a Playground as it is now organized. Gradually it started taking shape. We used to have some races and Purani-ji was the main person. Then there were more children coming and so it was divided into small groups for girls. Anuben was taking our group — she became the Captain. Then Pranab-da came. When he came, Mother started giving lot of importance to physical education and the Playground started taking form gradually. Before that there were no costumes for the sports. We used to do in any dress we were wearing. Then afterwards girls started wearing salwar-kameez and played basketball; then it became pajama and blouse and from that it came to shorts. Shorts came in 1947 or 1948. I remember, when She chose shorts we had a march-past in the town on the French Republic Day. During the French Republic Day the Pondicherry people and soldiers used to take part in the march-past and there was one French captain who asked Mother if our Ashram would participate. Mother agreed very happily. But it was going to be a very difficult task because the girls would be there and the town-people were not ready to see the girls marching past through the town like that. Very heavy guard was given on both sides. The French captain took a lot of care because he had promised Mother that he would take care of the girls.
Mother Herself came and served us oranges and biscuits in the Playground here and for the march-past She got a special dress made for us — blouses with collars embroidered and full pants and kitty cap. There are photographs of that time also. So when we turned to shorts, it was again a big event. She would, of course, tell Sri Aurobindo everything. Elderly ladies like Millie-di (Jhumur’s mother) who had never worn shorts before in their life had to wear shorts when they participated. They are all in photographs in shorts. Then it became something common. My shorts were not yet ready. My sister Tara had started wearing shorts; she had told Mother that she wanted to cut her hair or Mother told her to cut her hair. So I borrowed her shorts and got myself photographed because I wanted to send a photograph to my parents in Delhi. Before sending the photograph I showed it to Mother and Mother said: “Is it for me?” I said: “Mother, you can take it.” So She took the photograph and it got published in the Bulletin of 1949. I think it was the first Bulletin. There were two more persons, that is, Tapati-di — Manoj-da’s sister and Minoo-di, the in-charge of Embroidery Department. So it was quite a sensation. Even Tapati-di and others were very young but for them wearing shorts was an event. Mostly people who came here wore saris and they never in the first place wore any other dress. Now everybody wears everything. Mother was always forward in everything. She did things much before the time. Now in big cities everybody is wearing jeans and all but at that time it was a real sensation in the whole country. Pondicherry was the first place where in the Ashram people started wearing these dresses and uniforms.
I was a student. I used to go to school, do my homework, go to Playground for sports and all. And then I was learning sitar, attending dance classes. We were fully occupied. Mother wanted us to go to bed early so we went to bed early. She did not want us to remain awake after 8.30 p.m. She used to take Pranam at night for adults. Because She used to be very busy with so many activities the Pranam was becoming late and late. It was supposed to begin at 8 o’clock but it started at ten, eleven, midnight. But we were not allowed. Once we asked Mother: “Mother, can we come for Pranam on Saturday?” Then She allowed us. As it used to become midnight we used to sleep in the courtyard or listen to some stories from some grown-up people. Pranab-da’s brother Hriday-da used to come and wake us up when we used to fall asleep. Then when Mother would come, Haradhan-da used to come and wake us up with “Mother has come! Mother has come!” He used to wear khadam and you could hear his footsteps. Then we used to get up, rub our eyes and go to Mother. Those were the days of War so Mother used to go often in trance to help the people. Sometimes She would hold the hand of somebody and go off in a trance and that person used to feel so nice that She is holding the hand for ten minutes. Some people wanted that She would hold their hands. So that way there were 5-6 Pranams every day. That was the type of life we had.
Everything was striking! I don’t know whether if I can really talk about it exactly. For me it was His whole personality which I saw of a Godhead. If I say something about these details it becomes too mental and I never had a mental life. It was just as a child feels and sees. We knew Him as a Godhead and nothing more than that.
His gaze was really going deep into each person. That’s what I felt. He was going in the depth of each one and maybe into the soul.
I was at that time working with Ravindra-ji making fruit juice for Mother and Sri Aurobindo. I was his student but at that time students used to work and somehow we were working with Ravindra-ji. He gave me the opportunity of making fruit juice for Mother and Sri Aurobindo. I used to make carrot juice everyday. In those days there were no refrigerators; carrots were not available — they used to come from Bangalore once a week. There was a small but broad pot; we would put sand and water and put the carrots under the sand. We used to take out two carrots everyday from there, wash them nicely, slice them and grind them on a stone. There were no machines. Then we would take up the juice and fill two small glasses — one for Mother and one for Sri Aurobindo. In the same way I used to arrange fruits like chiku and oranges; I would take out the threads and seeds, cut them in small pieces and put in two bowls — one for Mother and one for Sri Aurobindo. My father used to bring Kabul grapes from Delhi in crates. Those grapes were very delicate and didn’t last at all. So he used to travel by air to bring those grapes. On one occasion the luggage was overweight and it was not allowed by the airline authorities. My father never wanted to pay anything extra so he told them, “Please let me go, this is very important.” But they won’t allow; even if it was one kilo extra they charged for it. Then there was a fat person passing by and my father said: “Look, you are allowing this overweight and I am so thin. So why can’t I take a little more weight? I’ll still be under his weight.” But they laughed and still did not allow him. So he said, “Okay, I will also not pay extra.” He took out his dress — he was wearing churidar and kurta — he went to the bathroom and wore all his clothes one on top of the other and then did not pay anything extra. He came home and started taking off his clothes one after the other. When we asked what happened, he told us the story that he did not want to pay anything extra so he came with those grapes. So I used to prepare these grapes for Mother and Sri Aurobindo. Even pomegranates were coming from Bombay or Pune — Kumudben’s father used to bring them in great quantity. I used to put them in a tray and take to Mother separately, that is, not during the Pranams. And I used to wait in the passage between Mother’s apartments and Sri Aurobindo’s. She used to pass by, look at the things and say, “You are a very good girl.” And I was so happy that I got some compliment from Her. She was always pleasing us with nice compliments. And then I was getting the extra opportunity to see Her except during Pranams and when She used to give flowers. All this I did till Sri Aurobindo was there and for some more days after He left. I don’t remember how it stopped. Then I used to prepare cream from milk. I would go on churning for forty-five minutes or one hour and the thick cream would rise…
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