KendraUnfolds

9-9-1978

Dear Shri J.N. Rathi,

Please find enclosed two copies of the ‘write-up on our plan
of activities at our Zonal Centre at Malad, Bombay. This Zonal
Centre will be known as ‘Vivekananda Kendra Pratishthan,
Malad, Bombay’.

I am leaving for Rameswaram this afternoon. I am at Madras
on 12th and 13th.

With regards,

Yours sincerely,

17-09-1978
Kolkhtta
Dear Shri Pilla Ramarao,

I am writing this to you after a long time. I hope this finds you
and other friends at Visakhapatnam in good health and spirits.

This communication is with a specific purpose. You may be
knowing Shri Nookaraju (Goods Clerk, S.E. Railway, C/o A.C.I.
(T), Visakhapatnam-1) a diploma holder in Civil Engineering
but serving as a goods clerk in S.E. Railway, for the last seven
years. He has been writing to us in connection with his desire to
join Vivekananda Kendra as a whole-time worker, resigning his
present job.

As he says he is well known to you, I am writing this to seek
your opinion about the uprightness of his character, steadfastness
of his mind and the sincerity of his urge to dedicate the rest of his
life for the cause of Vivekananda Kendra.

I shall expect your letter at my Calcutta address given below. I
shall be able to send him a positive or a negative reply only after
hearing from you.

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If you do not know him well, I request you to refer the matter
to one of our friends who knows him intimately and convey to
me his assessment.

With regards,

Yours affectionately,
Calcutta address:
Vivekananda Kendra, 16-10-1978
P.B.No. 11471, 76/2, Calcutta
Bidhan Sarani Flat X-12,
Calcutta-700 006.


Dear Shri G.D. Palkar,

I am in receipt of your letter dated 1-9-1978. I got it here a
couple of days back, on my return from Port Blair.

Regarding your desire to devote your time to the Vivekananda
Kendra work after your retirement, we shall discuss the matter
in person when we happen to meet. We may easily get such an
opportunity at Nagpur when I visit the place, probably in March,
1979. Regarding Kumari Sunita Gawande’s application, we had
selected her but it seems that, in the end, her parents succeeded
in persuading her to give up the idea. This phenomenon is not
new to us. I had anticipated it in her case also.

Those who join the Vivekananda Kendra as aspirant life-
workers, whether men or women, are expected to detach
themselves from their families, physically, mentally and even
emotionally. To the extent the aspirant life-worker achieves this,
he or she may succeed in devoting or yoking himself or herself,
with single mindedness attention, to the cause he or she has
undertaken to serve as selfless life-commitment. People are not,
therefore, misinformed in any sense if they think that the life of
a Jeevan-Vrati is as rigorous as that of a monk or a nun in all
matters except that a Jeevan-Vrati may decide to take to married
life, if one feels like doing so, and may accordingly under the
guidance of the Kendra, find for oneself a suitable life-partner in

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marriage, capable of tuning himself or herself to the same ideal
and the same life-discipline.

Visiting Bangalore, Mangalore, Poona, Bombay, Delhi,
Varanasi, Ajmer, Ahmedabad and Madras, I am to reach
Kanyakumari on 11th November.

Recently, I met dear Aparna at Tinsukia. She is doing well and
is presently engaged in running the nursery classes along with
Shri Prabhakar Dixit and Smt. Surekha Dixit.

Please convey my Sasneha Namaskars to Aparna’s mother

and my affection and blessings to Aparna’s younger brother.

With regards,

Yours sincerely,

17-10-1978
Dear Anantrao, Calcutta

I am in receipt of your letter dated 17-9-1978. It reached my
hands on my return here from my Port Blair visit on 13th October.

As you have rightly pointed out, the vacuum left by the Late
Ramnath is difficult to be filled up, especially because he had
developed in him a rare combination of certain unique qualities
which none may be able to emulate or equal.

The mysterious ways of the Divine are, indeed,
incomprehensible. One is unable to comprehend the Divine
design in snatching away dear Ramnath abruptly from amongst
us. In fact, Ramnath’s total identification with the Kendra
movement soon after his entry into it, by what appeared then to
be mere accidental, unmistakably shows that, but for the hand
of the Divine behind the scene, things would not have taken the
shape as they did. Against this background, his sudden recall
by higher powers, is all the more un-understandable. Our only
prayer to the Lord is to endow us with insight to get at least a
glimpse of the Divine scheme of things.

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The Late Shri Madhaorao’s sudden deterioration in his
otherwise improving health, and his eventual departure from
this world, is another severe blow in close succession, inflicted
upon us by cruel Destiny. In a way, it is indeed merciful on His
part that He keeps us blissfully ignorant of all calamities that are
to befall us.

You seem to be unnecessarily apprehensive about my health.
Mysteriously enough, I am experiencing a steady increase in my
energy and stamina since I have relinquished the most exacting
office of the General Secretaryship of the Kendra. Regarding the
frequent tours that I continue to undertake, I would like to share
a secret with you. It is this that these tours, far from proving a
health hazard, serve as an effective tonic for my aging body.

For your information I may add that I am to be at Bombay on
25th and 28th of October and also on 8th November. You may
enquire about the details from Shri Anil Sarode.

Please convey my Sasneha Namaskars to Sow. Vahini and my
affection and blessings to youngsters.

With regards,

Yours affectionately,



18-10-1978
Calcutta

Dear Shri R.N. Parashar,

I am in receipt of your letter dated 18th September. It reached
my hands on my return here from Port Blair on 13th October.

It is true that since I relinquished the General Secretaryship
of the Kendra my ‘work-load’ has considerably been reduced.
Though I have not yet stopped touring and, in a way, I do
continue to attend to the Kendra work, I do not have to bear the
‘load’ part of it. I feel, therefore, greatly relieved.

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I know fully well that you very much wished to involve
yourself in the Vivekananda Kendra work after your retirement.
I am also aware how one difficulty or the other kept you away
from fulfilling that cherished desire. However, I feel that if you
had gathered a little more courage or a bit of recklessness needed
for treading any new path, and acted unhesitatingly in the way I
had suggested to you, you would have fulfilled your aspiration
long back.

Visiting a few places more, I shall be reaching Kanyakumari
on 11th November. I propose to be there till about the 10th of
December, after which I may again start my tour.

Please convey my Sasneha Namaskars to your wife and
other members of the family. My blessings and affection to all
youngsters.

With regards,

Yours sincerely,

18-10-1978
Dear Shri Ramavatar, Calcutta

Received your letter dated 21st September and have noted the
contents.

In your letter you have rightly pointed out that you have certain
duties towards your people at home. If you are fully aware of
this, then the only alternative for you is to exert yourself utmost
to discharge these responsibilities. There may be difficulties in
the way. But, you must gather courage in both hands to face
them bravely and cheerfully.

If, in pursuing one’s difficult path of duty bravely, one meets death,
such a life would be described as a meaningful career meeting its
glorious end. But, if one remains always depressed for the hardships
that one is required to face and frets and fumes all the time over one’s
lot, he is already dead. Such a person has not to end his life formally, to

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be declared dead. He is dead even before he stops breathing.

I do not have in my view any work that could be suggested
to you at Kanyakumari or elsewhere. You should totally give up
the idea of leaving your place.

With regards, Yours affectionately,


19-10-1978
Calcutta
Dear Dr. S.L. Prabhawalkar,

Please refer to your letter dated July 16, 1978. I could not write
to you earlier as your letter reached my hands very late. The
delay may be on account of my being continuously on the move
in the preceding three months.

At the outset, let me inform you that you and your wife are
quite fresh in my memory, though we lost trace of each other
since we met last at Bombay in 1974.

I came to know about the ‘India Abroad Foundation’ for the
first time from your letter. I am deeply interested to learn that
the Foundation is a non-political and non-sectarian organisation
with an object to render service to Indians in the fields of
Health, Education and Development. By happy coincidence,
the objectives of the Foundation and those of our organisation
happen to be more or less identical and I see good prospects of
a meaningful, mutual relationship to be developed between the
two in time to come.

I am enclosing for your perusal a few brochures spelling out,
in brief, the aims, objects and programmes of the Vivekananda
Kendra. While going through them, you may be impressed by
the similarity of basic objectives before the Vivekananda Kendra
and the Foundation.

As a befitting sequel to the erection of the magnificent Memorial
on the Vivekananda Rock, we switched on to social service

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activities in various fields to give practical shape to Swamiji’s
message: Serve Man, Serve God. We first addressed ourselves
to the basic work of training cadres of dedicated workers. We
have so far succeeded in deploying over fifty trained, dedicated
workers, both men and women, especially in the north-eastern
region of our country.

1. We have recently started seven residential schools for the
benefit of tribals in the remote areas in Arunachal Pradesh of the
north-eastern region.

2. We are also exploring the possibility of training ‘Social
Workers in Medicare’ for being deployed in backward areas of
the country. Dispensaries, both stationary and mobile, equipped
with audio-visual aids, are also being planned at a few places to
begin with.

3. It is also under contemplation to put up a center at a suitable
place in the country-side to train workers for being deployed in
rural areas for undertaking rural development. At this Training
Centre, a specimen farm to demonstrate advanced methods of
cultivation, along with Dairy Farm, Poultry, Bee-keeping, etc.
will have to be organised.

I shall be posting you with all information in connection with
the progress of our work, from time to time.

For your information, I may add that in April 1979, I am
planning to visit States, U.K. and a few other countries in
connection with the Vivekananda Kendra work. During this tour
abroad, I shall also be visiting New York and shall utilise the
opportunity to discuss with you and other like-minded friends
matters of common interest.

During my next Bombay visit I propose to meet your people

at home. I presume that your wife is not with you at New York

but is in Bombay.

With regards,

Yours affectionately,

307

19-11-1978

Dear Shri W.A. Limaye,

I am in receipt of your letter dated 10-11-1978 and have noted
the contents.

Though your urge and enthusiasm to dedicate the rest of
your life to service activities in commendable, I doubt whether
your aging body and mind are fit enough to be of service to the
needy. Will it not be better if you decide to engage yourself in
some welfare activities locally, and to give up the idea of going
to distant and difficult places in the north-eastern region where
the service activities of the Kendra are, at present, concentrated?

I request you to consider the above suggestion. However, you

may, if convenient, meet me when I visit Nagpur next to discuss

the subject in depth. I shall arrange to let you know about it when

the programme gets finalised.

With regards,

Yours sincerely,

26-11-1978

Dear Prof. K.N. Vaswani,

I am in receipt of your long letter full of greetings and good
wishes. Perhaps, it is these greetings and good wishes profusely
showered on me, together with special prayers sent to God for
my welfare, that are making me healthier and healthier day by
day. I, therefore, rejoice at the prospects of my departure from
this world in perfect health when the final call comes.

On arrival here, I found that many important matters that got
accumulated over months, were awaiting me. I am now engaged
in attending to them.

I do not have with me the exact address of Smt. Vimla Thakar.
I, therefore, request you to write to her inviting her on behalf of
the Vivekananda Kendra and on my behalf, to visit Kanyakumari
to stay with us for at least a week. I am to be here positively till
this year is out.

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I am expecting you to reach here on 12th December as you
have mentioned in your letter.

Shri Chhedi Lalji is neck-deep in his work and slowly getting
a grip over the situation. By the beginning of next year, the
administration here is expected to be toned up.

Please convey my Sasneha Namaskars to all in the family and
also to all co-workers, including Shri Anil and Vasudeo.

With regards, Yours affectionately,


14-12-1978

Dear Shri R.M. Tembe,

I am in receipt of your letter dated 7th December and am
happy to note the contents.

I have returned here in the middle of November after my
4-month long tour conducted almost at a stretch. Now I am
scheduled to be here till the month end to be in company with
lifeworker-trainees. I shall start touring again in January 1979.

Though I would have loved to be in the midst of you all on
the happy occasion of Kumari Meena’s marriage, I regret my
inability to do so for reasons mentioned above. I pray to God
for the successful solemnisation of the marriage function as per
schedule and send my blessings in advance to the bride and the
bridegroom.

In your letter you have conveyed to me the most natural desire
on the part of all the family members to have Shri Purushottam
in their midst on this auspicious occasion of his sister’s marriage.
While I quite understand and respect your sentiments, I request
you not to insist on his participation in the function. The
Jeevan-Vrata that he has undertaken demands that he should develop
considerable detachment in life. To the extent he develops this and
similar other capacities in him, he would progress on the extraordinary

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path that he has voluntarily chosen for himself. It is heartening that
he has not written to me seeking permission to go home to
join the marriage ceremony. This has gladdened my heart and
has generated confidence in me that he is developing the right
attitude and taking the desired shape.

With regards,

Yours sincerely,

14-12-1978

Dear Shri Dhan Singh Deo,

I am in receipt of your letter dated 20th November, 1978, and
I am glad to read the contents.

The spread of Swamiji’s message of service is the need of
the hour. ‘The Worship of God in Man’ preached by Swamiji is
a very robust philosophy. In whatever way this philosophy is
broadcast to the people, it is welcome. I, therefore, pray to God
to bless all of you in your efforts to start a suitable library for
the simple folk of the Pithorgarh District. My good wishes will
always accompany you in all your endeavours in this direction.
Convey my love and regards to all your co-workers.

With regards,

Yours affectionately

14-12-1978

Dear Punita,

I was extremely glad to receive your letter. Though I may not
have seen you, I have already before my eyes the image of a tiny
edition of your mother whom I know intimately. When you meet
me in Bombay and I get an opportunity to see you in person, I
hope the Punita of my imagination will tally more or less, with
your pretty little figure.

310

In your letter you have stated that you and your three friends
would like to do some social service activity at Kanyakumari if
I can suggest to you some suitable assignment. I congratulate
you for having approached a right person like me. Because, I
have not only specialised myself in assigning suitable work to
those who have urge for selfless service but also in locating or
discovering people having that higher urge. Even if you had not
written to me, perhaps I might have myself searched you out
sooner or later.

One of our life-workers by name Kumari Prabha Deshpande
is recently posted at Bombay. She stays in Dadar. I am sending
a copy of this letter to her. You may know her exact address
by contacting on phone our Kendra branch office at Matunga
(Vivekananda Kendra, Parekh Niwas, First Floor, 125 Telang
Road, Matunga, Bombay-19, Phone: 476246). Shri Anil Sarode
who looks after our Kendra work will help you in arranging
your meeting with Prabha. Kumari Prabha will give you
necessary information about Kanyakumari work and the various
programmes conducted there. She will also apprise you of what
can be done in Bombay.

I have not met your parents since long. I am equally eager to
see them along with you. I shall let you know about the precise
dates of my stay in Bombay as soon as my programme gets
finalised.

I had met your grandfather during my stay in Delhi a couple
of months back. Convey my Sasneha Namaskars to him and to
your parents. I do not know how many sisters you are and how
many brothers you have. Convey to them and your three friends
my love and blessings.

Yours affectionately,

311

15-12-1978

Dear Shri Raja Rao,

I am in receipt of your letter dated 27-11-1978 and have noted
the contents. As Shri J. Basudeo has now been transferred to
Madras to look after our Publications there, the office took some
time to trace your original note. I could go through it recently.

1. I quite agree with you that the ‘OM’ in the Meditation Hall
should have been installed either on the eastern side or on the
northern side. This error in the design of the Meditation Hall
did come to our notice during its construction, but it was too
late. Fearing that the entire time-table drawn for memorial-
inauguration would get upset in our efforts to rectify it, besides
considerable expenditure involved in it, we decided to let it
remain unrectified.

2. Regarding the anti-clockwise direction of the elephant-
series, I must confess that this serious flaw has escaped totally
un-noticed. I am grateful to you for drawing our attention to it.
But nothing could be done about it now.

We may console ourselves by maintaining that the moon
does not lose its splendour even though a few black spots are
discernible on its otherwise beautiful face, or by pointing out
that a black stain or two put on the pretty face of a child by its
mother, to avert the evil effect of covetous eyes, only enhance its
charm.

Regarding the meditation-pose that you and many others
wanted for the Swamiji’s statue, I wish to humbly say that we,
the promoters of the memorial project, on the other hand, were
very particular that our sculptor represents in the contemplated
statue of Swamiji, the mood and the posture that would have
come natural to Swamiji when he must have risen from his deep
meditation , with his life-mission crystal clear before him, and
he himself in full preparedness to set out on his chosen path,
eventually to burst upon the world to dehypnotize it of false
values.

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About other matters concerning Vedic research that you have

mentioned in your letter, they are beyond my pale. Being totally

devoid of Vedic scholarship, I desist from giving my comments

upon the same.

With regards,

Yours affectionately,

17-12-1978

Dear Santosh,

I am in receipt of your letter dated 7-12-1978 and have noted
the contents.

In your letter you have stated that you are proposing to start
a new activity in a nearby locality. But, all that you have stated
further is about taking over an abandoned wooden structure
near a Buddhist temple, getting the temple and the structure
repaired with the help of the Ecclesiastical Department and then
using the structure and the temple as a community center for the
people and the children of that locality.

But regarding the activity that you propose to start, you have
not written anything. Merely to procure a house and a religious
place for the purpose of daily or periodical gatherings cannot be
an activity. I would like you to inform us what activity you have
in your mind.

Perhaps, a nursery school seems to be the activity that is
predominantly in your mind, though you have mentioned it
only casually. If it is so, please let us know about it before you
start articulating your ‘dreams’ before the people and making
commitments.

At this stage of our work in Sikkim, I do not think you can
afford to take up any service activity for which financial resources
are needed. Such service activities you will be able to take up
when you get access to and influence with such philanthropic

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people at Gangtok and at other places (you may even include
Siliguri in it) as could be relied upon for rendering financial help.

If by ‘education of the people and children’, you mean conducting
‘Adult Education Classes’, ‘Bal Sanskar Kendra’ or Yoga Classes, then
there is no problem. But as soon as you think in terms of starting a
free dispensary, a free school, a library or any other costly service, you
have to first procure not only the technical, competent but dedicated
human material for rendering that service but you have also to see the
economical viability of the whole endeavour. That is why every worker
aspiring to organize service activity has to first attend to the basic
work of forming a ‘Team of competent and dedicated workers as well
as influential and active supporters’, to ensure steady flow of both the
ingredients needed for such an activity.

In the context of your efforts to procure the temple premises
for housing the contemplated community center, I also feel
like reminding you that though the Vivekananda Kendra is
a spiritually oriented Service Mission, it does not want to get
identified or involved in or mixed up with any denominational
religion.

I shall await your letter communicating to me the working of
your mind without any reservation whatsoever.

I hope you have come to know about the life-workers’ get-
together of the north-eastern region scheduled to be held at
Tinsukia at the beginning of February. You have to participate in
that programme. You will get instructions from Shri R. Manian if
you have not already received any.

I hope you are vigorously following up my application to the
Chief Minister. I hope to hear from you about the Government
mind in that connection.

With regards, Yours affectionately,


314

19-12-1978

Dear Shri Ram Kripalani,

You may have come to know from my letter addressed to Shri
Laxmanrao Bhide (a copy of which was endorsed to you) that I
have planned to go abroad next year. I may start my 3-month
tour abroad, either in the middle of April 1979 or in the middle
of July. As, a number of friends from abroad are expected to
come to Prayag in the coming January, 1979, final decision in the
matter would be taken after due consultation with them.

You may be aware that I have been, since last year, a member
of the ‘Indian Council of Cultural Relations’ which is an
organisation functioning under the External Affairs Ministry. It
is this organisation on whose behalf I am likely to visit various
countries. I hope I shall be able to include in my itinerary
programme, the Port of Spain also. Most probably, I should be
able to finalise the dates and places by the middle of February.
As soon as the whole programme gets finalised, I shall write to
you.

The Maharashtra Government has agreed to allot to us
about a 20 acre plot of land at Malad and the land is likely to
come under our possession in about a couple of months. Shri
Jhamatmal and others are entrusted with the task of expediting
the formal sanction by pursuing the papers in the Secretariat.
We shall be required to pay about two to three lakhs of rupees to
the State Government at the final stage of transaction expected
to reach within a month or two. As soon as the land comes into
our possession, the work in connection with ‘the Rajpal Smriti
Sadan’ will be taken up vigorously.

We have now restructured our life-workers training class.
After a preliminary motivation course of three months, the
trainees are deployed in their allotted fields for practical work.
The training is to go round the year, thus making available to us
total four batches in a year. The September-batch (the first one
after the restructuring of the pattern) has completed its course and
is already deployed. The December batch has started its training

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recently. As there are now four training sessions in a year, we
have decided to bifurcate ladies’ training from the gents’. The
present December session is exclusively for ladies. Eight ladies
are participating in the class. In the previous September session,
eleven prospective life-workers were trained.

Last time I had told you about our plan to open our Sub-
Training Centre at Tinsukia, which is a gateway to the Arunachal
Pradesh (the north-eastern border) where we have concentrated
our service activities. At Tinsukia, we have already procured a
10-acre plot of land and construction activity is in progress at
that site. To begin with, on 18th August 1978, we have started
a nursery school at the place. To get over incessant rains end
to avoid delay involved in taking foundations, we have put up
tubular structures.

Our work is growing quite satisfactorily on all fronts.
At Kanyakumari, the traffic has enormously increased. We
have to accommodate sometimes about 800-900 people at our
Vivekanandapuram campus. In about another four months’ time,
Kanyakumari will be on the rail-map of the country, and people
will be able to reach Kanyakumari directly even from Jammu,
Delhi, Calcutta and Bombay without any necessity of a change
of train. That means, there will be phenomenal increase in the
volume of traffic with the commencement of railway facility.
To meet the situation, people are suggesting us to approach the
State Bank of India for a sizable loan of at least Rs. 10 lakhs to put
up adequate additional structures. But, our organisation being
totally non-commercial in nature, we can hardly realise from the
investment even that much amount from the visitors as is needed
to pay the Bank interest. We are, therefore, hesitant.

Our ever-increasing number of life-workers and consequent
expansion of work besides the explosion of visitors’ traffic at
Kanyakumari together are putting us under great strain, financial
and otherwise. We hope these difficulties would ultimately turn
into opportunities, as has been the story of our organisation’s
career so far.

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I trust, this finds you in the best of health and spirits.

With regards,

Yours affectionately,


26-1-1979
Allahabad

Dear Shri Ramacharya Pandeya,

I was in due receipt of your letter dated 10-11-1978, together
with enclosures. I went through all the papers. It was indeed
fascinating to hear about the location of a place said to have
been, in the hoary past, Maharshi Valmiki’s Ashram where Sita
Devi gave birth to her illustrious sons, Lava and Kusha. Though
I intensely desire to visit that place, I do not know when I would
be able to do so in the midst of my present preoccupations.

You have been rightly directing your efforts towards
continuing with necessary research work to further substantiate
the authenticity of the place. But merely establishing the truth
beyond doubt would also not be enough. If you have your own
conception and a vision about the future shape of the place,
you will have to pursue the same with single minded devotion,
accepting it as the mission of your life. No doubt, in the fullness
of time, people will come forward to help you in your endeavour.
But to achieve that, you yourself will have to be the spearhead
of the entire project. I am sure, you know the implications of
becoming a spearhead of any movement. However, I do not
know to what extent you are intoxicated with your cherished
objective and how far you are prepared to stake the rest of your
life to realise it.

Faith is one of the potent factors of humanity and of all
religions.

-Swami Vivekananda

317

I wish I had the time and the leisure to apply my mind
seriously to this fascinating project. But as I am already neck-
deep in a different venture, I hope you will excuse me if I am not
of much help to you. However, I shall watch with interest the
progress of your undertaking.

With regards, Yours affectionately,


4-2-1979
Tinsukia
Dear Sabarjeet,

I am in receipt of your letter dated 24-1-1979 and noted the
contents. Earlier, I had received the Administration’s reply to our
applications rejecting our request outright. The same day, I met a
high official in the Home Ministry and also Shri L.K. Advani, the
Information Minister. Both of them advised me to approach the
Administration again after a gap of few months. In these matters
we should learn to continue our efforts with hope, perseverance
and patience. On the basis of my own experience, I can confidently say
that perseverance coupled with cool temper ultimately succeeds. If you
do not possess those qualities, the unpleasant and irritable situation
that we are passing through at present in our prolonged negotiations
with the Administration, will help you in acquiring that quality in
some measure. This outright rejection of your application, therefore,
may be viewed as an excellent opportunity for you. I personally feel
that we are sure to obtain a suitable plot of land at Port Blair in
the near future.

I received a copy of the souvenir at my Delhi camp. I glanced
through it and found it well brought out. It is evident that we
could not procure sufficient number of advertisements.

I am to reach Kanyakumari by the end of this month.

With regards,

Yours affectionately,

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30-3-1979

Dear Ambu,

You must have received my telegram which I despatched to
you after my arrival here on 28th. The telegram was as under:

YOUR LETTER RECEIVED ON ARRIVAL HERE STOP YOUR
VISIT HOME FOR BROTHERS MARRIAGE NOT ADVISABLE
STOP LETTER FOLLOWS

Recently we received a communication dated 12-3-1979 from
the Private Secretary of Mr. Vizol, the Chief Minister of Nagaland.
I presume that you have received a copy of the communication
from our office. From the letter of Shri A.K. Bhowmick, the
Private Secretary of the Nagaland Chief Minister, I note that the
Chief Minister has sent a donation of Rs. 10,000/- from the Chief
Minister’s fund and not on behalf of the State Government, as was
requested by us. I wonder why he had to take to that recourse.
I may soon write to the Chief Minister in this connection but I
shall await your letter to know the background of this action by
the Chief Minister, before I write to him.

I am glad that your mathematics classes are slowly getting
response. I am happy that you have decided to give stress on the
promotion of Yoga also. I hope your plan for short-term courses
at suitable centres in Kohima will meet with success.

You may have been a little disappointed for not having been
permitted to go home to participate in your brother’s marriage.
But you will appreciate that your leaving the field for marriage
purposes does not well fit in the scheme of life that you have
chosen for yourself. Not only this will help you in building up
the necessary detachment in yourself, but this will also help you in
mentally preparing your relations at home to cease to count you as just
like other family members, ever at the beck and call to participate in
family functions and festivities. They should consider you as one who
has gone in adoption to a far bigger family called the ‘society’.

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About our submitting application to the State Government,
seeking permission to open a school in Mon district, I shall do
so at the proper time. Perhaps, the times are not propitious at
present.

Your report about Shri M.J. Risbud’s sudden illness as a result
of suspected food-poisoning is disturbing. That he is recovering
is a matter of great relief.

For your information, Shri M.R. Ramachari has now ceased to
be a life-worker. He may set up a book-business at his home town
Salem. His wife, though not very much educated, had adjusted
wonderfully well at Kanyakumari. But reverse was the case with
Shri Ramachari. His concept of married life appeared to come in
clash with the mode of living expected of him as a life-worker.

You will be glad to learn that the construction of the broad-
gauge rail-track connecting Kanyakumari to Trivandrum is
nearing completion and its inaguration is scheduled to be done
by our Prime Minister Shri Morarjibhai Desai on 15th April, 1979.
The establishment of this vital rail-link is indeed a significant
mile-stone in the Government endeavour to make the country
really experience the truth of the age-old expression “Kashmir to
Kanyakumari.”

You will be further pleased to know that the Prime Minister
is to visit for the first time the Vivekananda Rock Memorial and
pay his homage to the memory of Swami Vivekananda on the
evening of April 14, the Tamil New Year Day, and a suitable
programme has been arranged to mark the happy occasion.

I am enclosing a copy of our General Secretary’s letter
addressed to the Editor, ‘India Today’. The communication is
self explanatory.

With regards,

Yours affectionately,

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31-3-1979

Dear Shri K. Veluswamy,

I am in receipt of your letter dated 25-3-’79 and have gone
through its contents closely.

I am, indeed, glad that your present assignment is after your
heart. I agree with you that your responsibility as a teacher
engaged in chiselling ‘men’ out of ‘crude rational animals’ will
not only bring out the creative genius lying dormant in you but
it will also help you in resisting all gravitational pulls and in
ascending to higher planes.

To my great joy I find that you have developed genuine
and intensive urge to attain efficiency and excellence. Besides
whatever efforts you may have yourself been putting in to
progress from jumbled up ideas to systematic thinking, discord
to harmony, mediocrity to excellence, and imperfection to
perfection, I may prescribe for you a special effort in a specific
field. It is this that you resolve not to waste your energy in talking
or writing or doing anything that you may yourself, on second
thought, consider harmful, useless, meaningless or superfluous.
This will help you in making yourself precise, both in deeds and
words. And, in fact, precision is only another manifestation of
excellence and perfection.

Without multiplying words, I may say only this much that
I am also having great expectations from you. You may not
yourself be aware that when you rejoined the Kendra after a
dark interval of some duration, you had a virtual second birth
or a resurrection. Very few return from the garbage heap once
they manage to relegate themselves to that position. You are
singularly fortunate in being able to change the lines of your
palm, as it were. It also means that you were considered worthy
of His grace. Perhaps, there may be some Divine design for you.
And is there any greater glory than to be an instrument in His
hands?

321

I came here a couple of days back from my tour. I shall have
to remain stuck up here till at least the middle of April. The
Prime Minister is to visit Kanyakumari on April 14 and 15. The
rail-track connecting Kanyakumari to Trivandrum is nearing
completion and this vital rail-link is to be inaugurated by the
Prime Minister himself. He is also to visit the Rock. He may even
visit our Vivekanandapuram campus.

Please find enclosed our General Secretary’s letter addressed

to the Editor, India Today. The communication is self-explanatory

and I need not dilate upon it.

With love and blessings,

Yours sincerely,

31-3-1979

Dear Shri Bhaskar Chanda,

I am in receipt of your letter sent by Shri Y.P. Kohli along with
his letter dated 11-3-’79.

From your letter I learn that you have been serving in
Arunachal Pradesh for more than past twenty years. You must
have, therefore, a rich experience of that region to your credit.
Shri Kohli writes that you have been of great help to him and
that your guidance he greatly values. In fact, it is because of such
well-wishers who have been working there for long that our
Kendra work could take roots in that area in such a short time.
If those who go to serve in that region make that area of their
dedicated service and put in their best, the great potentialities of
the State can be soon brought out. But, unfortunately, many who
go there leave their minds in their home-towns and while doing
their jobs they have their eyes set on holidays, always pining for
as many trips home as possible. They do not even care to master
the local dialects.

Regarding the suggestion you have made in your letter, when
our contemplated Training Centre at Tinsukia comes into its own,
youngsters in Arunachal Pradesh would get an opportunity to

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avail of the training facilities provided there. They would thus
get benefited.

When I visit Itanagar next, Shri Y.P. Kohli intends to come
there to meet me. I request you also to avail of the opportunity so
that we may be able to meet in person.

With regards, Yours affectionately,


03-04-1979

Shraddheya Shri Ghanashyamdasji,

I recall with pleasure our brief conversation at Calcutta in
early January. You had suggested to me then to write to you in
detail about what I wished to say. When I was reading your Delhi
speech in yesterday’s papers I felt as if I was in your presence
again. Freshly recollecting your suggestion I am penning this
letter.

In our Calcutta meeting I had expressed to you that though
our service activities in the north-eastern region are shaping
well, we need financial support in a big way for entering still
difficult pockets and spreading our activities there. The situation
in that area has been all the more complicated because, that
economically backward region has, curiously enough, attracted
almost all major foreign powers (including the oil-rich Middle
East that has recently entered the arena) to plant their agents,
armed with colossal funds, to serve their respective ulterior ends,
and that too under the guise of humanitarian service.

So far, we could do some ground work only in Arunachal
Pradesh where we have already started seven residential schools
(spread over all its five districts), and five such schools in addition,
including one exclusively for girls, are to be started this year. For
various reasons, we have to treat the whole north-eastern region,
which is a conglomeration of several small states from Sikkim to
Nagaland and from Arunachal Pradesh to Mizoram, as one unit.

323

From our long study and actual field experience of that region,
we are convinced that to be able to cater to the needs of that entire
sensitive area, we shall have to first build an infra-structure with
Siliguri, Gauhati, Tezpur, North Lakhimpur, Tinsukia, Dimapur,
Imphal, Agartala and Silchar as the nine focal points from
where our service-activities could be launched, monitored and
nourished. As the position stands today, it is only at Tinsukia
out of the above nine places, that a sort of a regional center is
in the making, while another five centers are, for the present,
manned by single individuals. For your information, I may state
that it is from Tinsukia and Dibrugarh that we are at present
administering our residential schools in Arunachal Pradesh and
hope to extend our activities further in that area. From this it will
be revealed to you that a considerable infra-structural net-work
still remains to be done.

Besides setting up regional centers as bases for launching
service-activities and also to train dedicated workers for being
deployed in the surrounding areas for manning them, effective
suitable literature in important local dilects and the publication
of a regular periodical in English from a suitable place for the
intellectuals among the local population, are also to be considered
as a necessary part of the envisaged infra-structure.

I am confident that even the areas like Nagaland and Mizoram
which appear to be totally severed from the national ethos can
also be restored back to the country’s main stream, if a sizable
number of dedicated workers devote themselves to pure service
without getting influenced by politics or by other divisive forces.

You will be pleased to know that besides the midsea-Rock
Memorial, our headquarters, the Vivekanandapuram campus on
the Kanyakumari shore, is attracting more and more visitors. Our
Training Centre engaged in fashioning and moulding batches of
dedicated and competent workers round the year, also forms
part of the campus. We are trying to equip it with a nice library
and other facilities necessary for the all-round development of
the trainees.

324

I intend to visit Bangalore in the last week of April-preferably

on 24th or 25th-to apprise you in person of all that I sincerely

feel. In the meantime, I shall expect a line in acknowledgement

of this communication.

With respects,

Yours affectionately,

21-5-1979
Calcutta
Dear Nikhil,
Received your letter dated 16-5-1979.

From your letter it appears that your mind being both

agitated and clouded at present, you are unable to think soberly

and cogently. I shall preserve this letter of yours for your future

perusal, so that, when you regain your balance and normal

thinking, you will realise to what confounded and debased state

you can descend down when you lose hold over your faculty for

discrimination.

With love and blessings,

Yours affectionately,

21-5-1979

Dear Virag,

Your letter dated 8-5-1979 has been received. Your earlier
letters were also duly received.

This time, when I went to Tinsukia, the first question asked to
Shri A. Balakrishnan and Shri Sriram Agashe was about your exit
from the school. They apprised me of the goings on in your school
preceding your dismissal from there. I have yet to hear from you.
From whatever I have gathered, I need not jump to conclusions.
But, in any case, one thing is certain that, temperamentally, you
seem to be totally misfit in the present set-up of the Kendra-
workers functioning in the north-eastern region.

325

Now it is for you to convey to me what you propose to do in
the present circumstances and in what manner I can be of any
help to you. I am to return to Kanyakumari on Ist of June. I shall
await your letter there.

Please convey my Sasneha Namaskars to your parents and

love and blessings to children.

With love and good wishes,

Yours affectionately,

26-5-1979
Siliguri
Dear Anant Pathak,

I returned from Port Blair yesterday and boarded the
Darjeeling Mail in the evening. I reached here today and shall
leave for Gangtok tomorrow morning as per schedule.

I received your letter of 22nd May. I went through its contents.
As I am not in the habit of brooding over things that I honestly
consider infeasible or impracticable for the time being, I do not
want to waste time in harping over it again and making myself
all the more miserable. I believe in the dictum: “What can not
be avoided should be welcome.” We have unfortunately missed
the coveted bus and the only wise thing to do now is to address
ourselves forthwith to strive hard with an eye on catching the 1980
bus positively. The earlier you all reconcile with the inevitable,
the more you will be at peace with yourselves. I shall no doubt
come there to join forces with you when I am convinced that
you have engaged yourselves wholeheartedly in the aforesaid
endeavour.

I have given a telegram yesterday to Shri R.B. Giri. The
telegram is as under”

MEET CALCUTTA BY THIRTIETH MAY STOP REACH BY
TRAIN OR PLANE FOR YOUR POSTING PORT BLAIR

EKNATH RANADE

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Please inform Shri K. Jayakar about this telegram. I had a talk
with Shri A. Balakrishnan and Shri R.B. Giri about this earlier.

With regards,

Affectionately yours,



26-05-1979
Siliguri

Dear Shri Sriram,

I am in receipt of your letter dated 20-5-1979.

I am glad that your visit to Roing in connection with

preparations for the proposed Children’s Rally {eew g_mJ_ at that

place in September, is fruitful. I hope you are all taking meticulous
care to see that every detail of the Rally Programme and every
conceivable eventuality is properly fore-thought and nothing is
left to chance. In this Rally, though the people in general will
be watching the performance of the children trained by Kendra
teachers, this Rally will bring to the forefront the capacity to
plan and organize on the part of the Kendra workers who will
virtually be put to the test on this occasion. I am sure, they will
give a good account of themselves.

Now, about the letters you have been receiving from your
home. You very well know that no life-worker worth the name ever
thinks of responding to each call from home. By now, you may have also
realized that when a worker himself becomes home-sick (or mother-sick
or sister-sick) in his field of work, even a casual or customary call from
home is likely to assume urgency in proportion to the intensity of his
home-sickness. Generally the proportion is 1:10. But, you are a senior
Kendra worker and, as such, you are capable of taking an objective view
of things, having shed common propensities of the crowd. I should,
therefore, leave it to your judgement to assess which call from home is
urgent and you should respond to. Of course, if and when you decide to

327

visit home, you will certainly take care that your absence from the field
causes minimum disturbance to the programmes in hand.

With regards, Yours affectionately,


Note: As per loud thinking done by me when we met recently,
Shri Nandu Joshi is being entrusted with the work of Calcutta
region and Shri R.B. Giri with Andaman-Nicobar Islands.

4-6-1979

Dear Roopa,

I am in receipt of your letter which you seem to have written
in a huff. On arrival here, I could not attend to any other work
except that in connection with the Managing Committee meeting
which took place last evening. Yesterday, however, I gave you a
telegram which was as under:

EXTREMELY BUSY SINCE ARRIVAL HERE STOP SHALL

REPLY WHEN FREE FROM MANAGING COMMITTEE
MEETING

EKNATH RANADE

This telegram was, in fact, only an acknowledgement of the
receipt of your letter. It is only today that I got some respite to
write a reply.

You might remember that I had many times told you that
you needed considerable inward thinking and inner discipline
to qualify yourself to work selflessly, and that too along with
others in a team. I had assured you of that transformation in you,
provided you made an irrevocable decision to endure willingly
the stresses and strains, both physical and mental, consequent
upon your submitting yourself to the rigour of Sadhana and

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discipline that are bound to set the axe to the unwanted elements
in your personality, thereby fashioning you slowly into a desired
shape.

I was happy to see you gradually shedding your egoistic
conceptions about yourself as also the temperamental angularities
and other obnoxious projections and complexes in you and I was
glad to notice that you were thus well progressing on the path
of the desired metamorphosis. But, unfortunately, your inflated
ego got the better of your head and heart and you managed to
throw yourself out of this significant ‘Man-Making Machine’.
Alas! You have missed a great chance of life.

I would have thought of picking you up from where you
have now landed yourself and putting you again on the track
that you had chosen for yourself when you were under the spell
of lofty thinking and high spirits. I would have certainly done
so and thus enabled you to resume your journey in company
with others in this brotherhood, if you had genuine remorse
and repentance for the wrong that you have done in flouting the
organisational norms and conventions and also if you had the
inner courage to apologize to the people concerned. But I know
that you are too extrovert and proud a girl to cast a glance within
and accept your faults even to yourself. I have, therefore, already
reconciled myself to the unpleasant reality of your having left
the Vivekananda Kendra as a life-worker-trainee.

I wish this episode will prompt you to take a hard look at
yourself and, making amends for your past failings, inspire
you to make a fresh effort to elevate yourself under somebody’s
loving care and discipline that you may need most.

When you feel like writing to me, do so unhesitatingly. I shall
be ever interested in your welfare and progress.

Please convey my Sasneha Namaskars to your mother.
I had promised her many things about you. But, I feel myself
very small while confessing to her that though you were in my
company for several months, I could not make myself worthy

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of your confidence. That nothing could prompt you to await my
scheduled arrival at Kanyakumari, just a few days ahead, speaks
volumes on this singular failing on my part.

With regards, Yours affectionately,


Note: In your place, Kumari Alpana Sahai is being posted at

Bombay to assist Kumari Prabha Deshpande. She will leave for

Bombay as soon as she gets reservation. I am sending a copy of

this letter to Prabha, for her information.

22-6-1979

Delhi

Dear Shri Rambharose Giri,

I hope you must have by now got acquainted with all local
Kendra workers as well as well-wishers and may have begun to
grasp the special characteristics of your new field.

Visiting Nagdandi Yoga Shibir (near Anantnag, Kashmir)
and Gulabpura (near Ajmer) where we are to start a residential
school from next year, I returned to Delhi yesterday. After
visiting Bombay and Pune, I am to reach Kanyakumari on 29th
where I shall be able to participate in the closing function of the
Yoga Shibir, now in session there.

The Yoga Shibir held for the first time at our Nagdandi Ashram
was, indeed, a great success. In all, there were 66 participants. For
the concluding function, Shri L.K. Jha, the Governor of Jammu &
Kashmir, was the Chief Guest. The news about the Shibir and the
concluding function was nicely covered in detail by the Srinagar
Radio and the T.V.

A couple of days back, I received a communication from Shri
A. Balakrishnan after his visit to North Lakhimpur. In his letter he
informs me that when he wanted to take in safe custody all office
files and other important things lying in the North Lakhimpur
office, he found that all incoming letters were kept by you under

330

your bed and no file was maintained. You will appreciate that
all communications and other documents that form part of a
life-worker’s correspondence, deserve a more dignified place
and careful handling. I trust, at least in the new field assigned
to you, you will be particular in filing every letter addressed to
you as well as filing a copy of every communication addressed
to others by the office of the life-workers. Fortunately, some sort
of a system has already been in existence at our Port Blair office,
and if you take full advantage of it, you may soon develop a love
for doing things systematically.

I shall soon expect your communication communicating to
me how you find the new field and how both of you are planning
to push our work in that field.

With regards,

Yours affectionately,

Note: I am in receipt of Shri Sabarjeet’s letter dated 15-6-1979.

17-7-1979

Dear Shri Prabhat Kumar,

I am in receipt of your letter dated 12-7-1979.

I am puzzled over your letter because I could not make head
and tail of all that you have written. Your letter seems to have
been based on non-existent reporting imagined to have been
made to me by someone against you.

In the circumstances, there is no difficulty whatsoever for me
in agreeing with you that the complaints against you, referred
to in your letter, are fictitious. But more fictitious than the said
complaints is your presumption that someone has conveyed
those complaints to me.

When I visit Calcutta next and get an opportunity to hear you
in person, the whole riddle may be solved. In the meantime, I
hope you will give up exercising your mind over more imagery.

331

We had our General Body meeting on 15th and the Managing
Committee met on 16th. Earlier, we were busy in the ‘Initiation
Ceremony’ which was performed in solemn atmosphere as in
the previous year. You may have heard about the highlights of
the Initiation Programme this year from dear Amarendra who
must have already reached there.

With regards, Yours affectionately,


31-7-1979

Dear Nirmala,

We reached here comfortably. As the Chief Minister M.G.R.
was travelling by the same train, we reached Tirunelveli at the
scheduled hour and could, therefore, be at Vivekanandapuram
by 11 A.M.

In fact, though, while dispersing from the morning meeting
yesterday, I had asked you to meet me in the afternoon, I had
anticipated your not turning up. But in the evening, my eyes
were searching for you in vain among the co-workers assembled
at the office-entrance, on the eve of our departure to the Railway
Station. I had, certainly, noted that you were visibly angry with
me for my scoldings to you in the get-together of our senior co-
workers. But I had, on the basis of my past experience, rightly
thought that you would be your normal, smiling self within a
few hours. But it seems, this time, your anger has over-stayed
for long. This has been disturbing me since last evening and will
continue to worry me till I hear from you that you have not only
picked up and accepted whatever grain of wholesome advice
that you may have found in what I had said in that morning
meeting, but have also thrown away the chaff of words which
you may have found unpalatable.

Even during last night in the train, whenever my sleep got
disturbed by the movements of the Chief Minister’s security
guards (who were travelling in the same compartment) and

332

my mental apparatus resumed functioning, your annoyed and
depressed image figured before my eyes. I shall, therefore,
anxiously and eagerly await your letter assuring me that you are
your normal, cheerful self again and have started in right earnest
the implementation of all that was considered by all of us present
in that meeting, as useful for the healthy growth of our work.

Convey my love and blessings to dear Vasanta.

With regards, Yours affectionately,


10-8-1979

Dear Maharaj Krishna,

I was in due receipt of your letter dated 19th July. I could
not write a reply earlier on account of my pre-occupations in
connection with other urgent matters.

Though what you have witnessed on your departure home may be
sufficient for ordinary run of men to get upset, you are certainly not the
one belonging to that crowd. You should, on the contrary, summon up
from your within, the courage to face hard realities of life with fortitude
and equanimity.

Regarding the other matter that you have referred to in
your letter, I must admit that I do not agree with your family
astrologer. I need not have objection if one were to believe in the
power and influence of stars that are on the ascendance while
a child is born, thus determining the mould which gives the
child certain distinctiveness at the hour of its birth. But, if the
planetary world, which is no less material than the terrestrial, is
to be credited with such a tremendous influence in fashioning
a life at its birth, then a person born as a human being, by dint
of the Divine in him, should certainly be capable of shaping at
least his own future. Be it properly understood that you will be
what you would want yourself to be. Your present may be the
resultant of what you had been in the past but you are verily the

333

master of your own future. If anybody says otherwise, that is no
more valid than a cock and bull story.

I am to reach Srinagar from Delhi by air on 29th August
morning and return to Delhi by the same route on Ist September.
Please check up from Shri Dattaramji when I am to be at Nagdandi
and meet me positively during my stay there.

More when we meet.

With regards, Yours affectionately,


14-9-1979
Tinsukia
Dear Krishnananda,

Please refer to your letter dated 1-9-1979. I am writing this
after returning to Tinsukia from Roing on 12th noon.

I am giving below a brief reply to the questions raised by you
in your letter, pending a detailed discussion when we meet in
person.

1. Different centres of the Vivekananda Kendra may be
required to collect funds for the implementation of their own
local programmes or for their day to day functioning. Regarding
those centres that are managed by full Executive Bodies, duly
nominated by the headquarters, and, therefore, possessing
the status of full-fledged branch-units, there is no difficulty as
they are authorised to print their own receipt books and raise
funds on them for that purpose. But centres that have yet to
attain the status of full-fledged branch-units (centres manned
by small panels of Convenor, Joint Convenor, Organiser, etc.)
and, therefore, not entitled to print their own receipt books, do
face some inconveniences. For collecting funds to meet their
local needs, they are required to follow the circuitous method
of using temporary receipt books provided by the headquarters,
the understanding being that though the amount collected on

334

the receipts would be credited to the headquarters account
and, consequently, permanent receipts would be issued by
them to the respective parties, the funds thus credited would
be transferred to the respective centres. What is involved in
this kind of disposal of money cannot, therefore, be termed as
reimbursement but a simple re-transfer of funds to the centres
to which they really belong. Even otherwise, the headquarters
have always the power and the discretion to advance or make
an outright transfer of funds to their centres by way of help. As
every centre, full-fledged branch-unit or otherwise, has to submit
audited statement of account annually, this arrangement should
be quite in order.

As every undeveloped centre is asked to qualify itself to
become a full-fledged centre as expeditiously as possible, the
above-mentioned facility given to it is only of a stop-gap nature.

2. Regarding the second important point in your letter, I may
agree with you that you are in need of an assistant and that a
suitable hand may be made available to you as soon as one is
located.

But it is one thing to make out a case for the addition of an extra
hand to enable your department to rationalise the distribution of
the total work-load and thus ensure more efficiency, it is quite
another thing to seek some relief (for yourself) from what you
call supervisory overwork. I am quite hopeful that your demand
for an additional hand may get fulfilled soon but I see very dim
prospects of the fulfilment of your other demand. Because, if
you consider that the present work-load on your shoulders
is ‘overwork’ and cherish a fond induction of an assistant or
assistants, I assure you that the load would go on increasing
instead, and not the ghost of a chance is there for its reduction
even if you press into service another twenty more assistants.
Nay, I may go further and say that in this particular matter,
calculations are to be made in the reverse ratio, i.e. the more the
assistants the greater the load of strain, stress and responsibility
upon one who happens to be at the helm of affairs, though the

335

nature of one’s-work may undergo a change with the increase in
the number of helpers. The assistants through whom a person
at the top of the department or project or organisation works,
do discharge different responsibilities assigned to them but they,
at the same time, create many-folded supervisory work for the
one at the apex to whom goes the credit or discredit, rightly
or wrongly, for all the gains and achievements as well as the
commissions and omissions made by the department, one heads.

There is another truth that I would like to bring to your notice if you
are not already aware of it. It is this that a person seldom overworks
or overstrains, though we use this phrase very often in our common
parlance. When one says that he is overworked, it does not mean that
he is working beyond his capacity, which obviously he cannot. It only
means that he is stretching himself, physically or otherwise, beyond his
comfortable limits. But is it not true that all those who have an urge
for progress or who aspire to attain proficiency or to achieve something
great, they have to consciously develop this habit of overstraining and
overworking by always venturing to cross the comfortable limit, by
volunteering to bear the stress and strain in the process? In fact by thus
over-exerting little by little, the strain that you feel at the initial stage
not only later ceases from being felt but it also gives a feeling of ease
and comfort after a little practice. This is exactly how a gymnast, for
example, develops his stamina and capacity to lift more and more heavy
weights with ease and grace.

Regarding the third point in your letter, I repeat what I had

mentioned earlier. While answering queries made by people, we

should restrict ourselves to our organisation and our work. We

need not cater advice or suggestions to them to approach this or

that organisation for meeting their needs.

With regards,

Yours affectionately,

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15-09-1979
Tinsukia
Dear Nikhil,

Your letter dated 24-8-1979, which you have referred to in
your personal talk with me on my arrival here, reached my
hands day before yesterday. It was redirected to me here from
our Kanyakumari office.

In the light of your firm decision conveyed to me yesterday
morning, subsequent to our earlier discussion on the subject-
matter of your letter, I consider it advisable to relieve you from
the responsibility of a life-worker-trainee, as desired by you. As,
by now, I know fairly well the individualistic make-up of your
mind, I can imagine what great efforts you must be required to
put in while trying to observe the organisational norms and its
code of discipline. From your talk it also appears that your mind,
presently under the spell of some vision, hallucinatory or real,
presenting before you the prospects of the discovery of a hitherto
unknown but truly effective formula of rendering service to the
downtrodden, has begun to find fault with the Kendra objective
and especially its mode of work. In the circumstances it is in the
fitness of things that you should be permitted to pursue a path
according to the dictates of your conscience.

In your letter you have referred to your plan to take up a job or
do some business for some time, preliminary to launching your
new mission. While one can have no objection to this proposal
of yours, I do feel the need to point out that you should take
all care to see that the workplace of your job or business should
be nowhere near Tinsukia or its surroundings where you have
worked uptill now as a life-worker-trainee of the Vivekananda
Kendra. I am sure, you are aware of the general norm expected to be
observed by every missionary worker not to take up job or do business
or enter into matrimony in the field where he or she has worked as a
selfless worker dedicated to a noble cause. I am sure, you will observe
the afore-said rule of conduct meticulously.

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I am instructing the local Kendra authorities about your
having been relieved of your responsibility as a Kendra worker
here, with effect from September 15, 1979. You are also requested
to clear your account upto date and give charge of your work to
Shri Anant Pathak.

With good wishes and blessings, Yours affectionately,


29-9-1979
Kolkata
Dear Shri Vipin Kumar Agarwal,

I am in receipt of your letter dated 8th September and have
noted the contents.

You need not feel dejected over your inability to join the
Vivekananda Kendra as a life-worker.

There are several good ideals and paths from among which
one has to choose the one that suits one’s genius and capacities
as well as one’s circumstances and limitations. Wisdom lies in
selecting that path which one is capable of following all one’s life
cheerfully and without even a shade of repentance ever touching
him or her. You are, therefore, fortunate that you have discovered
in time that you are not cut for the path that you, in your false
enthusiasm, wanted to take.

You can certainly find yourself useful for doing some work
for the Kendra within a hundred-mile radius of your place. You
may write to Kanyakumari and receive directions from them if
you seriously mean it at this stage. I think, for the present, you
should feel contented if you find time and energy to motivate
your friends, acquaintances and other good people within your
present orbit to become subscribers of Kendra Bharati as well as
Kendra Patrons, preferably lump-sum donating.

I would have suggested to you to go to Kanyakumari to
participate in the 21-day Yoga Shibir to get yourself conversant

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with Yoga as well as with the Kendra thought and its various
programmes. But I am afraid this long jump may be beyond you
at this stage. You will have, therefore, to wait till the Yoga Shibir
is held nearby in Uttar Pradesh.

With regards, Yours affectionately,


28-10-1979
Chennai
Dear Roopa,

I am writing this from my Madras camp. I am on my way to
Delhi. Visiting a few other places, I shall be back at Kanyakumari
by 12th of November.

While I was preparing to leave for Madras on 26th, our
General Secretary Shri G. Vasudeo handed over to me a letter
from Dr. H.R. Nagendra which gives me disturbing news about
your physical and mental health. The letter informs me about
your having been shifted to a nursing centre for treatment. The
only silver-lining of the otherwise distressing news is that you
are on the way to positive recovery which, from what has been
described by Dr. Nagendra, looks like your rebirth. For this, I
prayfully thank God who is all compassion, kindness and love.

If you are also convinced that but for His kindness and
compassion you would not have got this new life, would it not
be fitting that you reciprocate His love and dedicate this new life
for His cause, forgetting all that you might have planned in the
past for your puny ‘I’, intoxicated with petty desires and its usual
accompaniments like anger, pride, infatuation, etc. Who knows
it may be some Divine design more than His mere compassion
that has brought you back to this world.

In our meeting at Bombay in June this year, you opted to follow
your own course. Thereafter, you met me again at Bangalore
and expressed great satisfaction over the progress in your lone

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venture. On both the occasions, I had assured you that you may
always bank upon my humble help, howsoever insignificant it
may be, whenever you would feel like seeking it. I wish I was by
your side at this time.

Anyway, I am scheduled to visit Bangalore in the third week
of November. I hope, by that time, you would have regained
your health. I shall meet you during my brief stay there. I hope
to be of some use to you if you decide to plan your new life on
the lines suggested above.

With love and blessings,

Yours affectionately,

25-11-1979

Dear D.S. Satav,

We were together at Shillong and Gauhati from 5th to 8th of
September. We were scheduled to meet again at Tinsukia on 14th
September at the get-together of life-workers of the north-eastern
zone. To our great surprise you failed to come to Tinsukia to
participate in the meeting. You had neither cared to seek prior
permission to remain absent from the meeting even though we
were together in Shillong just a week before.

Shri A. Balakrishnan who wrote to me after his subsequent
visit to Shillong, conveyed to me your plea or explanation that
you could not leave Shillong for Tinsukia meeting because there
was no one there to look after the office-premises which were
under repairs at that time.

Excuses can always be advanced by those who commit lapses. The
above explanation given by you only shows that you are also trying to
put forward a justification for your conduct. But while advancing the
said excuse you forget that admitting your failure to find a suitable
person from among the scores of local workers and well-wishers to do
that small job amounts to a confession of your incompetence and is a

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sad commentary on your performance as a life-worker functioning at
that place for the last over three years.

Even after taking the most charitable view of your default, I
feel that there is something seriously wrong with you.

You seem to have developed an attitude of arrogant disregard
for the instructions received from the headquarters, coupled,
perhaps, with a notion that you can flout the headquarters with
impunity. This may perhaps be the possible explanation why and
how you could decide to absent yourself from the zonal meeting
of Kendra workers which no life-worker would ever like to miss.

It may be that the above diagnosis of your malady is not
correct and the real cause of your not going to Tinsukia lies in
your too much attachment to the Shillong centre because of
which your presence in Shillong, in your valuation of things, is
of greater importance than your going over to Tinsukia for the
zonal get-together.

Your behaviour may be ascribable to either of the two or even
both the possibilities mentioned above. In any case the situation
looks serious and perhaps warrants a drastic remedy.

You may have already received a communication from Shri
G. Vasudeo conveying to you that you are to participate in the
zonal meet at Calcutta on 25th & 26th December to make amends
for your failure to attend the Tinsukia meeting. When we meet,
I shall be able to discuss with you in depth the matter referred
to above.

With regards,

Yours affectionately,

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29-11-1979

Dear Arun,

Your latest letter dated 7-11-1979 has been duly received. It is
good that you have started learning type-writing and practising
scooter-riding. This will no doubt help you considerably in
managing your own official correspondence as also attending to
your outdoor engagements without being required to depend
upon the public transport.

The phenomenon that your body has not yet got attuned to the
Calcutta climate is really somewhat strange, especially when it is
now over a month that you have moved to that place. Moreover,
except that the climate of Assam, your erstwhile field of work, is
a little more humid than that of Calcutta, your present place of
positing, there is not much climatic difference between the two.
You may, therefore, consult a doctor to seek guidelines from him
regarding the things to be specifically avoided in your diet as
well as regarding other such precautions to keep off ailments
like nose-bleeding, fever, bodyache, etc. to which your body may
have become susceptible after you came to Calcutta.

I am not a psycho-therapist. But basing my diagnosis on
whatever experience I have gathered while dealing with human
material all these years, I have a feeling that your physical malady
may have originated mainly from your present mental condition.
It may be that your mind has not wholly accompanied you to
your new place of assignment and a part of it may have been
left by you to hover over North Lakhimpur although our life-
workers, as per our norms, are expected to move to their place of
transfer, lock, stock and barrel or, to put it more precisely, heart,
mind and body. You may check up with yourself to ascertain
the correctness of my diagnosis. You may be able to do so just
by (i) counting the number of your communications sent in your
old field of work (ii) bringing before your eyes the persons to
whom you addressed your communications and (iii) the subject-
matters of communications. If after such a scrutiny, if you also

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feel that there is some validity in my diagnosis, you should take
adequate remedial measures.

The first step that you should take as a remedial measure is
to stop forthwith all non-official correspondence with people at
North Lakhimpur. We life-workers are expected to be like rolling
stones that do not gather any moss of personal attachment or
involvement. While we go to Ganges, people there should soon
feel like naming us Ganga Vishnu or Ganga Prasad and while you
go to Narmada, we should take no time in qualifying ourselves
to be called Narmada Shankar or Narmada Prasad by those of
that region.

I hope by the time you meet me at Madras, you would have
restored back your health, both mental and physical.

With regards, Yours affectionately,


1-12-1979

Dear Kishore,

I am in receipt of your letter dated nil and have closely gone
through the same.

Regarding the subject-matter of your letter, I honestly feel
that you are neither fit for joining the Ramakrishna Mission nor
the Divine Life Society nor the Vivekananda Kendra as all these
organisations require dedication and high standard of personal
discipline from those who join them.

You say that you are not cut for a salaried job. It may be so,
as even in a salaried job you will have to observe certain rules of
conduct to be able to continue or progress there. But if you seek
my opinion, I prescribe only a salaried job for you as that alone
is likely to shape you into a somewhat disciplined person which
may, in turn, qualify you to follow a course involving higher
values of life.

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I have chosen to write this reply in very candid words because
I want you to take a serious view of yourself and to take to a path
of hard work and discipline.

With regards, Yours affectionately,


03-12-1979

Dear Shashi,

I am in receipt of your letter dated 26-11-1979 and have noted
the contents. I had also received your earlier letter which I got
after the arrival of your mother there.

From your letter it is evident that Shri Krishnamoorthi and Shri
Anil were not present in the send-off party which took place on
25th November. According to Shri B.B. Paranjpe’s plan reported
by you, he may have, by now, left Gulabpura for Bombay.

Your mind seems to have been unnecessarily exercised over
the uncharitable remarks that Shri Paranjpe made about you
on the occasion of the farewell party. I would not have been
surprised if he had used still unkinder language. He seems to
have been very much annoyed with us all. In fact, in the context
of his attitude that I noticed in our meeting at Delhi on 4th
November, I did expect some such thing to happen before his
departure from Gulabpura.

You should re-address yourself to the onerous task before you,
with humility but firmness and without allowing yourself to lose
equilibrium. I know that you will rise equal to the occasion.

Convey my love and blessings to Sunita and Gayatri. Also
convey my Sasneha Namaskars to all our staff in the school as
well as to well-wishers at Gulabpura and the surrounding areas.

With regards,

Yours affectionately,

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06-12-1979

Dear A. Balakrishnan,

Your previous two letters are already acknowledged.

I hope to meet Shri D.S. Satav at Calcutta. I intend to have a
detailed talk with him in connection with the subject-matter of
my communication addressed to him on 25-11-1979, a copy of
which you may have received long back.

I am trying to keep track of the developments in your region
through newspaper reports. Let us hope that the present
happenings are only a passing phase. Much will depend
upon with how much popular support and mandate the new
government is installed at the center, a month hence.

When we meet at Tinsukia, we shall have an opportunity to
discuss various matters that have cropped up within the last two
months.

Out of the recently turned out batch of trainee-life-workers,
we have been able to allot two to north-eastern region. Shri
Vasudevan who hails from Kerala and is a B.Sc. is specially being
sent to Dibrugarh to share with Shri Jayakar the growing volume
of the Shiksa Prasar Vibhag work. We hope that by inducting
Shri Vasudevan in the Shiksha Prasar Vibhag office, Shri Jayakar
will be able to attend more to out-station work in Arunachal
Pradesh and will, in turn, facilitate your tours of areas other than
Arunachal Pradesh in the north-eastern zone.

Another life-worker-trainee of the new batch by name Shri
Satyanarayanan, B.Sc. M.A., with Diploma in Journalism, has
also been chosen for the north-eastern zone. You are aware that
for the last couple of years we have been thinking of deputing
suitable scholars to undertake the study and research of different
dialects, customs, beliefs and other facets of cultural life of the
various tribes and ethnic groups of the north-eastern region and
to find out how and in what manner they are linked with the
rest of the country and even with our epics in the remote past,

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especially in the light of the archeological data obtained from
the area, from time to time. As I found in Shri Satyanarayanan
all traits of a potential research scholar, I am sending him to
Dibrugarh for the afore-said work. Under the guidance of
yourself, Shri Jayakar and Shri Sriram, I hope he will be able to
start making a preliminary survey or collect elementary data.
Till I come there, let him, if possible, be taken to nearby places
in Arunachal Pradesh. When I visit Tinsukia in the last week of
December, we shall be able to apply our mind in depth to the
subject and hammer out a suitable plan of action for being given
to Shri Satyanarayanan for implementation.

Both Shri Vasudevan and Shri Satyanarayanan have been

asked to report at the Dibrugarh headquarters of the north-

eastern region to obtain directions for themselves.

With regards,

Yours affectionately,

27-12-1979
Dear Sabarjeet, Calcutta

I am in receipt of your letter dated 25-11-1979 and have noted
that you have started a socio-cultural activity and are soon to
give it the form of a Registered Society.

From what I learnt from Shri G. Vasudeo about the happenings
at Port Blair during his visit to that place, prior to your final
departure from there, I formed an impression that you would
give first priority to the task of unburdening yourself of the
huge amount that you were found to owe to the Vivekananda
Kendra, Port Blair, and that you would, therefore, try to find a
suitable job to facilitate its early repayment. May be that you
have already found such a job at Chandigarh and it is only in the
spare time that you are trying to organise some socio-cultural
activity referred to by you in your letter.

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Subsequent to your having been relieved from the Kendra,
I hope you must have felt the need and found time to take an
introspective review of your three–year career at Port Blair. In
that review you must have noticed that along with the bright
side, there are certain shady parts which have marred and almost
eclipsed your bright performance. I hope you must have, by now,
realised that it is the selflessness coupled with discipline, including the
financial dos and donts, that make a social worker and their absence
lead one to one’s undoing. As we all aspire to be faultless or ideal social
workers, we should never cease to continue our conscious efforts to
cultivate exemplary discipline and a highly sensitive conscience.

Regarding my feelings towards you, you rest assured that my

affection and good wishes will accompany you whichever place

you go to and whatever service-activity you undertake. I shall

be watching your progress with great interest and expectations.

With regards,

Yours affectionately,

21-1-1980

Dear Mangal,

I am in receipt of your letter dated 7th January. I got it on 11th
January when I returned from my tour of the north-east.

It is good that you could ultimately make up your mind to
write to me. On no account should you hesitate to write when
you feel like communicating something to me.

It seems that you are not able to concentrate on any work.
Such thing happens mostly when one does not see anything of
abiding value to be followed in life, this may also have happened
when you have fortunately discovered it but circumstances try
to deny you the opportunity to follow that chosen path. Either of
the two must be true in your case.

In any case, you must attend to your studies. Because, in
either of the above-mentioned two possibilities, your resounding
success in the examination will be helpful.

347

I hope you will whole-heartedly apply your mind to your
examination in October. I shall eagerly expect your letter in
November-December after you submit your last paper.

With love and blessings,

Yours affectionately,

3-3-1980

Dear Shri Harigopal Agrawal,

I reached here on 28th February as earlier scheduled. I propose
to stay here till at least the end of the month.

As promised, I have started seriously thinking about the
subject-matter you had placed before me when we met at Madras.

You desire us to take up some new work contributory either
to:

1) the welfare of the weaker sections of the population through
(a) education (b) vocational training (c) medical help (d) or any
other help in social and economic sphere or

2) to the research and development of traditional Indian
Thought and Culture.

As you have stated in your letter and even personally, your
family charitable trust will be able to help us to the extent of Rs.
1 lakh annually if we are able to formulate and place before you
such a project to the satisfaction of all connected with the Trust.

Before placing before you a new work under our contemplation,
I commend to you, for financial help on behalf of your Trust, our
present educational activity in the tribal north-eastern region.
Perhaps, no other indigenous missionary organisation has to its
credit such a net-work of residential schools in the tribal as well
as rural area of Arunachal Pradesh. We have been, for the last
two years, running seven residential schools which are situated
at Seijosa (Kameng Dist.), Sher and Balijan (Subansiri Dist.)

348

Oyan (Siang Dist.), Kharsang and Jairampur (Tirap Dsit.) and at
Roing (Lohit Dist.). We are also trying to put up Health Centres
at each of these seven places where schools have been started.
These Health Centres would cater to the needs of the respective
residential schools, besides the clusters of villages round these
schools. We have, so far, succeeded in setting up one such Health
Centre at Kharsang (Tirap Dist.).

This year, we propose to start a few more residential schools
at six other places namely, Shergaon (Kameng Dist.) Niausa
(Tirap Dist.) Hayuliang, Sonpura, Tafragaon (Lohit Dist.) and
Along (Siang Dist.) Out of these, the last two will have residential
schools for girls managed by our lady life-workers.

For your information, I may add that we are trying to set up
a permanent center at Tinsukia (Upper Assam) to manage these
schools and to run periodical classes to motivate and train new
teachers needed for manning these schools as wells to conduct
refreshers’ courses for such teachers as are already working in
our Vidyalayas.

While all these schools are so far set up only in Arunachal
Pradesh, we are planning to extend this educational activity
to Nagaland, Manipur, Sikkim and the Andamans in the near
future.

You can very well appreciate that this sustained effort to
run schools in tribal areas implies a considerable financial
commitment. I, therefore, hope, you will find this endeavour
worthy of a munificent financial help on behalf of your Trust.

Regarding the new endeavour that we are soon to start is the
research in the science of Yoga, including the therapy part of the
great science. Preparations are afoot to launch the activity in a
big way and we hope to give it a formal shape soon.

In connection with the above I wish to add that we are to
endow special attention to the phenomenon of ‘Rebirth’, which
is the corner stone of our Indian thought and faith. We intend
to collect relevant data from all over the world and prove in a

349

scientific way the truth of the Doctrine of Reincarnation. This, we
hope will go a long way in establishing the greatness of the Indian
vision as well as in restoring faith in the Doctrine of Karma.

We shall send to you the write-up we are preparing for being
submitted to the government authorities concerned, to get the
whole endeavour sanctioned as a project of meaningful research.

If you think that the whole matter needs personal discussion,
I shall be able to do so when I visit Madras next. If you feel like
visiting Kanyakumari to discuss the matter in depth, you are
most welcome.

I am enclosing for your perusal a copy of the Vivekananda
Kendra Samachar (January 80 issue) giving you information
about some of our schools in Arunachal Pradesh.

Please convey my Sasneha Namaskars to all in the family. My
affection and blessings to youngsters.

With regards, Yours affectionately,


16-3-1980

Dear Shri K.N. Modi,

I do not have the good fortune of being personally acquainted
with you. But I learn that you have recently come to know from
Shri S.B. Agarwal about our organisation mentioned at the top of
this letter-head. I have the honour of being associated with this
Mission from its beginning. With this much self-introduction, I
write the following lines for your kind information about our
Service Mission.

Initially, our organisation was engaged in putting up a befitting
Memorial on the mid-sea Rock where Swami Vivekananda
discovered not only the mission of his life but also a great truth
that transformed his life, making him known the world over as a
great patriot-saint and a spiritual teacher.

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