Life had been in the fast business lane, crisscrossing global trading centres for jute and salt

I was born in 1928 in Mukundgarh, a small village of hardly 2,000 people comprising about 600 families. It was usual in those days that males would go to Bombay-Calcutta-Madras to earn some money for sending to the village for elders, coming after 24 months, staying a month or two and going back.

Mukundgarh was 12 miles where Swami spent days as Khetri Maharaj’s guest. I played harmonium with him, sang together, and saw the night through a telescope on the instructions of Swamiji. A rich family of Kanorias was there where they used to keep a cart driven by a cow and a camel which was given in marriages for marriage procession. Around 1934, I went to Sirsabari, where my uncle was employed by Kanorias, an associate of Birlas used to stay for purchase of raw jute to be pressed in Cossipore, a suburb of Calcutta and exported abroad to the UK.

The Second World War was in full swing in 1940. There was a radio in Gaddi. In the evening we will sit to listen to radio and enjoyed indiscriminate bombing by Germany on Britain. Matriculation examination center was in Varanasi due to bombing on Calcutta in 1941. There Kanoria had a house on the banks of Ganga. I moved to Varanasi. Shri Gangaba ji Kanoria – the family head of Kanorias, a benign old man moved to Varanasi to look after two Kanorias, Shyamsundar and Atmaram.

I moved to Pilani. As a boy of 15, I knew nothing about politics. But I used to read Gandhiji’s magazine. Possibly the name was Young India. There was a heavy earthquake in Bihar around 1924. Birlas sent my father for relief work in Bihar. He went to Samastipur and stayed at Satyanarain Sinha’s house who later became Minister of Parliamentary Affairs in Nehru’s first cabinet. One Indrasan Rai managed to get a dealership of salt. Knowing my father, he stayed at our Calcutta flat. Wagons were allotted to authorized dealer and each wagon meant around Rs 2000 profit.

A monthly income of Rs 25,000 per month accrued. By the influence of minister Sinha, Indrasan Rai got an import license for salt. I went with him to Cairo. I learnt how ships are chartered. I purchased a ship load of salt which brought a good income. Simultaneously export of jute goods to South Africa was banned. There used to be a jute mill in Nepal. My uncle managed with the help of Satyanarain Babu to get a license for export of Nepalese jute goods to Hongkong. We had to give an undertaking from Hongkong authorities that the jute goods would not be diverted to South Africa. I went to Hongkong and managed to get an undertaking from the authorities. It was complex but I succeeded. The jute goods obviously went to South Africa.

Parmanand Churiwala and his father Shree Palhadroy Churiwala used to stay in a crowded area of Amartalla. I and Parmanand were friends. I frequently used to go to his house in Amartalla and also meet his father. He was the chief executive of a jute mill in Nepal. I purchased jute bags from him and managed to export them to Singapore and Hongkong. The family earned the first million rupees.

Thereafter, my uncle with the help of Satyanarain Babu arranged my meeting with KB Lal, Joint Secretary of Commerce. I remember the first day I waited four hours after his chamber and could talk to him only when he came out to pass urine. I told my uncle who had moved to Delhi and lived in a small outhouse with a Bihari Sitaram Pankaj. He also used to be a favorite of Satyanarain Babu. My uncle took me to Satayanarain Babu. He telephoned KB Lall in my presence and fixed my appointment. K B Lall called me immediately and said he has passed orders to allow my goods freely and the file has gone to LK Jha, the Secretary.

My uncle took me to Satyanarain Babu and he said he could not help. One Jyotibhusan, a very rich family’s son of Varanasi, had a large mango orchard and a big Moti Jheel. LK Jha used to come to Varanasi to stay there once in a while. Jyotibhusan fixed my meeting with LK Jha. Our company was the only in India to be given permission.

Money showered. The family moved to Ballygauge, a posh area. My uncle got a serious attack of jaundice. Shree Bhagirath Kanoria brought Shri Bidhanchandra Ray, the Chief Minister of undivided Bengal as well as a famous medical doctor to see him.

Shree Keshav Deo Poddar was a great devotee of Sri Aurobindo at Pondicherry. On his Calcutta visit, he stayed at Churiwala house whose family became prosperous and moved to Alipur. The elder Churiwala, a chain smoker had no interest in life except business. But he had a liking for Shree Poddar. He introduced me to Shree Poddar. It was around 1950. I knew nothing about Shree Aurobindo and was not aware of his literature. My younger brother was a great devotee of Mother. In one of my visits to Cochin I stayed in Madras with my younger brother Deoki. He took me to Mother for her Darshan. There was no impression on me of Mother’s Darshan.

Forty years later Tarabahan of Aurobindo Ashram, Delhi, gave me Sri Aurobindo’s great epic Savitri. Deoki’s son Vivek’s mental level was of a seven-year-boy. I had moved to Delhi for business. Vivek and Deoki’s wife also moved to Delhi to stay under my care. Swami Budhanand was the Secretary of Delhi Rama Krishna Mission. I told him about Vivek. He asked me to send Vivek to the Mission at about nine in the morning to stay with him till two o’ clock. He used to have lunch there. He advised me that I should request Aurobindo Ashram to keep him all the 24 hours which might have some effect. He was sent and it had a great effect on him.

Tarabahan, who was used to lying in mother’s lap as a child, took great care of Vivek. Now staying with her for 25 years, he is fully occupied and happy. Deoki had a miserable life. His wife in Madras became a patient of epilepsy. We moved both of them to Delhi. She passed away miserably in spite of good medical care. Deoki too became sick. He used to stay in Aurobindo Ashram and passed away there immersed in it and spent hours and hours in reading Savitri.

Tarabahan gave me Sri Aurobindo’s epic Savitri, the longest epic in English. It is very difficult but with the commentary of Shree Nadakarani and another Hindi commentary of Shree Verma, I could understand. It is amazing and I do not see any reason that the more I read of Aswapathis Yoga over a long period, the more my devotion for the japa of Thakur Shree Ramakrishna increases. Even though I understood about 50 per cent only, I still enjoyed it. Till today I am immersed in it.

(The author is founder, LNJ Bhilwara Group)