Harilal Gandhi's letters to Aurobindo and Mother

Courtesy: Overman Foundation by Anurag

It is a known fact that Mahatma Gandhi had visited Pondicherry on 17 February 1934. But not many people know that his eldest son Harilal Gandhi had visited Pondicherry either during January or the early part of February 1934 and stayed for a brief period in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Chandulal Bhagubhai Dalal, in his biography of Harilal Gandhi (‘Harilal Gandhi: A Life’) writes: ‘There [at the Ashram], he begged for money. He got some money as well. It is possible that some Gujarati inmate might have given him some money. He also drank alcohol there. Perhaps for this reason he was driven out of the Ashram.’

Today, we take the opportunity to post three letters written by Harilal Gandhi to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. The first letter, written originally in Gujarati, is undated and it appears that it was written subsequent to his banishment from the Ashram. His address is marked as “The Monk, Pondicherry”. In the postscript, he mentions a dream of his in which he was called to the Sabarmati Ashram. The second and third letters were written originally in English.

To read the letters, please click on the following link:

http://overmanfoundation.wordpress.com/2011/10/17/harilal-gandhi%e2%80%99s-letters-to-sri-aurobindo-and-the-mother/