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A LOVER OF LIGHT AMONG LUMINARIES : Dilip Kumar Roy (The) Mother told him to stay. If you have read all these details in his books very frankly, still he could not. So, finally, as he could not fit in this atmosphere which was completely, quite different from he was, he could
not adjust himself, so he had to go. Q. : Is it true that it was very difficult for him to accept the authority of the
Mother?
A. : In a way, in a way. Authority not in... what I should say? In many decisions,
for instance, the national song, Vandemataram, you know. The Vandemataram we practise here is the tune given by Timir Baran. Mother accepted it because of the reason that it was more easy for us to make it a chorus. Other songs were good, very good, very powerful, but they were too, what you call, too difficult for people like us, young people, to learn it because that way, there are so many ragas and suras, difficult to learn it. So, he could not approve of it. He wanted the orthodox one which had been accepted by his music and others. So, there was much discontent about it, but (the) Mother had stuck to her decision. That was all the reason I know.
Q. : Have you read any of his literary works ?
A. : I have not read many. I have read his poetry, of course, quite a number of . poems. I have attended his songs. And among his books, I don't know all
these Krishna and others. I have not read them. One or two of his novels I have read.
Q. : Have you read Upward Spiral ? A. : Not in English so much, in Bengali, ...(inaudible)... very psychological. Q. : What do you think of him as a literary artist? A. : Literary artist? I don't know. I don't see that he is a novelist. Novelist in
the sense of common knowledge, common acceptation of the word novel. They are all psychological, mental, so, he could not pass as a novelist. But it is very interesting. This is the modern trend, psychological. But his biographies are very good-very good biographies-About his poetry, itself I have said, in Bengali, it struck a new line. That is also intellectual-his poetry-and he was a great prosodist. He was very much interested ...(inaudible).... All you can see in the correspondence between him and Sri Aurobindo. You have seen it. He was a great lover of poetry, lover of
literature, literature, not philosophy, so much, like Bertrand Russell etc. Q. : What do you think of him as a man ? A. : As a man he was very fine. But all great men have their egos.
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