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A LOVER OF LIGHT AMONG LUMINARIES : Dilip Kumar Roy Q. : What was your first impression about him?
A. : You see, he was a man with very great vitality, you see, with the perceived
vitality. That you could see in his music also, very powerful voice and very rich voice. They create a lot of impression on people. He had great vitality, He had that vitality, I think so. That is the impression we had of him because he used to do lot of writing work, letters and poems and dramas and correspondence. So, all the time busy and bubbling with these things. That is the impression we had of him, a man of great vitality and he had met all these greatmen. Gandhiji had met him three times. Sri Aurobindo met him in 1922 or 23. It is referred to in his book Among the Great. So, there he has narrated these things. So, that aspect of vitality was very strong. As far as his literary writings (are) concerned, we were more interested in the letters that were exchanged between him and other people which he brought out in Anami and his two books in which he brought
them out. They were very interesting. Q. : These are his Bengali books, perhaps ? A. : Anami ? Yes, his poems are there but in the last he has published several
letters of Sri Aurobindo, and also he was in contact with Bertrand Russell and Romain Rolland and all these things are there. Sri Aurobindo's replies to those questions are there. Those literary letters of Sri Aurobindo are
there. ...(inaudible)... Q.: Would you like to narrate any of the peculiarities or oddities of his character ? A. : It is very difficult to say ... (inaudible)... There is not much oddity. In one
sense he was self-centred. Self-centred in that he was busy with whatever he has to do. He has to write and meet people all the time. He used to meet
people often. Q. : This question has arisen in my mind only because he himself accepts at
times, his own oddities. A. : Because those moods would be there, you see. He may get certainly angry
or like that. These things were there in his mood, like that. And certainly he has specified also. He writes strong letters to Sri Aurobindo why he is doing like this. This is his oddity. His reactions were very strong and
immediate to things. Q. : Would you like to tell something more about him as a musician ? A. : A musician ? I cannot because I do not know music and all that but we
liked his voice. He had a very powerful voice and sometimes the original songs which he sang of his father and we all felt that there was vitality behind it. ...(inaudible)... And people likeed also the 'bhagini song' which
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