The Growth of a Flame

This book is a collection of Kamalaben's correspondence with Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. It takes us into the past and revives the memory and the atmosphere of those golden days.

It is difficult to write about Kamalaben without remembering Champaklal because her association with him grew from her childhood days. I had the privilege of first knowing them quite a few years ago. Later, I got close to them during the publication of some books on Champaklal.

Kamalaben came to the Ashram at the young age of thirteen on 20 February 1928. She had the rare opportunity of spending her time in the service of Divine Mother and later on she served Champaklal till his last moment. She hardly speaks about herself. I have found her sincere, straightforward, warm, generous and a silent servitor of the Divine. She looked upon Sri Aurobindo and the Mother as her true Father and Mother. Her initiation and development have taken place under their direct guidance.

Champaklal once showed me some of the correspondence Kamalaben had carried on with Sri Aurobindo and the Mother and also the birthday messages and folders she received from them. The correspondence was from 1931 to 1940, when Kamalaben's age was fifteen to twenty-four. It is very interesting because it not only reflects a soul's aspirations,

but also its struggles and the growth of the inner flame under the direct protection, care and love of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Kamalaben herself has said that she did not know anything before coming to the Ashram. She used to express her feelings through letters to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, most of the time in Gujarati and occasionally in English. Each letter was answered by Sri Aurobindo, even the smallest query. It is a pleasing but surprising revelation that Sri Aurobindo knew Gujarati so well!

In those days there were very few sadhaks - maybe thirty or so - and Kamalaben was one of them. These fortunate souls lived like one family and had the opportunity to ask about everything to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother for whom their respect, love and obedience were total. Kamalaben, for example, was not allowed to do many things like cycling and swimming. She readily and gladly accepted these restraints without any resentment at all. Sri Aurobindo and the Mother poured their love on them and worked ceaselessly on them at the human level in the smallest detail. Their solicitude is beyond our imagination.

The correspondence is divided into sisx parts. The first part consists of Kamalaben's aspirations and prayers, corrected by Sri Aurobindo. Kamalaben used to express her love and surrender to the Mother everyday by preparing a beautiful design on a sheet of paper and writing the word "Mother" in different styles. The Mother used to write her "blessings" and return it to her. Two such designs are given here from