The inspiring goddess entered a mortal's breast
Made there her study of divining thought       
 And sanctuary of prophetic speech...            
All was made wide above, all lit below.        
                                       Savitri - Book I
                                               Canto 3.

     I met  Shri  Gopal  Bhattacharjee personally first
time in 1984 on his way to the U.S.A.  Indeed our paths
had  crossed  during  my  first visit to Pondicherry in
1968.  I had the Mother's darshan on her birthday,  the
21st of February and I stayed there until the foundati-
on ceremony of Auroville took place op the 28th Februa-
ry 1968.                                               
     My association  with  various Centres of Sri Auro-
bindo and The Mother goes back to 1961 when I first ca-
me to the U.K.  for study.  Various reading circles 4th
centres exist in the U.K. but none of these are associ-
ated  with the Sri Aurobindo Society,  Pondicherry.  It
was by Shri Bhattacharjee's  inspiration  and  guidance
that  we  were  able  to  form Sri Aurobindo Society in
1986.  As usual there were many hurdles  but  with  The
Mother's grace, we were able to find an independent lo-
cation for the Society at 33,  Beaumont Street,  London
WI. Shri Bhattacharjee came especially from Pondicherry
to inaugurate it on the 4th of November, 1989. The hall
was  full  to its brim with members and guests and Shri
Bhattacharjee gave his usual extempore talk  which  was
highly received by all.  Shri Bhattacharjee has travel-
led extensively throughout the world, to some countries
more  than  once,  with only one cardinal objective and
that is to serve The Mother and Sri Aurobindo by making
people aware of this Message on the platform of the So-
ciety. He describes himself as The Mother's soldier and
says, 'the soldier does not ask questions but carry out
the commands." In his case it  is  the  Divine  command
which is unique in its imperative.                     
     In 1987 Shri Bhattacharjee came here again and ga-
ve a series of talks on The Mother and Sri Aurobindo in
various parts of London,  Sheffield and Birmingham.  He
always speaks spontaneously, fluently without notes, be
it on the Life Divine,  Savitri or other major works of
Sri Aurobindo.                                         
     During his visit here in June,  1990 after  atten-
ding the 22nd A.G.M.  of UNESCO where he was elected as
a member of the Executive  Committee  representing  Sri
Aurobindo  Society,  (The Society is a member of UNESCO
as a Non-Governmental Organisation) he gave a series of
highly  inspiring  talks to our members,  starting with
"How to begin .  .  ." It opened new horizons for those
who were present.                                      
     I came to know that he had given a talk on Savitri
to the Postgraduate students at the Imphal  University;
India  on 6th of November 1988.  The talk was extempore
but it was recorded on a tape.  It was read to our mem-
bers and we all felt how beautifully he outlined Savit-
ri. We requested his consent to publish it and he kind-
ly agreed.  A great Yogi and renowned scholar Shri M. P
Pandit of the Ashram in Pondicherry said on reading  it
"Stimulating introduction,  excellent outline of Savit-
ri".                                                   
     I am sure this short introduction to Savitri  will
be of an immense help to all interested in the subject:
it is also hoped that it would serve its purpose by ro-
using  further interest to know more and go deeper into
this great epic poem of Sri Aurobindo's Savitri.       

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