Sri Aurobindo

Letters of Sri Aurobindo

Volume 2. 1938

Letter ID: 2148

Sri Aurobindo — Nirodbaran Talukdar

July 15, 1938

Guru, you have castigated me for my inexperience, calling me sheep, lamb, house-kitten and what not. You will exhaust the whole zoology on me, methinks!

Why not? man has all the animals within him as he is an epitome of the universe.

Am I really as naïve as all that?

Certainly, there is the naïveté, otherwise you would not have relied on X’s simplicity.

Perhaps if X blames me even now, she may be right, for I can’t swear that I didn’t try to draw her...

But if she joined in, she would have no right to blame anybody but herself. There is no reason why she should allow herself to be drawn; it would be a proof that she wants it. Besides she is quite capable of drawing herself even if she does it in an unsophisticated manner.

I have resolved that next time X and Y call me, I shall go and “cleverly” tell them that it is the last time. Will it do, Sir?

Yes.

I’ve given them mangoes and things before, as once you said regarding S’s offer of curry, that it was quite trifling and absolutely harmless.

In S’s case it was harmless, but similar things in another case might not be. All depends on the inflammability of the human materials in relation to each other. If they are mutually inflammable, a mango or a curry can be the match to light the flame.

I was alert regarding Z, because I felt she had definite intentions. So I am not altogether naïve, Sir. But as regards X, I wanted to keep just a friendly relation.

... It is certainly naïve to think that because a girl is simple i.e. instinctive and impulsive and non-mental in her movements she can be relied upon to be an asexual friend. Some women can be, but it is usually those who have a clear mental consciousness and strong will of self-control or else those who are incapable of a passion for more than one person in their life and you are lucky enough not to be that person.

[Chand’s telegram:] “Partial sex failure must succeed.” Guru, after the “embarkment”, “partial failure”!

What the deuce does he mean by “partial sex failure” – beginning of the operation but no conclusion? “Embarkment for Cytherea” (land of Venus), and disembarcation in mid-sea? What a phenomenon of a fellow!