Sri Aurobindo

Letters of Sri Aurobindo

CWSA 35

Fragment ID: 8293

Sense of Humour [2]

[From a report of a meeting with Sri Aurobindo:]

“He laughed till his body shook; it was rollicking....”

This won’t do. It is a too exhilarating over-description. It calls up to my mind a Falstaff or a Chesterton; it does not fit in my style of hilarity. It is long since my laughter has been continuous and uncontrolled like that. For that to be true I shall have to wait till the Year 1, S.D. (Supramental Descent). And “rollicking”? The epithet would have applied to my grandfather but not to his less explosive grandson.

1945