Be Indian, be Aurobindian

The recent controversy over the singing of Vande Mataram had a positive facet in that the name of Sri Aurobindo reverberated in the Blogosphere and his translation of the poem appeared in a number of sites. But the fact that Sri Aurobindo himself is a great poet and creator of the epic, Savitri was hardly mentioned by any.

Reading a sample of such blogs can be a frustrating experience. Instead of delving a little bit deeper and talking about the teachings or writings, often only a skin-deep nationalism is invoked. While such chauvinism might be offering our youth their quota of self-esteem, the kind of intellectual lethargy that it perpetuates is really frightening.

Reading and discussing the works of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo can be a refreshing exercise. If one really takes pride in being an Indian, then he must be willing to undertake a journey to discover the Himalayan heights of Sri Aurobindo.