Dear Reader,

With the grace of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo as also the fostering care and love of our dar Nolinida and your valued cooperation, we have seen fifty summers and come a long way. In the wide vista of time fifty years may appear pretty insignificant, but for us it was journey well worth taking; it had been a journey of togetherness, of a labour of love and a collective adventure for the light in such baffling times, when things fall apart and the centre cannot hold. When we began, it was indeed a very humble start; gradually with the Mother's compassion and Nolinida's all-pervading care, the fires were lit and a team of editors, organizers, advertisers and writers worked very had gathering the faggots and gave of their very best. And everything - right from the selection of writers or writings down to the mundane detail of management - was done under the strict vigilance of Nolinida. Not a single article - whoever might have written it - could be printed if it ran counter to the spirit of Sri Aurobindo. Once Nolinida was very stern with the editor because the latter published an article about the influence(!) of Bergson on Sri Aurobindo.

This is not the time nor the place to count the achievements or to ascertain whether there have been any; but surely we can see, looking back, that, at any rate, everybody has pulled in his weight, has done his bit, has tried to be aware and make others aware of the light that the Master was bringing to the earth. And above all, if writing and publishing in these difficult times could be a means of at least keeping the flame of aspiration burning, then, all of us, despite our numerous failings, have sought to do just that, albeit in our won humble way.

The writing which contain something of that essence are gathered here; as a matter of face, we have culled here only a few of the flowers that blossomed and shed their fragrance in the past. They retain their light and sweetness even today. And to mark the occasion of the Mother's 125th Birth Anniversary, we have published here a few new articles. We have roped in some of the devoted scholars, ( and some budding poets too ), induced them to come out of their awesome scholarly round and shed some light for us. We are glad that they responded so readily and with such good humour! We do hope to have them with us in the days to some.

We must also acknowledge the valuable assistance given by numerous friends and well-wishers and out patrons. The 'Srinvantu' temas has worked very hard indeed; they have been toiling year after year, but for hem it is a labour of love. We must also mention the enormous help extended by Mr. Shibdas Banerjee who has made a success of the seemingly endless drudgery that Proof-reading generally is to most of us. He has worked in tandem with our indefatigable friend Sri Pulak Roy Choudhury who kept smiling all the time while he was dealing with the Press and had a tough job in finally seeing the book through the Press!

Good writings are scarce these days and even more rare are writers who can write on the Mother and Sri Aurobindo in a language that communicates to the general reader. This is a problem. Anyway, good writers do not grow on every bush; we have to be on the look-out and nurture talent wherever we smell it. With the grace of Nolinida, a few young people may join us.

We do not know the path that lies ahead. We know that we are, in a way, a small team devoted to a cause which makes sense only on a deeper plane. But even in the face of the formidable media-hype, smallness or bigness is not what ultimately matters; what matters is whether on has the call-the call for a change, for a new birth, a new life, and the new consciousness that the Mother and the Master sought to bring for the earth; if we had been truly sincere in our Endeavour for kindling that flame, then we have not lived these fifty years in vain, whatever we may have achieved or failed to achieve on the way. Even blossoms in the dust carry a pregnant message.

As we stand on the threshold of a new beginning, let all of us, here and elsewhere resolve to be true children of the Mother; resolve to shed our petty egoism, sink our differences and contribute in a positive way; let us join hands to spread something of the fragrance of the flower that never dies, but goes on being born. Our only refuge is those words from the testament left by the Master in one of his immortal poems ---