Chimpu

Aurobindo Ghosh was born in Calcutta on August 15, 1872. His father was Krishnadhan and his mother was Swarnalata Devi. His father was educated in England and was a qualified doctor. In the early years of his life Aurobindo was sent to the Loreto Convent School in Darjeeling. After that he was sent to England to pursue his higher studies. There he became fluent in Latin and Greek languages and also got some prizes. In the year 1890 he got the admission in the Cambridge and established himself in the lines of literary classics.

He came back to India in the year 1893 and immediately got appointed in the State College of Baroda as a Vice Principal. He remained in Baroda from 1893 to 1906 and side by side he studied the Sanskrit, Bengali literatures, Political Science and Philosophy. He was greatly admired by the then Maharaja of the Baroda. In the year of 1906 he resigned from the job and came back to Calcutta and joined the Bengal National College. Slowly he started to take interest in the ongoing National Movements. He started active participation in the struggle for Indian freedom from 1908 onwards. He supported the revolutionary way. Aurobindo played a pivotal role in the political awakening of the Indian masses. He associated with the English Daily Bande Mataram and started writing bold and critical editorials. In Baroda he met a yogi, Vishnu Bhaskar Lele, who tried to convince him for the exploration of yoga.

Alipore Bomb case proved a pivotal point in the life of Aurobindo, when he was sentenced to solitary confinement; he used the period of stay in jail to practice the teachings from the Bhagwad Gita and yoga. After a long and a famous trial he was released from the prison. Till the time he came out of the prison he developed a passion for the yoga, meditation and pranayama.

He migrated to Pondicherry from Calcutta in the year 1910 and later on he established an Ashram there. In the year 1914 he was joined by a French national Mirra Alfassa for the first time, later on she came down to the Ashram and managed the affairs with Aurobindo and lovingly given the name of Mother. Meanwhile in the same year that is in the year 1914 he began a monthly review named Arya which became the medium of publication of many important articles by him.

In the year 1926 Sri Aurobindo took retirement from the public life and led a silent life. In the year 1950 he passed away.