Overman Foundation

Dear Friends,

On 30 January 1948 Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated at Birla House, New Delhi. On the said occasion, Sri Aurobindo had issued two statements. The first one was a telegram dated 4 February 1948 which was sent to Mr. Kumbi of Gadag, in reply to his telegram “DARKNESS SORROW SPREADS FAST INDIA BAPUJI DEATH CHILDREN PRAY MESSAGE’. It was later released to the newspapers. The second message was sent to All India Radio, Tiruchirapalli, on 5 February 1948 in response to a request for a message.

We take the opportunity of sharing these two messages with you.

With warm regards,

Anurag Banerjee

Chairman,

Overman Foundation.

                                                              *

                                                             [1]

REMAIN FIRM THROUGH THE DARKNESS THE LIGHT IS THERE AND WILL CONQUER.

                                                              [2]

I would have preferred silence in the face of these circumstances that surround us. For any words we can find fall flat amid such happenings. This much, however, I will say that the Light which led us to freedom, though not yet to unity, still burns and will burn on till it conquers. I believe firmly that a great mind and united future is the destiny of this nation and its peoples. The Power that brought us through so much struggle and suffering to freedom, will achieve also, through whatever strife or trouble, the aim which so poignantly occupied the thoughts of the fallen leader at the time of his tragic ending; as it brought us freedom, it will bring us unity. A free and united India will be there and the Mother will gather around her her sons and weld them into a single national strength in the life of a great and united people.

                                                                                        Sri Aurobindo

Dear Friends and Well-wishers of Overman Foundation,

It gives me immense pleasure to announce that on 22^nd January 2011 Overman Foundation has published its fourth e-book Ananya Nishikanto in Bengali. With this publication, Overman Foundation has become the first organization ever to publish an e-book in Bengali.

Written by Shri Anurag Banerjee, Ananya Nishikanto comprises of some humorous anecdotes as well as about thirty-four unpublished poems of Nishikanto Raichowdhury (1909-1973), one of the greatest mystic poets of Sri Aurobindo Ashram whom Sri Aurobindo had called ‘the Brahmaputra of Inspiration’, most of which have been collected from individuals who were very close to the late poet. A very important attraction of this book is a set of rare epistolary exchanges between Sri Aurobindo and Nishikanto. This book also includes a number of poems of Sri Aurobindo and K.D. Sethna alias Amal Kiran translated into Bengali by Nishikanto and four unpublished poems of the late poet in his own handwriting.

It is bound to be a treat for those who are ardent admirers of Nishikanto’s poetry.

The hard-copies of the e-book Ananya Nishikanto are available at a price of Rs. 20 (twenty) only.

Those who would like to place an order may write to us at the following email addresses:

                                       overmanfoundation@gmail.com

                                       overmanfoundation@yahoo.com

With warm regards,

Anurag Banerjee

Chairman,

Overman Foundation.

Dear Friends,

The Aurobindonian community of Bengal has lost a bright star with the untimely demise of Shri Subhas Ghosal—whom we lovingly addressed as ‘Subhas-da’—on 30 December 2010. A litterateur, poet, biographer, essayist and novelist, Subhas-da has excelled in every form of literature. Born on 17 July 1948, he was named by his father Manmathanath (who was a soldier in the Indian National Army) after the name of Subhash Chandra Bose. His novels in Bengali like Tanmatro, Ka-Bargo, Mandap and Chidakash have won not only critical acclaim but also the heart of the readers. For nearly thirteen years he edited the journal Heenojan. When Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, Kolkata, launched its quarterly journal Sandhitsha, he became its editor and served the journal till the last days of his life. Under his editorship, Sandhitsha established a reputation of being one of the most well-read journals of Bengal. An ardent disciple of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, he practised the Integral Yoga with his pen as his medium of sadhana. A number of Sri Aurobindo’s poems were translated by him into Bengali. His biographies of the Mother, Nolini Kanta Gupta and Nishikanto as well as his thought-provoking articles on Sri Aurobindo and his philosophy reveal his deep insight and understanding of the works of his spiritual guides. His biography of Nolini Kanta Gupta earned him the ‘Nolini Kanta Gupta Memorial Award’ in 2005.

His other publications include the following: Leenar Biman, Dehokei Phire Pawa, Daminike Rakhi Chere, Batash Chuyeche Dweep, Anubhalok, Ghore Tepantor, Upomudra, Nadir Chokh, Akanda, Bashpo, Muktobhoshmo, Ananter Luckochuri, Gandhi, Pondicherryer Shreema, Sri Auobindo O Tanr Boloy, etc. He was awarded with the ‘Uttarapath Sahitya Puraskar’ (Sweden) in 1990 for his literary contributions and the ‘Pragya Samman’ in 1996 for his novel Mandap.

Subhas-da was an admirer of the activities of Overman Foundation and appreciated its gradual development. It was because of his encouragement that some of the unpublished poems of Nishikanto Raichowdhury, the great mystic poet of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, compiled by me were published in the November 2010 issue of Sandhitsha under the title of ‘Ananya Nishikanto’ along with some epistolary exchanges between the poet and Sri Aurobindo. He was quite keen to publish some of the unpublished correspondence of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother which we possess at Overman Foundation serially in Sandhitsha. But his untimely death marked the premature end of a promising beginning.

On behalf of all the members of Overman Foundation, I take the opportunity of paying my humble tribute to Subhas-da and offering my condolence to his family members.

With warm regards,

Anurag Banerjee

Chairman,

Overman Foundation.

Dear Friends and Well-wishers of Overman Foundation,

It gives me immense pleasure to announce that on 13^th January 2011 Overman Foundation has published its third e-book, Sri Aurobindo on Ethics.

Derived from the Latin word ‘ethicus’ and Greek word ‘ethikos’ meaning character or manners, ethics can be defined as the science of moral principles and recognized rules of conduct. The character of a man is generally expressed in terms of his conduct or actions which can be ‘good’ or ‘bad’, ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, ‘moral’, ‘immoral’ or ‘amoral’. Ethics deals with the values related to human conduct with respect to the right and wrong of certain actions. Such judgments need moral standards by which one judges the human conduct. Different thinkers and philosophers have viewed ethics differently. Hence, it was felt necessary to share with the interested reader the views of Sri Aurobindo about ethics.

Sri Aurobindo on Ethics is a compilation of Sri Aurobindo’s valuable views on ethics and his explanation of its various aspects. The book has been divided into three sections. The first section includes Sri Aurobindo’s views on topics like ‘True Ethics’, ‘Ethical Impulses, Instincts and Activities’, ‘Ideal Ethical Law’, ‘Ethics and Karma’ etc. The section includes discussion on topics like ‘Ethics in the Primitive Society’, ‘Indian Ethics’, ‘A Comparison between Aesthetic and Ethical Man and their Cultures’, etc. And the third section includes Sri Aurobindo’s writings on topics like ‘The Ethical Being and Reason’, ‘Ethics, Morality and the Dharma’, ‘Ethics and the Gnostic Life’ and ‘Ethical Being and the Divine’.

Compiled and edited by Shri Anurag Banerjee, the e-book Sri Aurobindo on Ethics is available at a price of Rs. 20 (twenty) only.

Those who would like to place an order may write to us at the following email addresses:

                                     overmanfoundation@gmail.com

                                     overmanfoundation@yahoo.com

With warm regards,

Anurag Banerjee

Chairman,

Overman Foundation.

Dear Friends and Well-wishers of Overman Foundation,

It gives me immense pleasure to announce that on 31^st December 2010 Overman Foundation has published its second research project in English, “Sri Aurobindo: His Political Life and Activities”.

This book comprising of 445 pages is a chronological study of Sri Aurobindo’s political life from 1906 to 1910 through British Government documents, press coverage, memoirs of his political colleagues as well as his own autobiographical account. Hundreds of documents collected from British Government records (some of which have been published in this book for the first time) and press cuttings—both being more than a century old—have been incorporated in this volume. In addition to the aforesaid documents and press coverage, the book includes rare letters written to Sri Aurobindo by Nationalist leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Surendranath Banerjea and others. It also includes the reminiscences of the likes of Brahmabandhab Upadhyay, Nolini Kanta Gupta, Sudhir Kumar Sarkar (who were Sri Aurobindo’s associates in the Nationalist movement) about the political activities of Sri Aurobindo.

A chief attraction of this book is the complete text of the speech of Chittaranjan Das which he had rendered while defending Sri Aurobindo in the Alipore Bomb Trial. 

Another major attraction of this book is six extremely rare articles written on Sri Aurobindo by Bepin Chandra Pal, Charu Chandra Dutta, Hemendra Prasad Ghose, S. R. Das, Suresh Deb and Birendra Chandra Sen. And the reader is expected to find as many as nineteen speeches and two interviews of Sri Aurobindo in this book.  

Compiled and edited by Shri Anurag Banerjee and with a preface from the pen of Prof. Kittu Reddy, this e-book is priced Rs. 200 (two hundred) only.             

Those who would like to place an order may write to us at the following email addresses:

                                     overmanfoundation@gmail.com

                                     overmanfoundation@yahoo.com

With warm regards,

Anurag Banerjee

Chairman,

Overman Foundation.

Dear Friends,

It gives me immense pleasure to announce that on 30 December 2010 Overman Foundation has published its first research project in English, the unabridged version of the Alipore Bomb Trial Judgment rendered by C. P. Beachcroft on 6 May 1909. A portion of this judgment emphasizing mostly on Sri Aurobindo was published in the book, “The Alipore Bomb Trial” edited by B. K. Bose in 1922. But it is only through this publication of Overman Foundation that the complete judgment of the Alipore Bomb Trial has seen the light of the day. Not only will this book help the students of history but also the students of law.

Compiled and edited by Shri Anurag Banerjee, this e-book consisting of 149 pages is priced Rs. 50 (fifty) only. Those who would like to place an order may write to us at the following email addresses:

                                     overmanfoundation@gmail.com

                                     overmanfoundation@yahoo.com

 With warm regards,

 Anurag Banerjee

 Chairman,

Overman Foundation.