INAUGURATION OF “THE GOLDEN PROJECT”:
REMEMBERING NIROD-DA’S WORDS

Sri Aurobindo Centre for Advanced Research, otherwise known as SACAR, was formally inaugurated on 29-2-2000 at 4 p.m. by Dr. Nirodbaran — Nirod-da, the scribe of Savitri.

The inauguration ceremony involved the unveiling of the Mother’s Charan by Nirod-da and lighting of the symbolic Lamp of Knowledge that may reveal to all the vision of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. It was a stroke of great Grace that just on the eve of the inauguration day the Mother’s Charan were made available to SACAR by the Managing Trustee of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram.

The response of the participants was overwhelming. About four hundred of them graced the occasion even though many of them had to face a lot of trouble locating SACAR and also could not find a place to sit due to the overwhelming crowd at the function. It was indeed a warm and encouraging sight to see main luminaries in the big hall of the building. Some of the Ashram trustees, senior teachers of the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, trustees of the Institute of Human Study and SACAR, eminent speakers and writers from the Ashram and outside, researchers from the Archives of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, students and well-wishers from Auroville and different Sri Aurobindo Centres from India and many Pondicherrians were all there meditating together in silent prayer. The Mother’s Presence and Peace reigned tangibly in the building.

Nirod-da made a brief speech calling SACAR as a “Golden Project.” He said:

Ananda has given me a very hard task ... gold
I have not been speaking or talking for a long time. So if there is any mistake or faux pas -- there are great speakers here, much better than what I am -- so I hope they will excuse me.

I’ll say only two or three words — though I know more, because my friend Ananda has told me much about what he is trying to do over here. And you also know, at least some of you know, what is his intention, what is his ambition and what will be the subject. So I won’t go into all those details.

Just now, we have assembled here, you know why — on the Golden Day with his Golden Project. And he’ll tell you, I hope, little by little ... Now, I have to inaugurate this much, saying that he has a wonderful project and he’ll tell you about it.

But, one thing he expects and it is natural — all your good wishes, all your hope and all your love for him so that his project may be a great success. It is bound to be so because Mother’s Force, Mother’s Light and Mother’s Love, all have been poured into Ananda — so he has become Ananda Reddy.

I’ll not go into that further. I stop my great speech here.