with Sri Ganesh

The above document had been kept by Dayanand, a sadhak who had been at the time entrusted with land matters under Navajata: On the Chaturthy day in 1996, he sent it to Kusum, with this attached note: “16-9-96 Ganeshji Bonne Fête Dear Kusum ben, This paper has been lying with me ever since it was given. Perhaps it has more importance to you and on this important day I hand over the document to your safe custody With love Dayanand.” The entire land was later named “Auro-Orchard” by the Mother and was one of the very first settlements in Auroville, along with “Promesse” on the other side of the Main Road. But none of the newcomers to the adventure of Auroville could be asked to do this service to Lord Ganesh and for a long while, a local Brahmin was hired as a priest. It seems that his ways were very traditional and also that he was perhaps not altogether honest. People started looking for a better candidate, someone who would be turned to the Mother and the ideals of Auroville and yet willing to do this daily service in the right spirit. At about that time, 1970-71, Kusum Shah, a lady from Gujarat, born and raised in a Jain family, had joined Auroville She had come to the Mother much earlier, while still involved in the work of Acharya Vinobha and a manager in the Khadi Industries herself, in the late 1950s, but could not yet remain A single mother since the accidental early death of her husband right after India’s Independence – they both had been “freedom fighters” –, she was raising her two sons with her own earnings and meant to provide them with the best possible education. As soon as she saw them both settled and fairly secure in their lives, one in the US and one in Gujarat, she left everything else and came to the Mother. As she still wanted to maintain her relations with her sons and occasionally visit with them, she could not take up the Ashram way of life; the Mother sent her to live and work at “Promesse” in Auroville, helping in the Dispensary and the Maternity and the school for local children.

She was thus approached by Prabhaben, herself also from Gujarat, who was very active in the running of the “Prosperity Service” for

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