and my guru Dr. N.H. Atthreya, used to tell me every now and then that I should write in English about Vinoba and his ideas. I kept promising him that I would but failed repeatedly to do so.
In January, 1990 one Sunday morning, he told me in his own gentle persuasive style that I should write to him a letter every week, regularly telling him something about Vinoba, his life and his ideas. That was something which I could not resist. Then, as &@ smart move, I said: it was not much use writing about a great man to an elderly person. I could write to his grandson. It would be more useful to him, and for a longer time-span. He readily agreed.
That is how this letter-writing started on Sunday, the 4th February, 1990. It continued for a whole year and this is the last letter, dated 27th January, 1991.
The main purpose of writing these letters is not to write anything definitive about ideas. This is not a scholarly work. It is an introduction to a fascinating, truly Indian, bhoomiputra mind. If these letters induce you to read any of the original books or talks by Vinoba their purpose will be more than fulfilled.
Vinoba had many enchanting original ideas. He was a true bhoomiputra. He was exposed to Western thought but his understanding of India was that of an insider. Even Mahatma Gandhi started looking at Indian life, after his South African journey, from the eyes of a Westerner. Vinoba was totally desi. He was a Viswa-Manusha but rooted deep in Indian soil. He was not parochial, but a deep Hindu thinker.
Vinoba’s ideas therefore have a special fra- grance of India’s mother earth. My purpose was to
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