Reading "Religion made relevant” (Parsiana, June 21-July 6, 2021) brought back some happy memories of my childhood and youth. Thoughts of The Theosophical Society were absent from my mind when I opened my copy of the magazine, but as I began to read this article I began to walk down memory lane.
As a child I remember my mother, Pareen Lalkaka, née Nanavutty, describing the lovely grounds of The Theosophical Society at Adyar, where she had spent some happy months studying the Montessori Method under Madame Maria Montessori herself. (George Arundale and Rukmini Devi had extended an invitation to Madame Montessori to reside in Adyar as she had been interned by the British during the Second World War.)
I often used to accompany my father, Dr K. A. J. Lalkaka to Blavatsky Lodge in the 1960s to meet his Theosophist friends and to attend lectures. Later I became a member of the Society’s Library at New Marine Lines which had a good collection of children’s books.
As a little girl I remember eagerly waiting for Sunday to arrive. We would go to Juhu to visit Maneckji Cooper and see his school building coming up. He wanted to introduce the Montessori Method in his school and sought my mother’s opinion on this matter. Then we would visit Jer Jussawalla on the grounds of The Theosophical Society and partake of a generous lunch at her place. I still remember her delicious sprouted moong salads!
In the 1970s I was staying at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras campus and would often cycle down to The Theosophical Society. I loved walking round the hoary banyan tree, sitting in the Garden of Remembrance, browsing through esoteric books in the library and listening to classical music in Theosophist Norma Sastry’s spacious living room. I can never forget the thrill I felt listening to Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique as I gazed at the casuarina trees swaying in the afternoon breeze. The ocean was calm and the wavelets spread silently across the golden sands of Elliot’s Beach.
Reading the article I realized that The Theosophical Society was associated with some of my pleasantest memories.
ABAN MUKHERJI
mukherji.aban@gmail.com