Guiding Light of The Month

O Lord, how ardently do I call and implore Thy love! Grant that my aspiration may be intense enough to awaken the same aspiration everywhere: oh, may good- ness, justice and peace reign as supreme masters, may ignorant egoism be overcome, darkness be suddenly illu- minated by Thy pure Light; may the blind see, the deaf hear, may Thy law be proclaimed in every place and, in a constantly progressive union, in an ever more perfect harmony, may all, like one single being, stretch out their arms towards Thee to identify themselves with Thee and manifest Thee upon earth. - The Mother

Mr KS Rajah

We dedicate this issue of our Newsletter to this unique man whom we fondly remember as Mr K S Rajah, as our Uncle Rajah, our leader, our mentor, our friend and more. Besides the message from the editorial, we include in the next few pages words of members of the society and long standing friends of Mr Rajah and the society. The August issue of the Newsletter will carry more tributes from members, friends and well wishers.

Mr K S Rajah, Chairman of Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore passed away peacefully on the morning of 17 June 2010 after putting up a brave battle with cancer of the blood vessels for the past one year. The society stands by the bereaved family of the departed in prayer.

Mr Rajah’s service to the society spans some 40 decades, first as a committee member and then as its chairman from 2001. During his tenure as chairman of the society, Mr Rajah had made remarkable contributions to the society, being instrumental in its evolution into what it is today, a vibrant centre with various activities carried out spontaneously by members who responded to his own enthusiasm and unconditional trust. Mr Rajah quietly set the tone that we all freely imbibed, finding fulfillment in the work we did for its own sake.

In a recent visit to Singapore, Mrs Sonia Dyne, our former chairperson, remarked on how under Mr K S Rajah’s leadership, the society had been visibly transformed. This tribute she paid him on the day we gathered to observe The Mother’s 132nd Birth Anniversary this year. That was to be Mr Rajah’s last trip to the centre. But it was a momentous occasion, a beautiful one, at least for one who walked him to and from the table at which he read two beautiful prayers. The prayers that fell into his hands were strikingly appropriate for that moment both for all of us and most personally for him who was riding through rough waters. Mr Rajah carried with him a certain atmosphere that day that only a close relationship with the divine can carry. Here was a man who appeared to have left everything at the foot of The Mother, I thought, everything.

Determination, tenacity, grit, the very stuff that must have seen him climb up the ladder in his professional and personal life and sustained him wherever he was poised, I saw exuding from him during the several hospital visits we made in the past months, to be with him for a while, as he lay on the bed, trying to play the amicable host to his guests. There was a great humility in this man that touches one to the core. Humility. This word about sums up the being and life that was Mr K S Rajah. Here is the first part of our humble tribute to him.

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