Dr. Laxmi Mall Singhvi - Ceremonially Honoured

It should be noted that L.M. Singhvi and Sri Chinmoy had had a very long-standing, warm and noble relationship with each other. They respected each other greatly and had interacted many times during their travels, especially during L.M. Singhvi’s notably long-time posting as Indian High Commissioner to England and in their other shared projects and concerns of the spirit of mankind.

It would be worth noting that Sri Chinmoy’s treasured friend, who was greatly respected throughout India, Laxmi Mall Singhvi (9 November 1931 - 6 October 2007), was paid tribute by his friend Sri Chinmoy (27 August 1931 - 11 October 2007) at that poignant moment and also, sadly, at a later date in memoriam in New York.

Excerpts from the 12 July 2007 occasion follow.

Sri Chinmoy (greeting Dr. Singhvi): I am so happy to have your blessings. I am so grateful to you.

Dr. Singhvi: It is a real privilege to see you.

Sri Chinmoy: It is an honour for me – after such a long time!

Sri Chinmoy performs on the esraj.

Sri Chinmoy: How can I ever forget how kindly and compassionately you introduced me at the Royal Albert Hall in London, then at the University of Cambridge, and again at the Peace Bridge in Scotland, and so many, many places. Your blessings I treasure in the very depth of my gratitude-heart. How compassionately and kindly you often introduced me to the public in those days!

Now my students will sing a few songs, and then I wish to offer you once again the U Thant Peace Award. This is a modified plaque, far better than the previous one. In so many ways you have helped me. I treasure your blessingful support and help in the inmost recesses of my heart.

The two friends are seated in the front row to listen to the Peace Meditation Singers perform a song composed by Sri Chinmoy in honour of Dr. Singhvi, as well as two songs with music set to Dr. Singhvi’s immortal utterances. They also offered songs dedicated to Jainism, including the traditional Namaskar Mantra.

Dr. Singhvi: I will say just a few words. I apologise that I am not in very good health, but I must celebrate the joy of the occasion in meeting you. You are graciousness personified. You are kindness and compassion personified. You have a poetic heart, and you have a musical soul, and that soul touches the core of the hearts of everyone who has come to know you.

It has been my privilege, it has been my honour, to know you for many years. I remember what a great occasion it was when you dedicated one of the most beautiful achievements of engineering, a bridge in Scotland, to peace. You have been building bridges of peace throughout the world and across human hearts, across human minds, and how you have perpetuated the memory of your good friend U Thant, who was a very spiritual person, very deeply Buddhist in his orientation and very deeply humane in his mental makeup. That is something which one can never forget.

You have, Sir, if I may say so with great respect, you have in a sense brought a spiritual resonance to the United Nations, to the whole concept of the United Nations. For without a spiritual resonance, harmony will not establish itself in the United Nations. And how ceaselessly, indefatigably, devotedly and with dedication you have striven for that peace and harmony in the world.

Yours is a presence which brings one close to a spiritual experience. For me, it has been a spiritual experience getting to know you, an experience not merely of the heart and the mind, but of the spirit.

How I remember your participation at my request in the Sri Aurobindo Festival at Kings College, at the University of Cambridge, and how I remember your many acts of kindness and compassion.

I came here for two purposes. One was to attend the Jain Convention. And the other was to hear that beautiful song, the celebration of wisdom, the celebration of perspective and philosophy, the celebration of character, the celebration of sacrifice in that beautiful mantra, the Namaskar mantra. I must say that one of the phrases applies to you beautifully: Namo loe. In the Prakrit language, translated into Sanskrit, it means Namo loke… – that you are the greatest of all the sadhus, the greatest of all people of good will and nobility of mind and character, word and deed.

I do not know how adequately to express my gratitude to you for the opportunity you have given me to see you. In India, everybody knows that darshan is not just seeing somebody. Darshan is a kind of communion with the spirit, and in that communion of the spirit one transcends one’s limitations. In communing with you, I feel emancipated. I feel transcendent.

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to you for what you are doing in the cause of peace, in the cause of human understanding, in the cause of advancing harmony, in the cause of understanding peace in all its ramifications and in the cause of spreading interfaith harmony and understanding.

The whole world is grateful to you for what you have achieved and what you have given because it is not in the achievement alone that a spirit like yours is fulfilled. It is in the giving that your spirit is fulfilled, and I have been at the receiving end of that generosity of the spirit that you represent.

For me, you represent the best of humankind, the best of the world, the best of India. India is now on the threshold of a new age, as it were, a new awareness, a new self-awareness. But I feel, Sir, with great respect, that India cannot be merely satisfied with being an economic superpower or a military power. India has to retrieve and go back to its roots in the spirit of humankind, in the spirit of the Vedas and the Upanishads.

I am, once again, very deeply grateful to you for the kindness, the compassion, the affection, the love, the blessings – blessings in song, blessings in words and blessings in spiritual communion. I am deeply, deeply in your debt – a debt which can only be acknowledged, but which can never be discharged.

Sri Chinmoy: Just the opposite! Each and every word of your blessings, each blessingful word of yours I shall treasure in the very depth of my gratitude-heart. I cherish you, I treasure you. I have the deepest love, deepest respect, deepest appreciation and deepest admiration for you, for what you have done for me over the years plus what you have been doing for the upliftment of

Bharat Mata, Mother India. You are in the galaxy of those immortal souls that Mother India treasures. And you have done so much, so much for the betterment of Mother India, plus you are the most powerful bridge between India and England. There have been many High Commissioners, India’s High Commissioners to England, but you will remain unparalleled. Culturally, spiritually, you will remain forever the most glorious achievement between the two countries.

I remember how kindly and compassionately you introduced me to the then Prime Minister John Major. How kind you were! Your unparalleled brilliance of the mind and your sleepless self-giving to the world at large can only be admired and treasured, and cannot be described in words.

Often when Sri Chinmoy was to be travelling in UK, messages were carried between Dr. Singhvi and Sri Chinmoy through Sri Chinmoy’s UK emissary, Bhavani Torpy, who was scheduling their intended meetings.

A documentary is shown about U Thant, and the Singers perform Sri Chinmoy’s song dedicated to U Thant. Sri Chinmoy’s personal secretary, Ms. Ranjana Ghose, presents Dr. Singhvi with a booklet about the U Thant Peace Award. Sri Chinmoy then garlands him with a special medallion and offers the glass plaque and a signed frame saying, “My own gratitude-heart is all that matters.”

Sri Chinmoy speaks about some of his recent lifting programmes.

Dr. Singhvi: I must add that you lift our spirits, and that which is weighty in human life, that which matters in human life. I had the great privilege of being once lifted by you.

Sri Chinmoy: For years and years I basked in the sunshine of your affection. Each time I went to England, how kind, how compassionate, how serving you were. I shall never forget those blessingful days, and I cherish them in the very depth of my gratitude-heart. I am sure you have met with President Gorbachev?

Dr. Singhvi: Yes, I know him and I have met him. We were both given an honorary degree and membership in the Curia in Greece in a town called Thessaloniki. We were both given honorary degrees by the University of Thessaloniki, and we stayed in the same hotel, he and Raisa Gorbachev, my wife and I. So we had the great privilege of knowing him. One thing I should tell you, Sir, that I asked him. He spoke to me through an interpreter, and I asked him, “What went wrong?”

He said – and this is the answer which must be remembered throughout history – he said, “I had a lot of glasnost, but there was not enough perestroika,” There was a lot of glasnost, but there was not enough perestroika – very deep and insightful remark!

Sri Chinmoy: He has been very, very kind to me over the years. For about 19 years we have maintained our very close friendship. He has written me over 100 letters, and we met together 24 times.

Dr. Singhvi: For me, it has been a blessing – not a blessing in disguise, but a blessing in its own guise. For me, it has been the most fulfilling blessing that Providence can provide. And I am grateful to you for being the source of that blessing.

Sri Chinmoy: Please feel the same. I am so grateful, so grateful, and I am extremely happy and delighted to have your blessings here once more. God blessed you with infinite greatness and goodness at the same time. He showered His choicest Blessings upon your devoted head and self-giving heart. We are so grateful to you. We are so proud of you. I understand your son is in the Parliament?

Dr. Singhvi: My son is a member of Parliament. Last time I was a candidate for the President’s Office. It almost happened. At the last minute, some change came about. This time I was not well enough to offer myself. That was five years ago. There was a group of people who somehow felt that they must oppose my candidature, but my candidature was supported by the then President, by the then Prime Minister, by the Cabinet – everybody – so it almost happened. But it doesn’t matter. Office is not the most important thing.

Sri Chinmoy: Prime Minister Vajpayee was extremely kind to me.

Dr. Singhvi: He was the proponent and proposer of the idea, and he had told everybody that he would like me to be the Presidential candidate.

Sri Chinmoy: I met with him in Bali. He was so kind, so kind to me. He was then Prime Minister.

Dr. Singhvi: But the man who was chosen, Sir, is also a good friend of mine: Abdul Kalam. He is now retiring. He is a man with a spiritual background.

Sri Chinmoy: Everything we have to leave at the Feet of God, these sad experiences. As we have learned in the Bhagavad Gita, we have the right to work, but not to the fruits thereof. We place the fruit, the results, at the Feet of God happily. This is the only consolation and joy. I understand there will be a meeting at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. I am sure you will be there.

Dr. Singhvi: I was once the President of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan International. It was founded by my mentor, Dr. K. M. Munshi. I have a very close relationship with that idea and that institution.

Sri Chinmoy: Many years ago I wrote an article on “Bal-Pal-Lal,”⁹ and then I added Sri Aurobindo at the end. I received a letter from K. M. Munshi appreciating my article.

Dr. Singhvi: He was my mentor. I was his pupil. I was also associated with him in law practice, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, and all his cultural and his spiritual activities. I had a very close association with him. He gave me more love than a father can give his child, and his wife always used to say that I had received much more love and affection from Dr. Munshi than his children.

Dr. Kusumita Pedersen (who helped facilitate the meeting with Dr. Singhvi): Guru, Dr. Singhvi’s next meeting is with Mr. Gopal Raju from India Abroad.

Dr. Singhvi: He’s coming to see me, so I thought it would be nice if he came to see you before our meeting. I wish he had seen that beautiful video about U Thant. That video is very, very good.

Sri Chinmoy: K. M. Munshi founded the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

Dr. Singhvi: He reconstructed the Temple of Somnath, and invited Dr. Rajendra Prasad to inaugurate. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru said Dr. Rajendra Prasad should not go and Vallabhbhai Patel should not go. Both of them went in spite of Jawaharlal Nehru, and that created a bit of a rift. He had a great cultural commitment, and was a man of spiritual understanding.

Sri Chinmoy: The Iron Man of India, Vallabhbhai Patel – many, many times he and Nehru could not see eye to eye.

Dr. Singhvi: That is true.

Sri Chinmoy: How difficult it was for Mahatma Gandhi to keep them together.

Dr. Singhvi: Mahatma Gandhi was a rallying figure. That is why Vallabhbhai Patel, who could have been Prime Minister, decided to follow Mahatma Gandhi’s advice and propose the name of Jawaharlal Nehru.

Patel had the majority, but he said, “No, Mahatma Gandhi’s word is the only majority.” In 1946, Patel had the full control of the entire organisation, total control of the organisation. But Mahatma Gandhi said that Jawaharlal Nehru was younger, and he should be the Prime Minister. That Patel accepted in a total spirit of support and without any exception, without any reservation, that is the greatness of that generation. And it is true that actually, ultimately, Patel did not live very long thereafter, so it is as well that Jawaharlal-ji had a fairly long and unquestioned tenure in office and was able to shape the future. But whatever Patel touched, whichever problem he tackled, he resolved it in the national interest and the larger human interest. That was the greatness of his ability.

I have put two big statues, very large and monumental statues of Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo, in the Parliament House, at the very entrance of the main Parliament House Central Hall. That was a very fulfilling sense that I felt because that was bringing spirituality to the sanctum sanctorum of the political process.

Sri Chinmoy: And you know, there was a time when the picture of Sri Aurobindo was not there. All those who fought for freedom were there. Nehru said that artists could not draw Sri Aurobindo’s portrait well, so they did not have his picture. Then Nehru and others came to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, and Dr. S. Radhakrishnan liked a portrait that was there of Sri Aurobindo and put it up in the Parliament House. For years Sri Aurobindo’s picture was not there in the Hall. And there at Cambridge, you brought Sri Aurobindo’s and Mahatma Gandhi’s busts.

Dr. Singhvi: You came to Cambridge for the Sri Aurobindo Festival also. I am establishing, hopefully, if I live long enough, a Bharatham International in India at the tri-junction of Rishikesh, near the airport. It would be a unique project of its kind called Bharatham. As I have conceived it, the entire map of the world will be designed, and then there will be a map of India designed on one acre of land, and there will be ten electronic programmes. They will showcase the pilgrimages of India, the great Spiritual Masters of India. And there will be a boat trip around the country with water on all three sides, so that when people go and visit it, they will have the feeling of the spirit of India. I have acquired the land.

Sri Chinmoy: I shall pray to God – my humble prayer, with utmost sincerity – to grant you a very long life. How many more years for you to complete 100 years?

Dr. Singhvi: Sri Chinmoy, you and I were born in the same year.

Sri Chinmoy (after speaking in Sanskrit): We use the term aspiration, not desire. What you are saying about Bharatham, I take it as burning aspiration-flames of your heart, so God must fulfil your aspiration.

Dr. Singhvi: There is a Bharatham auditorium in Delhi. There will be a Bharatham retreat in Rishikesh. In Delhi I want to put a statuette of yours which I saw. Bhavani Torpy’s husband, Kaivalya, has made one statuette of you. I have been in touch with him, and I am very keen to get it if I can, and put it in India. I would like it because these are spiritual celebrations, and your presence brings that sense of spirituality. It comes alive.

Sri Chinmoy: May I know your birth date?

Dr. Singhvi: 9th of November 1931.

Sri Chinmoy: Oh, you are junior! I am senior.

Dr. Singhvi: In November I will complete 76.

Sri Chinmoy: Yes, I shall complete 76 in August.

Dr. Singhvi: I am very grateful.

Sri Chinmoy: I am very grateful. Thank you.

Dr. Singhvi: I wish I could come to the ashram where I came and where you had lifted me up, but you have always lifted me up.

Sri Chinmoy: You have already lifted me inwardly. I do it outwardly.

Dr. Singhvi (introducing Mr. Gopal Raju of _India Abroad_): Gopal Raju, I want you to meet one of my great spiritual benefactors, Sri Chinmoy, and Sri Chinmoy, I am pleased to introduce Sri Gopal Raju. It is very nice that you had a chance to see Sri Chinmoy. Sri Chinmoy ceremonially presented me with a redesigned U Thant Peace Award, although he gave the award to me a long time ago.

Sri Chinmoy: Last year President Gorbachev came to our place, and when he saw hundreds of people smiling, he was so moved. My students were all very cheerful, so he was very deeply moved.

Dr. Singhvi: He is a lovely man. After Raisa, he has been in a condition of a great loss. Raisa was a great companion for him.

Sri Chinmoy: One year on the 13th of April, Raisa said to me over the phone in English, “Not every day, not every hour, but every minute, I think of you and I thank you.” Her voice was recorded, and when the President was here last year in October and he heard it, he was so deeply moved. We have dedicated a tree in honour of Raisa. I think ten or twelve times we met, and the moment she would see me, at first Raisa Maximovna could not speak, only shedding tears.

Dr. Singhvi: Very charming person. My wife and I spent three full days and nights along with both of them.

Sri Chinmoy: So kind, so compassionate, Raisa Maximovna.

Dr. Singhvi: And very thoughtful, a very thoughtful person.

Sri Chinmoy: Before, the wives were not allowed to come to the fore, but in President Gorbachev’s case, he wanted his wife to be by his side, his inspiration.

Dr. Singhvi takes his leave from Sri Chinmoy. <html>

      <a class="source-title"  href="crh"  title="" >Sri Chinmoy, Concern: A Reality of the Heart, </a>Agni Press, 2025