Kaikhosru Dhunjibhoy Sethna (26 November 1904 – 29 June 2011) was an Indian poet, scholar, writer, philosopher, and cultural critic. He published more than 50 books. He was known by the diminutive Kekoo, but wrote his poetry under nom de plume of Amal Kiran.
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
on 25 November 1904. His father was a physician and specialist eye surgeon. He was a voracious reader and also a bit of a writer, giving his son a lot of support in developing his talents.
At the age of two and a half, Sethna suffered a polio infection, crippling his left foot. He recalled having the temperament of Reza Shah Pahlavi, as an infant and would have been a soldier if not for his infection. Three years later, when several therapeutic efforts had failed, his father took him to London for a corrective operation after which Sethna was able to walk straight again, though with a slight limp.
Youth and education
Sethna received his early education at the reputed St. Xavier’s College, a Roman Catholic institution run by foreign
priests. He practically grew up with English as his mother tongue and was less fluent in Parsi Gujarati, also spoken at home.
He began his literary career very early, publishing book reviews in newspapers and magazines. His first book, titled ''Parnassians'', appeared in 1924. It was a collection of essays on the works of
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
,
Gilbert Keith Chesterton
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English writer, philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic. He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox". Of his writing style, ''Time'' observed: "Wh ...
and
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...
. When one of Sethna’s well-wishers sent a copy of the book to Wells, the latter is reported to have commented, “the young man will go far.”
His spiritual journey
As a College student, Sethna started reading books on
Hatha Yoga
Haṭha yoga is a branch of yoga which uses physical techniques to try to preserve and channel the vital force or energy. The Sanskrit word हठ ''haṭha'' literally means "force", alluding to a system of physical techniques. Some haṭha ...
and
Raja Yoga
''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
The title has a long history in history of South Asia, South Asia and History of ...
and especially the works of
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intro ...
. He also met a saint in
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
and a yogi in
Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
and felt inspired through these meetings.
Some time later Sethna learned of
Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950) was an Indian philosopher, yogi, maharishi, poet, and Indian nationalist. He was also a journalist, editing newspapers such as ''Vande Mataram''. He joined the ...
from a Theosophist and also discovered an article on the
Sri Aurobindo Ashram
The Sri Aurobindo Ashram is a spiritual community (ashram) located in Pondicherry, in the Indian territory of Puducherry. The ashram grew out of a small community of disciples who had gathered around Sri Aurobindo after he retired from ...
which he read with great interest. After having married his long-term girlfriend Daulat, a fellow Parsi, they decided to go to Pondicherry for visiting Sri Aurobindo and the Mother ( Mirra Alfassa).
Joining the Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Sethna and his wife arrived in the Ashram in December 1927. After having met the Mother and Sri Aurobindo, he decided to join the Ashram along with his wife, who was renamed "Lalita", which is a name of one of
Radha
Radha ( sa, राधा, ), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is worshiped as the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. She is the avatar of goddess Lakshmi and is also de ...
’s companions. Sethna received from Sri Aurobindo the new name "Amal Kiran", meaning "Pure Ray".
As a first work, Sethna was given the task of managing the Ashram stores, looking after the various practical needs of the members. Much of his free time he dedicated to developing his poetry, regularly sending his numerous creations to Sri Aurobindo for getting his opinion and corrections. In 1936 Sri Aurobindo started sending him his handwritten texts of his literary main work '' Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol'' for typing. As a result, there also followed a correspondence on Sri Aurobindo’s spiritual poetry, discussing its peculiar characteristics, its style and planes of inspiration.
Some time in 1937, Sethna and his wife were divorced, and he married Sehra, a Parsi friend of his youth from Bombay. She remained his companion until her death in 1980. The death of Sehra and the death of his nephew the noted advocate Dhun Canteenwalla is said to have nearly caused him to lose his equipoise.
Mother India
In 1949, the journal ''Mother India'' was started by the Ashram. Its purpose was to discuss current topics, both National and International, from a viewpoint which was in line with Sri Aurobindo’s thought, although it was not directly meant to be his mouthpiece. Sethna was appointed its editor, and he sent all his political articles for approval to Sri Aurobindo. However, after Sri Aurobindo’s departure in 1950 the Mother advised Sethna not to touch directly on politics.
The articles were not only on Sri Aurobindo and his yoga, but also included many other topics in the field of literature, culture and art. The authors were, apart from the editor himself, other members of the Ashram or followers of Sri Aurobindo and sometimes also outsiders.
Literary works
Apart from his contributions in ''Mother India'', Sethna also occasionally published articles in other journals and wrote more than fifty books on Sri Aurobindo, the Mother, integral Yoga, poetry, science, philosophy, ancient Indian history and other subjects. His great sense of humour came out in his title ''Light and Laughter''.
Sethna was born a Parsi-
Zoroastrian
Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic on ...
, but discontinued its practice after becoming a disciple of Sri Aurobindo. He celebrated his 100th birthday in 2004. At the time of his death, at the age of 106 On June 29,2011., he was one of the world's oldest living authors. The last few years of his life he had stayed at the Ashram Nursing Home.
His sister Minnie Canteenwalla, was also a poet of some repute within the Aurobindo community. She was married to Nariman Canteenwalla (sometimes spelled Canteenwala).
Literature
* P. Raja (2018), ''K.D. Sethna''. New Delhi, Sahitya Akademi.
Partial bibliography
*Amal Kiran, ''Light and Laughter''
*---- ''Talks on Poetry''
*---- ''India and the World Scene'',
*---- ''The Indian Spirit and the World's Future'',
*Sethna, K.D., ''Altar and Flame''
*---- ''The Mother, Past-Present-Future'', 1977
*---- ''Obscure and the Mysterious''
*---- '' The Problem of Aryan Origins'', 1980, 1992;
*---- ''Overhead Poetry''
*---- ''The Passing of Sri Aurobindo'', 1951.
*---- ''Sri Aurobindo on
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
''
*---- ''Sri Aurobindo- The Poet''
*---- ''The Obscure and the Mysterious: A Research in
Mallarmé Mallarmé is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* André Mallarmé (1877–1956), French politician
* Stéphane Mallarmé
Stéphane Mallarmé ( , ; 18 March 1842 – 9 September 1898), pen name of Étienne Mallarmé, was a Fre ...
's Symbolist Poetry''
*---- ''Teilhard de Chardin and Sri Aurobindo - a focus on fundamentals'', Bharatiya Vidya Prakasan, Varanasi (1973)
*---- ''The Spirituality of the Future. A search apropos of
R. C. Zaehner
Robert Charles Zaehner (1913–1974) was a British academic whose field of study was Eastern religions. He understood the original language of many sacred texts, e.g., Hindu (Sanskrit), Buddhist (Pali), Islamic (Arabic). At Oxford University his ...
's study in Sri Aurobindo and
Teilhard de Chardin
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin ( (); 1 May 1881 – 10 April 1955) was a French Jesuit priest, scientist, paleontologist
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and ...
Associated University Presses
Associated University Presses (AUP) is a publishing company based in the United States, formed and operated as a consortium of several American university presses. AUP was established in 1966, with the first titles published through AUP appearing ...
.
*---- ''The Vision and Work of Sri Aurobindo''
*---- ''Problems of Ancient India'', 2000, New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan.
*---- ''Ancient India in a New Light''