Sri Aurobindo

Autobiographical Notes

and Other Writings of Historical Interest

Part One. Autobiographical Notes

2. Sri Aurobindo’s corrections of statements in a proposed biography

Life in Baroda, 1893–1906

Service in Baroda State [6]

Aurobindo was appointed Private Secretary to H.H. the Maharaja of Baroda. . . . Whether as the Maharaja’s Private Secretary or as an officer in the Revenue Department or as Professor of English and later as Vice-Principal in the Baroda College, Sri Aurobindo always conscientiously “delivered the goods”.

[Another version:]

Sri Aurobindo was never appointed to the post of Private Secretary. He was put first in the Settlement Department, not as an officer but to learn the work; then in the Stamps and Revenue Departments; he was for some time put to work in the Secretariat for drawing up dispatches etc; finally he oscillated towards the College and entered it at first as part-time lecturer in French, afterwards as a regular Professor teaching English and was finally appointed Vice-Principal. Meanwhile, whenever he thought fit, the Maharaja would send for him for writing letters, composing speeches or drawing up documents of various kinds which needed special care in the phrasing of the language. All this was quite informal; there was no appointment as Private Secretary. Once H.H. took Sri Aurobindo as Secretary on his Kashmir tour, but there was much friction between them during the tour and the experiment was not repeated.