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(To, L. L. S. R)

I once heard in a lecture that most of the minerals in the world could be found in the human body. It was said that there is just enough of iron in a person to make a nail. I think that we could also say that different beauties of nature could also be seen in some people. There are some who are like the Sun, powerful and radiant; some are like the flowers, beautiful and fragrant; and others like the meadows, calm and pleasant.

At the moment I am thinking of a certain woman; she is like the ore! And this ought to tell you that she is just plain! I mean that she is not ‘made up�. There are no jewels, costly dresses, styles and airs. But there is grandeur in her plainness, just as there is a briliance in ore.

I can never understand why people go distances to see just a lighted palace, coloured fountains and festooned scenes, when every moment you could see the dawn, the fields and the waters. That is how I class women. There are the ‘made up� ones like illuminations, and the ‘just plain� like nature.

‘Prapancha� is the name of this woman. She must be observed to be liked. Just watch. She gets up so early in the morning that she could say to the Sun, ‘You late riser!� And with this morning freshness she does her household duties so dear to her. She will wash clothes, walk distances, and take a seat in a meeting or theatre and will despise you if you should tell her not to do so. ‘It is my husband who is great, not I,� she will chide. In her rounds with her to the servants dwelling places, the garden and the farm, there is nothing to reveal her aesthetic sense, but she will relate a moral from these common lives with a simplicity that is her charm.

Her greatest urge is to conscript all women for social uplift work. To her, as it is to all industrious people, Time is opportunity for work. To her again, idleness, gossip and social competition are vulgar pursuits. There are some treasured sentiments, which she will sometimes quietly unearth regarding religion and society. It is surprising to think that this woman who in appearance seems to be the symbol of orthodoxy, has the most advanced ideas and practises them too. ‘Religion,� she will say, ‘should consist in abstract worship� and so she never indulges in pujas and temple worship. To her mind all classes are the same and she would like to see more of inter-class marriages provided both the parties ‘match� in their traits, and are of the standard human pattern. In her enthusiasm to promote and expound her theories she will stride through fields of knowledge and culture that would astonish a scholar. And when caught in this mode of thought ‘Prapancha� is a veritable goddess. Her eyes then are bright like crystal waters, her skin is smooth and glossy like a tender leaf, and her smile is soft like moonlight.

The average woman looks upon her with suspicion; regards her as quaint, foolish and ascetic-minded. To me, she is like a place of pilgrimage; I always come from her imbued with the philosophy, that�

‘In character, in manners, in style�
The supreme excellence is simplicity.�