In memoriam - Navoditte (Norman Thomas)

Navoditte (Norman Thomas) came to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1967 with his wife, Alice, and in February, 1968 attended the inauguration of Auroville. He moved to Aspiration in 1971 where he was part of the group that met Mother a number of times, conversations subsequently recorded in ‘Aspiration Talks’.

Later he moved to the Eco-House in Certitude where he was the weatherman, taking daily records of sun and wind. During the 1980s he worked for some time as the librarian at Aurelec.

Above all, he was a fine writer. His best work navigates a delicate line between quicksilver humour and profundity, reflecting both his wry, self-deprecating take on life (he once wrote that the most marvellous phrase in the English language was “I don’t know”) as well as his deep philosophical introspection and quiet undogmatic devotion to The Mother.

What he wrote about the ancient Chinese poet, Tao Yuang-Ming, could well have been written about himself: “He was quiet, even taciturn, had no desire for riches or fame. He amused himself with books, but never to such an extent that he would trouble himself with exact interpretations…He amused himself by writing occasion poems, wherein his aspirations are revealed, having no interest in worldly success or failure. And so his life passed to its end.”

Navoditte, like Yuang-Ming, loved laughter. Typically, he wrote his own funeral poem. It begins “You won’t need a coffin / To carry me off in / But a sheet / Would be rather neat” and ends “No music. No heavy breathing. No words / Just - if you’re lucky - the sound of birds / And then, with the rising smoke / Let some-in-the-crowd bloke / Give a vote of thanks on my behalf, / And then you all can laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh”.

Navoditte passed away on 1st February at the age of 93. He was buried in the Adventure cremation and burial grounds three days later.

His quiet, twinkle-eyed presence will be sorely missed.