Lakhan Lal Mehrotra was Sri Chinmoy's boss whilst Sri Chinmoy worked at the Indian Consulate. Lakhan L. Mehrotra went on to have a distinguished diplomatic career, as well as being a great writer. In fact, Sri Chinmoy wrote:
To our extreme delight, a great author and good ancient history lover, a lover of India's traditional art and of world art, a distributor of the Vedic and Upanishadic lore to the world at large, a promoter of Indian culture throughout the length and breadth of the world, and an unreserved inspirer of perfection within and perfection without is Lakhan Mehrotra.
"Yours is the life of bounty, lofty and free.
Yours is the soulful seed and fruitful tree."
While walking along Eternity's Road, Lakhan Mehrotra, the pilgrim-soul, is offering lovingly and breathlessly his heart's birthless and deathless goodness-fragrance to each and every human being on earth.
— Sri Chinmoy, India, My India. Mother India's Summit-Prides, Agni Press, New York, 1997.
1991 Meeting at Aspiration-Ground
On 23 September 1991, Sri Chinmoy welcomed Lakhan L. Mehrotra to Aspiration-Ground, New York
Sri Chinmoy and Lakhan Mehrotra look at a display of some of Mr Mehrotra's books. The sign above the map states: "Mr Mehrotra's volume of poetry Krivatanjali is a part of the permanent collection of the following libraries."
At one of Sri Chinmoy’s concerts which Mehrotra had recently attended, he offered the following spontaneous message: “… Sri Chinmoy belongs to that stream of thought and sentiment which has shown us the Light for ages… I consider those blessed who sit in his presence and who seek his presence and I know that even after I and you and everyone is gone, his voice and his message will be with us, for that is the Message Supreme to which I bow.”
Sri Chinmoy, Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, Part 25, Agni Press, New York, 1982
Sri Chinmoy told several stories about his time at the Indian Consulate in a book My Consulate Years, including:
Mr. Mehrotra's nobility
One day Mr. Mehrotra’s secretary, Yvonne, was typing and typing. I happened to pass by her desk and she said, “Ghose, do you want to read something?” Mr. Mehrotra had given a talk on Hinduism and Buddhism. I read it and I really enjoyed it. I liked it very, very much. But in two places I thought it would be better to change the words because there were two very minor grammatical mistakes. I told the secretary and then I said, “Do not tell Mr. Mehrotra, for God’s sake, or I will lose my job.”
Mr. Mehrotra used to dictate his speeches, so perhaps she herself had made the errors. Anyway, I begged her not to tell Mr. Mehrotra. But she knew Mr. Mehrotra’s nature. She went and told him and immediately he corrected the mistakes. Then I got a good job. Whenever he was supposed to give a talk, he used to ask Yvonne to show it to me in advance so that I could offer my suggestions. Mr. Mehrotra saw something in me — perhaps a budding literary figure.
So noble people will always be noble.
Mr. Mehrotra's concern
After I had been working at the Consulate for three months, Mr. Mehrotra was sent to Cuba for two or three months. The Indian Government did not have an Ambassador to Cuba, so they wanted Mr. Mehrotra to go there for some time.
I was inspired to write a poem on Mr. Mehrotra. He was going away and God knows when he would come back. I felt so sad that he had to go. At his farewell party in our office, I stood behind his chair and read out the poem about him. He was so moved.
I was not feeling well on the day of farewell. A few weeks later, from Cuba, he wrote a letter to his secretary, Yvonne, who really liked me. In the letter, Mr. Mehrotra asked, “How is Ghose now? How is his physical health? I know about his spiritual health. He is taking good care of it, so I do not have to worry about his spiritual life, but I am worrying about his physical health.”
All kinds of things Mr. Mehrotra asked. He was extremely kind to me from the very beginning. He was my saviour.
Related
27 September 1978 Lakhan L Mehrotra meets Sri Chinmoy at a concert in San Francisco