Peter Heehs fabricated his own ‘bomb’ in the form of 'The Lives of Sri Aurobindo'

Review Article of Peter Heehs’ ‘The Lives of Sri Aurobindo’ -- by Dr. J.B.P. More from A critique of the book "The Lives of Sri Aurobindo" by Peter Heehs 

Peter Heehs without any known academic qualification or experience took to writing about Indian history. His first book was a slim volume on India’s freedom struggle from 1857 to 1947. That came out in 1988 […] A year later, he brought out a short work titled Sri Aurobindo: A Brief Biography […] In 1993, he brought out 'The Bomb in Bengal: The Rise of Revolutionary Terrorism in India, 1900-1910'. […]

In 1989, he wanted to teach others about how to write the biography of Sri Aurobindo by running down his previous biographers. In 1993, he sought to do the same to established academic historians. 

After 1993, Heehs produced at least three anthologies of Sri Aurobindo’s writings, culled from the Ashram archives. He thus established a reputation for himself as a specialist of Sri Aurobindo, his writings and philosophy. Another fifteen years passed since Heehs published his Bomb in Bengal. Meanwhile he seems to have fabricated his own ‘bomb’ which came out in the form of 'The Lives of Sri Aurobindo' in 2008 […] At the very outset, his objective seems to be to magnify wherever possible, what he considered to be blemishes and pockmarks in Sri Aurobindo’s life. [...] 

All this only shows that Heehs lacks historical depth and training, which is a requisite for coherence in historical or biographical writing. 

Amar Nath Prasad:  INDIAN POETRY IN ENGLISH: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL. 

Prof. V.P. Rajappan

Alleppey,-22, Kerala Tel:0477-2292461, India

I have been teaching English language and Literature for the last 30 years. My special area of interest is linguistics and poetry. My passion to teach English language and literature arises from my belief that English language can bind together peoples across the cultural spectrum and English literature can fill us with love of freedom and sympathy for all mankind .. English language will definitely take us nearer to the goal of One World and English literature can make us better human beings. View my complete profile Blog Archive 2010 (4) May (1)  Sri Aurobindo: His Poetics and his Poetry

Many know Sri Aurobindo (Aurobindo Ghosh) as a mystic and as a poet . But how many in India know of his poetic theories? His critical views lie scattered in the numerous essays he published from time to time They are the gems of Indian aesthetics.Being the product of Western liberalism, Sri Aurobindo could successfully harmonize Indian aesthetics with Western thoughts. Aurobindo's essays , therefore, deserve a niche reserved for the best critical literature of the world. […]

AUROBINDO'S POETRY

I consider Revelation as the most stupendous expression of Sri Aurobindo"s poetic genius. Among the Indo-Anglian poets only Sri Aurobindo could have conceived and written such a short poem of immense power. Only the blessed can have the rare vision of the Divine. Sri Aurobind belonged to the blessed few who could experience the vision of the many- splendoured but awesome Divine! To have the experience is one thing, but to put that into poetry is quite a different thing. The poet joins hands with the mystic in Aurobindo in shaping the poem. The seemingly unutterable experience of revelation is concretized through tangible imagery -wind-blown locks, a startled bright surmise, a cheek of frightened rose, a hurried glance behind, a thought ere it is caught - all these capture the fleeting moment of divine revelation. Thank you for visiting! Posted by Prof. V.P. Rajappanat 3:46 AM