Page:Letters from Abroad.pdf/48

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I had been accepted by the Western people, as one of themselves, I realised that my mission was the mission of the present age. It was to make the meeting of the East and West fruitful in truth. I felt that the call of Santiniketan was the invitation of India to the rest of the world. A picture needs its background for its meaning. The idea is great. I accept it. I fully believe in it; it is leading me on in an unknown path.

Yet how ludicrously small we are! The petty complications of our daily life, how insignificant and yet how obstructive! We have our path across the mountains, but rubbish heaps made of daily refuse of life, lying scattered on our path, cause trouble and delay and produce fatigue.

But the sun is shining overhead, and God's blessing is in my heart; the call is clear and help is waiting by the roadside.

When life began her first experiments, she was mightily proud of the hugeness of her animal specimens. The bigger the bodies were, the more extravagantly large the armour had to be made for their protection. The ludicrous creatures, in order to maintain their balance, had to carry a tail which was absurdly disproportionate to the rest of the body. It went on like this till life became a burden to itself and to the exchequer of creation. It was