Lakshman Sehgal: Panelist

Lakshman Sehgal's family moved to Pondicherry in 1945 from Hyderabad when he was a toddler. He was the youngest to be allowed into the main Ashram building when he was causing such a ruckus under Sri Aurobindo's room's window. Upon hearing the cause, Sri Aurobindo sent Champaklal down to tell his parents to bring him into the Ashram!

Lakshman has distinct memories of Sri Aurobindo giving Darshan. Most memorable is the sight of Sri Aurobindo's enlightened body on the 5th of December 1950 and touching his feet more than once, which were soft and tender. The supramentalized body and the glow were impossible to miss, even through the eyes of an eight-year-old.

Lakshman received his education at the Sri Aurobindo International Center of Education, completing the higher course (equivalent to a bachelor's degree) in 1962. His life in the Ashram is full of memories of being around the Mother from dawn to dusk: being taught French by her in the playground, being her ball boy when she played tennis, competing in track and field and gymnastics under her watchful eye, receiving her congratulations and an extra bag of peanuts or candy that evening in the playground. Especially gratifying is the memory of being picked by her to recite one of Sri Aurobindo's poems in Urdu and to give a gymnastic performance for then Prime Minister of India, Pundit Jawarlal Nehru. Lakshman's outer and later inner contact with the Mother has been through physical education, and on his annual visit to the Ashram, he continues to work with the children in their daily sports routine.

Lakshman came to the Illinois Institute of technology in Chicago in the fall of 1964, and received his doctorate in biology in 1970. In the summer of 1966, Hansa Sehgal, who also grew up in the Ashram, joined him. Mother sanctioned their wedding and blessed them by rings she gave Hansa for both of them.

Since his graduation, Lakshman has been involved in medical research at various academic institutions in the Chicago area. Along with Hansa, he worked almost two decades to develop a blood substitute, the first of its kind that is now completing the final stage of clinical testing.

Lakshman is the author and coauthor of over 100 scientific publications and has been awarded ten international patents. He continues to be involved with research and is currently working on a gene therapy approach to complement open-heart surgeries and developing other novel transfusion related products. His passion for research is complemented by his attempt to correlate scientific discoveries with the Mother's work and experiences with her body.

For the past decade, Lakshman has also devoted a good part of his time and energies, working with a non-for profit agency that caters to the need of the new immigrant population. Part of this effort has led to the establishment of a charter school in which both he and Hansa are involved trying to introduce new ideas in the teaching curriculum.

Exercise in the form of tennis, running, weight training are a daily part of Lakshman's life. Hansa and Lakshman visit Pondicherry every year and both their sons have made frequent trips too. They have celebrated the four Darshan days with a small group of devotees for the past 38 years.