Thus Sri Aurobindo sailed back to his country in 1893, at the age of twenty-one, having spent the most important and formative fourteen years of his life in a foreign land. He had grown up in England, but did not feel any attachment to it. India was beckoning.
The moment Sri Aurobindo put his foot down on Indian soil, at Apollo Bunder in Bombay, a vast peace and calm descended upon him, never to leave him.
But for the moment he was occupied with service at the Baroda State. He started by working in the survey and settlement department, then in the department of revenue and finally in the Secretariat. He also drafted the speeches of the Maharaja of the state, the Gaekwad.
After some time Sri Aurobindo was transferred to the Baroda College, first as a teacher of French, and then as vice-principal, where he was very popular with the students for his unconventional way of teaching.
In Baroda, Sri Aurobindo plunged himself into the study of Indian culture. He learnt Hindustani, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, and Sanskrit.Sri Aurobindo read theMahabharata, theRamayana, Kalidasa, Bhavabhuti, Bankim as well as Homer, Dante, Horace and many others.
In 1901, Sri Aurobindo married Mrinalini Devi.
In 1903, Sri Aurobindo went to Kashmir with the Maharaja. There on the Hills of Shankaracharya he had a beautiful spiritual experience.
