“A busy man has time for everything - UG.”

UG and Mahesh Bhatt

UG rarely quoted other sources to convey nuggets of wisdom. The famous adage about time, “A busy man has time for everything.” was his constant refrain!

In the 90s, Mahesh Bhatt, the film director would shoot late into the wee hours of the morning, pack up his gear, head straight to Parekhji’s home in Santacruz, UG’s abode in Bombay. UG rightly described Mahesh as a workaholic. Even after his night long shoots, Mahesh would carry awesome energy over to his morning encounters with UG.

On one such occasion, UG pointing to Mahesh, who had hardly slept the night before, said, “Sir, he is Gudakesa”.  By the way, Arjuna, the famed warrior of Mahabharata is referred to as Gudakesa, which means the ‘sleepless one’!

I recently asked Mahesh what he had to say about UG’s oft repeated quote, “A busy man has time for everything” given his tight schedule befitting that of a celebrity. Mahesh, as is his wont, responded, “Don’t you see I am a standing example of what UG said!” There is no exaggeration there! He remains a busy bee and at the same time never misses anything! His friends would vouch for that!

Regardless of his numerous engagements, Mahesh manages to find time for every small thing! He would respond to calls, mails and messages from friends in the thick of his hundred odd tasks that demand his time!

When I probed him further about how he managed to get time for everything, specially calling his attention to UG’s famous maxim, Mahesh simply replied, “I work!”

His mantra seems to be ‘Don’t Try, Don’t Talk, Just Work!’

UG kept hammering away, “What do you want? Do you really know what you want? If you really know what you want, there is no way you can’t get it!” 

Chasing after a myriad dreams soaks up all our energy and time. Once we know what we want, there seems to be no dearth of time and energy.

Once we are clear about what we want, our clarity then decides our priority, and we will not be caught up in the maze of choices. With no more choosing or thinking, one is left with only doing! Time and energy suddenly seem to abound for such a person and open up in a big way!

Apparently, Mahesh knew what he really wanted from the very beginning!

I once parroted UG’s words to Mahesh, I said, “UG told me, ‘Don’t do a thing! Do Nothing!’ At this Mahesh turned into a live wire, “Noooo! UG never said that to me! He asked me to chase my dream! He said, Mahesh I want you to achieve name and fame, make money! He said he will not forgive me if I made failure into a virtue!

UG made it clear that there is nothing wrong with desire! Desire is life itself, if there is no desire, you will drop dead the next moment!”  

The small exchange took the wind off my sails and I just stopped short in my tracks!

For a moment, unwittingly I had transgressed the sacred territory of another individual! It hit me that UG’s guidance had always been personal, it was laser-focused on the individual! It varied from individual to individual. Like a good physician, UG administered the right medicine in right dosage to the right individual. I zipped my lip! Nothing could be more preposterous than generalising UG and his words!

Mahesh had a special equation with UG that defied description.

Once a close friend called on Mahesh to seek advice on how to stay around the fiery, raging UG, Mahesh explained, “It is actually very simple! When I am with UG, I never think! I ‘just do’ what he says! If he says sit, I sit, if he says get up, I get up, if he says get out, I just go, that’s all! I know he knows what is best for me!”  

This rare clarity makes Mahesh simply declare “I work!” unencumbered by frivolous choices , focused completely on the task at hand!

This simple, amazing ‘just do’ formula holds the key to efficiency, productivity and performance, buzz words in today’s business parlours! ‘Just do’ presupposes three things – tremendous clarity, sticking to essentials and single-minded commitment.

Getting to this point is not easy, it is sheer hard work and intelligence!

 ‘Just do’ demands that we re-look at our very fundamentals, our very way of life!

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When it came to his own dictum of the busy man making time for everything, UG walked the talk!

Time, it appeared, was never in short supply for UG’s innumerable commitments - he found time for every little thing despite his constant travels, meetings and exchanges with scores of people across the globe! He made sure every one of his friends enjoyed a unique, personal equation with him!

For a sage there is no choice, no thinking, only doing what has to be done!

UG received every visitor who turned up at his door, spent tons of hours with all sorts of discussions and inquiries, at the same time kept all his appointments, never missing a single engagement, visit or shopping!

UG never wore or carried a watch on his person but functioned precisely like a clock! When any visit was on the anvil, his eyes would dart back and forth to the clock on the wall, “We still have five minutes!” he would announce and continue to take more questions! At the appointed time, he would simply get up, declare the ‘shop’ closed, dismiss the crowd and slip into the waiting car!

UG would often repeat:

“Don’t think, just do!”

“Stop thinking and start living”

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