UG and Major
UG’s impact is truly amazing on all those who he touched!
You shall find many stories in these blogs but there shall be a common thread running through all of them - UG!
Every one of these stories will be seen interwoven with and revolving around the story of UG, the protagonist!
****
Among UG friends, a countable few were chosen for ‘special’
treatment by the ‘raging sage’! They had to face the ‘fire test’, walk through the
toughest ordeals and stormiest encounters.
Major Dakshinamurti and his nephew Dr. Sreedhav belong to this
group.
Major’s sojourn makes for a compelling narrative. UG’s impact
on Major’s life was total!
The candid, lively Major shares and bares his life with friends who
call on him at his farmhouse. He is affable and enjoys narrating his encounters with
UG and Puttur Ajja, two remarkable souls with who he was associated intimately.
Major was married but could never enjoy conjugal happiness as
tragedy struck immediately after the marriage. His wife met with a freakish
accident soon after the marriage and suffered a terrible spinal injury and became an
invalid. She spent rest of her life confined to a wheel chair. The kind and
stoic Major took exceptional care of the lady, serving her and attending to her
personal needs for decades, till her premature death in the early ’90s.
Major was stationed at Delhi when he first chanced upon UG in a
TV interview!
Even though it was only a telecast, UG’s simplicity, authenticity
and certainty came through with such intensity that Major was instantly touched. He immediately decided
to seek and meet this extraordinary man, come what may!
Shortly afterwards, Major managed to get in touch with
Chandrasekhar Babu , UG’s host in Bangalore and through him arranged a meeting
with UG who was in India at the time. On the morning of the visit however there
was a sudden change in UG’s program as he had to travel to some place. Unaware of
these developments, Major reached Bangalore on the appointed day with his wife only to discover that
UG had already left the city early that morning. The kindhearted Babu took care
of the Major couple with his renowned hospitality and also treated them to a couple
of UG videos to mollify Major.
Disappointed at the sudden turn of events, hapless Major started back to his home town with his wife. Tragedy struck once again! His wife developed sudden medical
complications on the return journey. Major rushed her to a hospital en route,
that did not help, soon she breathed her last.
Major was completely shattered!
His resolve to meet UG redoubled!
Within a fortnight, after the funeral and the ceremonies got over, a
determined Major once again set out on a trip to Bangalore to be with UG!
It was a successful meeting that had a lasting impact
on Major's life.
Major’s initial years with UG were stormy, full of turbulence. He was torn between his unfulfilled libido on the one hand and his conscience and high values on the other. His
sexual desires had not found fulfillment in his tragic marital life. But Major was a man of strong character and refused to succumb to these temptations. He was able to overcome all kinds of urges and temptations. He yearned to lead an ascetic life, a life of
‘sadhana’ (a life of truth and austerity), in the footsteps of revered sages
like Sri Ramana Maharshi, Anandamayi Ma and others.
He yearned for a life of quiet solitude,
his ideal of ‘Vanaprastha’, a life of retirement from society, a peaceful life in
tune with nature!
UG blasted all kinds of seekers and all manner of seeking, he ruthlessly
lambasted the (egoistic) sadhakas and their (selfish) sadhanas. On the other
hand, Major single-mindedly insisted that UG grant approval for pursuing his
‘sadhana’. They soon locked horns!
UG did not spare the Major! He turned on heat in full
blast! He would even chide him by addressing him as 'Major Disaster'!
UG tested Major, he teased, ridiculed and tempted Major at every juncture. He pushed Major in umpteen
ways to seek a new life partner. Major was stubborn, with his monstrous
determination, he refused to budge an inch and stuck to his credo of carrying on
his ‘sadhana.’
The wheedling and needling by UG reached a climax when UG
personally flew down to Australia seeking a match for Major. The girl turned
out to be an air hostess working for Qantas. UG personally called Major to push for the marriage. This was the boiling point! Major
openly dissented and threatened UG that he would stop seeing him if he invoked
the 'm-word' again!
The comical stand0ff finally ended!
UG relented and gave his nod to Major to follow the
dictates of his heart and carry on with his sadhana, a rare occurence in the saga of UG!
****
UG reiterated that any pursuit beyond and above that of
food, clothing and shelter was neurotic. Major embraced this tenet with his heart. Abandoning a decent career in the
army, he settled down into a life of solitude far away from the din
of society. Even the lease of the farmhouse for the Major was arranged and supervised by UG!
The lives of dear Major, his devout elder brother Dr. Subba Rao and Major’s brilliant nephew Dr. Sreedhav are full of remarkable
anecdotes and exchanges that bring to light hitherto unknown facets of
UG's enigmatic personality.
****************************************************************************
Bringing to you a beautiful write-up
on Major by our dear friend Satya, a reticent techie from Bangalore.
Satya and his
homemaker wife Sridevi (their marriage was solemnized by UG!) were closely
associated with UG especially during the final years. UG visited them often and helped them to overcome several
challenges and trials that they faced at the time. They found tremendous
strength and guidance in his sagely company.
Over to Satya…
The first time
Sreedevi and I met Major Garu, it was at Sri UG Chandrasekhar Garu's place on a
December 2001 evening ; This time period was the most unexpected, unanticipated
moment of our lives - without the faintest expectation or slightest idea of how
our lives would never be the same from then on ... We had gone to meet Sri UG
Krishnamurti, a great sage, who we learnt from a remote relative's voice on the
phone, was unconventional, explosive and even dangerous!
During the subsequent
days, when we hung around UG Garu, basking in irreverence, I found a deeply
devoted person, with a barrel mustache that was attached to a most enchanting
smile, ever ready to break into simple laughter that was prompted by constant
and sincere self deprecation - This laughter at once conveyed the depth of self
abandonment as an inevitable and yet cheerful response to life's most difficult
tests ; Little did we know then that this man would be our guiding influence
and personal gateway to discover the fortune
that we stumbled into during our association with Sri UG Krishnamurti.
On the 3rd day of our
hanging around someone in the crowd mentioned that UG Krishnamurti was now
going to stay at the Major's Farm House for a couple of days ; "Major's
Farm House ?" I recall inquiring ... with some uneasiness ... I had quaint
disdain about rich and famous people holding spiritual teachers hostage in
their opulent surroundings - The marketplace of spirituality had plenty of such
examples that mesmerized the gullible into cozy comfort traps of a supposedly
higher existence, which was a mere excuse for luxury. He was a Major from the
Army ? And then he had a Farm House ?? I was already doubly disinclined to go
there!!
Under the spell of UG
Krishnamurti, I overcame self imposed inhibitions to make the first trip to the
Farm house in the spirit of adventure - I now discovered what in reality was an
anti-stereotype experience of my wild imagination!! YES, he was a Major who
retired from the Army ; And NO, he was not filthy rich or anything like that!
.. There was not even a hint of ostentatiousness in the way he lived ;
This place was not even his own, he was merely renting it and he was renting it
to see the trees, wild grass and green bamboos to aid his meditation !
Actually, to call
this place a farm house was an exaggeration - The 600 sft house was made up of
one hall, two bedrooms and a kitchen ; All of them had something in common -
They were bare, as bare as an army barrack - functional to the core ; The
kitchen had a very finite number of spoons, glasses, plates and vessels -
meticulously arranged and separated on open cement shelves, as though for
taking an audit, if only to account the reasons for their very existence at
short notice. One could quickly count and conclude that the kitchen possessions
were in place to entertain no more than 5 guests at the maximum - And the basic
design constraint was restricted to serving green tea and some cookies for
those lucky 5 people - Nothing much else was on offer, perhaps even at gun
point (considering that he was from the Army!)
We were to learn that
the second bedroom was the sage UG's room - a hard bed, an old steel cupboard and an equally bare Indian toilet made that made it the definition of luxury -
something that was bandied about with great gusto in every conversation of UG
... This sort of a description wantonly led fertile imaginations to believe
these descriptions as immense possessions, of a life that toiled ceaselessly to
gain them against great odds. Over the years, this description was to be a
common theme which would describe the Major, his convictions and his way of
life - something *so basic* - that it was enjoyed to the point of guiltful indulgence ; An Indulgence that stood on the principle and precipice of
differentiating needs from wants.
It was here and at
various chance meetings at Sri UG Chandrasekhar's house that the Major regaled
us with unforgettable stories of greatness of Sri UG Krishnamurti, his
life and his journey into Sadhana. A Sadhana, that he came upon, on his own, by
an earnest inner voice that listened to the Guru's guidance, in squaring out
truth by living it in practice, every single moment - and carefully avoiding
the danger and pitfalls of mental musings, lest it become mere theory.
The Major had
multiple Gurus, each of who offered him something that he gratefully made his
own ; Sri Paramahamsa Yogananda, Sri Ramana Maharishi, Sri Anandamayi Ma, Sri
UG Krishnamurti, Sri Puttur Ajja ..... and many many more. The common core in all
his various sadhanas was the courage to face himself, unafraid of facing his
internal contradictions while ceaselessly discovering and pursuing the goal of
extinguishing the "Arishad Vargalu" of Kama, Krodha, Lobha, Mada,
Moha, Matsaryam within himself, and under all circumstances of conscious
living.
As many of us who
have known the Major can helplessly accept, his Sadhana was arduous and
desirably avoidable for any one less or more ordinary. The ingredients were
explosive - Utter personal tragedy (from the viewpoint of the casual listener)
of intimately witnessing the personal suffering caused by disability and loss
of a loved one ; The restless demands of an unfulfilled sex drive and the never
ending personal struggle to overcome it with an uncompromising moral code and
spiritual way of life ; The sheer discomfort of facing the truth of one's own
shortcomings that simply demolished years of many painstakingly built ideas of
life and "how to live" .... The many unfulfilled desires to be like
"everybody else" ... These were the same ingredients that make up
each of our lives, but differently.
Really the list was
formidable. It was a list that could have been for any of us, an opportunity to
make life meaningful, purposeful and worthwhile - If only we were destined and
blessed with such self-awareness, courage and fortitude to face similar
circumstances. And yet, this very list defined and forced his life's
circumstances - leaving him little choice on what to make of it. And this was
his life's challenge, a challenge in which he simply converted circumstances of
adversity into attitude and approach - and discovered life's secret mantra of
complete unburdening and unquestioned happiness;
During the course of
his many Sadhanas and experiments, the Major invited circumstances of his own
life based on inspirational readings of the lives of Sadhakas ; He chose never
to remarry in-order to live a life all alone, and pursue Sadhana with solitude
as his sole guide and companion ... His only deep desire was to live amidst
nature so that he could entertain himself with mother nature's creations and to
serve a living spiritual master in his limited capacity - something that
happened as soon as he wished for it ; He was to be Sri UG Krishnamurti's
driver and host till he passed away. From then on, life was itself a miracle,
as he puts it ; He decided to give up his only source of livelihood as a
District Sainik Welfare Officer that offered him a princely pension of 850
Rupees per month to pursue a full time pursuit of his Sadhana .... Unmindful of
his means of livelihood, never to look back, ever.
He found great
pleasure in giving up - money, possessions, habits and ideas believing them to
be absolute pre-requisites, to begin a journey on the spiritual path ; He
experimented giving up varieties of food as he enjoyed good taste, He gave up
listening to Radio as he was fascinated by happenings of far away places,
Gave up reading newspapers as he enjoyed gossip, Shunned auto magazines as he
was fascinated by cars, and vowed never to travel since he longed for it all
his life ... All these with great zeal and passion, never prompted by nostalgia
or reminded of regret ...
Infact, I am yet to
recollect any single instance of a conversation wherein he paused or searched
for a response when asked "How are you doing Major Garu ?" - Pat
comes the response and always with great enthusiasm - "Excellent, couldn't
be better!" .... And he means every word, every single time in all these
years we have known him ... so much so that such an answer becomes your own,
even after a brief conversation! Such is the infectiousness of this man's
attitude and ordinariness ... of a life so beautifully lived .... that one has to
meet him in person to know that it is even possible.
Respectful Namastes,
Satya
( Foot Note: 'Garu' as in 'Major Garu', 'Babu Garu' is a way of endearingly addressing the elderly in the vernacular Telugu!)
| 
