Friday 30 June 2017

“What is the worst thing that can happen to you?” - UG

UG and Kamal in Lonawaala ( Sahara Lake City), 2003
Sometimes in life, we suddenly hit a ‘cul-de-sac’ or the metaphoric ‘dead end’ and are left with no options but to STOP! We then feel an utter sense of ‘being lost’! In those moments, thought suddenly stops and gropes in the dark, inducing a fearful state!
‘Getting lost’ perhaps has a benign side to it too – it perhaps signals the end of the tyranny of ‘the known’, only if we could dare stop looking for solutions!
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UG pushed people sometimes to abandon ‘hope and help’ and to deal with uncertainty or reality ‘as it is’!
Here is a piece of pragmatic advice to our pilot friend Kamal who took UG out in a hired taxi in London for his ‘constitutional’ (UG’s equivalent of a ‘walk in the park’)!
This ride, it turned out, held several lessons for Kamal.
Before even getting behind the wheel, let us see how UG firstly helped Kamal to get a fat discount from the car rental agency giving us a taste of his pragmatic approach to life!
When Kamal walked into the rental agency, UG too tagged along faithfully. 
When they reached the counter and Kamal was about to pay up, UG who had initiated a conversation with one of the ladies there began introducing himself, “I am UG Krishnamurti, perhaps you may have seen me on your BBC Channel. I give interviews on your TV. This is my friend Kamal here! I am with him and he is driving me around London today…… Is it possible that he could get a discount?”
The lady at the counter understood and smiled, she did not have the heart to say no to the charming man and straight away declared a 25% discount.
Was this cheap and vulgar ‘self-aggrandisement’ by UG? That too at a rental agency? Was UG seeking any benefit for himself? 
UG was far more pragmatic than many who pride themselves for being worldly-wise! 
If his chipping in could help lighten Kamal's bill, UG was prepared to go an extra mile! UG constantly chided his celebrity friend, the Bollywood Director Mahesh Bhatt, “What is the use of flaunting your name or fame or celebrity status if you can’t translate that to do something useful, beneficial for people?”
Not only did UG help Kamal get a discount using his ‘ BBC fame’, but now he was working on a 'strategy' to maximise the discount, he now gently nudged Kamal, “Hey Mister, tell them you are an Air India pilot and ask them if they give special discounts to pilots, show them your ID. Also tell them that you fly to London very often and you will be able to give more business  in future and that you will introduce them to all your friends!” 
A practical lesson on hard-selling oneself in the cruel 'money minded' world!
The lady once again did not disappoint, She smilingly obliged with a new flat discount rate of 50% on the car rent! 
UG effect was tangible!
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UG’s ‘constitutional’  started! The rubber hit the road, as they say! Kamal, not particularly familiar with the dreaded traffic maze of London suburbs, wearily started driving.
{ An aside! 
Seems London suburbs present the most intricate traffic challenge to drivers. It is a well-known phenomenon endorsed by the brain surgeons that London cab and bus drivers have enlarged hippocampus (a seahorse-shaped section in the brain that facilitates long-term memory storage in the occipital brain as well as helps in spatial navigation.) Surgeons and brain scientists who have operated on the brains of London taxi drivers have concluded that the enlarged size of the hippocampus is due to extensive training involved and the memorizing of nearly 25,000 streets of the metro!
}
Many close friends of UG have tasted his shenanigans while driving, while seated next to him! 
To negotiate the unfamiliar entries and exits on the Motorways, Kamal kept constantly glancing into a printed copy of the A-Z road map on his lap! Back in early 90s, GPS was still to make its foray into automobiles in a big way!
Kamal admits that he was not doing well trying to cope up with the road as well as the map at the same time! At one point, UG irked by this inane act simply snatched away the map from Kamal and flung it into the back seat, “Hey Mister! Use your eyes, and not maps! Look ahead in front of you! Just read all those signposts, follow the directions and just keep driving! That is good enough!”
Kamal had no choice but to adapt to the new found driving style, that too on the fly! 
After several turns and twists, UG finally motioned Kamal to stop the car at some place in the city and got out asking Kamal to carry on.
As UG slammed the door shut, Kamal shedding all his inhibitions let out a cry, “UG, I am completely lost! I do not know my way around here!”
UG came around to the window and looking into Kamal’s eyes spoke, “Hey mister, just go on ! You say that you are lost! What is the worst thing that can happen to you? Just keep going! Good luck! ” and walked away without looking back!
Kamal, simply clueless prodded on for some more time…………eventually he hit upon a familiar street, closer to where his cousin lived and he heaved a huge sigh of relief!
Says Kamal, UG’s “What is the worst thing that can happen to you?” serves him as a guidepost to this day and gives him the strength to ignore the vagaries and uncertainties of life and carry on! 
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Another famous UG short one-liner was, " What next?" 
Major Dakshinamurti had a car break-down while driving UG from Bangalore to Chennai. They were in a No Man's Land! There was no hope of reaching a mechanic or finding a garage anywhere nearby. 
When UG learnt of their plight, he seemed to have asked," What next?" pushing Major to work on the next possible line of action. 
Major excused himself and went about looking for help while UG stayed back in the car. After a length of time when Major returned to the car after managing to secure some help in the form of a mechanic , he was shocked to see UG in a deep, peaceful slumber right in the middle of nowhere! 
Left to himself, in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to be done, UG just did what was the best thing to do....he fell asleep! 
UG's " What next?" was a gentle reminder to many of his friends who had been hit by life and suffered some kind of loss including death of near and dear ones. 
When UG's son Vasnath died of cancer, UG asked his son's girlfriend, a Christian girl who was religiously holding on to the urn carrying his son's ashes for immersion in the river, " What next?" asking her to forget about the dead man and pushing her to carry on with her own life, find a new life partner and settle down instead!
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Tuesday 30 May 2017

"CLARIFICATION (of thought) strengthens and fortifies the very thing that you want to be free from!" - UG.

UG discussing with friends ( Gstaad ) Courtesy: Julie Clark Thayer
The autobiographical 'self' perhaps is concretised through clarification, ideas, belief and conviction.
There is no doubt clarity is essential in matters of function and operation of the living entity within the framework of society (social environment), to learn a technique and to earn a livelihood and in all technical matters and for purposes of survival.
But clarity of thought in 'matters of mind' (psychological domain) could be dangerous as it only hardens the person (the autobiographical self), perpetuates dogmas, doctrines and ideologies….sowing the seeds of division and destruction.
Everyone's clarity is unique and coloured by his or her background and hence collective clarity is a myth!
Sagely life seems like instant action born of situation and not premeditated or clarified or coloured thought....as explicated by UG.

Friday 19 May 2017

“You are restless because……” –UG


 UG with baby Sirisha, Mumbai 2003 (Courtesy: Trisha)


Life provided me with great opportunities to interact with and observe firsthand many a spiritual guide. But amongst all the gurus, UG stood apart as the one and only one who wanted nothing from anyone whatsoever! He touched many lives but was himself untouched by sentiments or gratitude. He remained fiercely independent and allowed no relationship to sully his freedom and stuck to his credo of “un-complaining, uncompromising self-reliance.”

As was his wont UG wanted an anonymous death and chose the able Mahesh Bhatt to dispose of his physical remains without any ceremony or song. And remained self-effacing to the very end!

In his relentless travels, discussions, interactions for decades, with thousands of individuals, UG simply and matter-of-factly gifted away his unique, extraordinary observations about Life whereas lesser mortals would have founded a whole empire based on this wisdom!

UG’s talks and discussions were indeed a commentary on Life and Society, on ‘problems of living’, on human saga, on hope, fear and expectation! Deeply original and unburdening!

****

In my profession as a trainer, I sometimes enjoy the privilege of hosting an interesting workshop, “The Human Factors in Aviation”. This is a tremendous opportunity to cut through layers of baggage and meet people firsthand. Here we interact freely discussing the various aspects of biology and psychology in light of the latest findings from science. We work together to peek into the serious limitations of biology that affect our functioning and performance while we perform our jobs as airline crew and we also look at the various aspects of psychology that affect our teamwork like misconceptions, prejudices and notions imposed on us by culture and communities!

One of the questions that pops up very often during our workshops is on empathy, “What is the greatest gift that you can give to a fellow human being?”

Answers are aplenty…..love, advice, service, support and so on! But inevitably, in every workshop, we unanimously agree that the greatest gift to a fellow human is “Time!”

Giving time to someone is giving a piece of one’s heart, nay it is giving oneself!

UG kept his doors always open to anyone who wanted his time, round the clock, all round the year, wherever he stayed!

To borrow an IT phrase, UG was ‘platform-agnostic’ (pun intended) and remained accessible to one and all! A sincere and earnest heart was all that was needed to get his time!

****

Before bouncing into UG, my previous encounters with spiritual guides exposed me to the frivolous nature of questions! My previous guru Rayaru did help me to be firmly grounded rather than indulge in questions and answers, the be-all and end-all of empty intellectual debates and discourses! Once my tenacious relationship with Rayaru came to an end, thanks to UG, I was yearning to be a normal, ordinary human all over again! I made every effort to stay away from anything even remotely spiritual! I was ‘almost’ free from the greed of seeking answers to questions on Life and God that had nudged me into the spiritual realm in the first place!

Right at the very beginning, I made honest attempt not to repeat my blunder- to make UG into my new guru, a new crutch, yet another perennial dependency!

A few months after my first encounter with UG, I once left my room to be with UG on learning that he was again in Bangalore.

Halfway into the journey, I was hit by a sudden thought, “Why are you making UG into your new crutch? Is this the right thing to do? You are beginning to embark on another guru-shishya relationship that you loathed all this while? Why fall back on a new crutch, however noble and well meaning?”

I stopped my bike then and there, right in front of a coffee shop and walked in for a cuppa! After a refreshing coffee, I felt lighter and was about to scoot off to my room. Now an equally strong thought struck me hard, “What is the problem now? You are clear that you don’t want to make UG into a crutch! Fine, why not just see him for what he is? He has been so very kind and courteous to you all the time! At least go say hello, why are you so stubborn?”

I changed my plan again and proceeded straight to Poornakuti. UG was all affection as he welcomed me with his charming smile!

****

UG stayed in Santacruz West in Parekhji’s place during his visits to Bombay. Since my workplace was in Santacruz East, I could spend time in his company before and after my office hours. UG was stationed so conveniently so I could see him as well as attend my office! Life it seems always conspires to help you if you really yearn deeply! Sometimes I applied leave to be with him for a few days at a stretch. At times I paid visits during my office hours and spent the whole day with him. UG would immediately know this and jokingly remark about my ‘French Leave’! There was hardly anything that you could hide from this man!

That summer day was hot and humid! I had met up with UG in the morning before proceeding to office.

Everything was fine till noon! Then out of the blue, something hit me hard!

I suddenly began to feel restless! However hard I tried, I couldn’t figure out why I had become restless!

“Why this restlessness, why this unease, this disquiet?” I asked myself.

With UG constantly knocking off our ‘seeking’, seriously there was no searching or seeking inside of me, I didn’t want anything at the intellectual level at least!

Then why this unrest, this disturbance?

The question began to haunt me no end!

I resisted the idea of going to UG initially, but when the restlessness became unbearable, I slipped out of office and started walking in the hot summer sun towards UG’s place!

I had to walk several kilometers before reaching Parekhji’s house, nothing mattered to me except the answer for my deep unrest!

As I knocked on UG’s door, Dr. Patel, a famous homeopath from Vile Parle opened the door. There was Pratap Karvatji, the only other guest. The house was quiet. Mahesh Bhatt called up to say that he was unable to visit till late evening, UG replied, “Thank you mister for leaving us alone! We don’t want any more people hanging around here!”

As I sat at a distance from UG listening to a discussion about doctors and medicine, I felt deeply disturbed and restless for some unknown reason!

There was now a long pause. Everyone sat silently!

I wanted an answer for my restless state and taking the opportunity threw my question at UG. This was my first and only question to UG in all of my fifteen years of association that was born of a genuine necessity to solve a personal crisis! Others were routine questions, there was no real ‘hunger’ to seek solutions!

“Sir, why this restless(ness, when I don’t want anything)……? ”

UG pounced on it even as I started the question not even giving me a half chance to complete it!

“You are restless because of the knowledge that you have put in there! Knowledge is the garbage of centuries of human thought, culture! Your knowledge is making you restless, knowledge is a disturbance to biology, and it disturbs the tremendous inner peace!”

UG looked fierce! True to his fame as ‘the sage in rage’ continued on,

“Look here! If you want Brahman, you will be out there on the street! You will be stripped of everything….Yes, everything will be taken away from you! You will be left there like a beggar!”

The half-question had triggered off a torrential downpour. After all, there was more to it than simple restlessness!

Seeking or quest obviously is a much deeper and sometimes unconscious disturbance!

UG’s shock treatment not only highlighted the dangers of knowledge but also of noblest of cravings including that of Brahma Jnan!

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Wednesday 12 April 2017

“There is no such thing as ‘jet lag’ for me!” - UG



My first encounter with UG was on the 10th of July 1992. As I look back now, I can liken it to a ‘storm’ in my life that hit me hard in the guts and brought about sweeping changes in all aspects of my life!

The immediate impact was the ending of my tumultuous relationship with Rayaru, my erstwhile spiritual guide. In the middle of a chaotic life, I was struggling hard to retain my sanity ! After meeting UG, this saga of conflict and confrontation came to an abrupt halt.

At 29, I was a total wreck drifting along and living dangerously. My chances of getting a decent job were dim and distant! My spiritual pursuit had taken its toll on my career prospects! It had corroded my will or whatever was left of it. I was a misfit of sorts and could not bring myself to compete, strive, struggle and secure a good job on my own in the ruthless job market. I was somehow surviving on a meagre income from my humble faculty position in a college.

From the word go, UG it seems took charge and promptly went about his business of putting sense into my thick head and debunking many of my beliefs and convictions calling their bluff. It hit me hard that it was my own skewed priorities and muddle headed decisions, all in the name of spiritual quest, that had brought about my terrible plight!

At the time I was a firm believer of human follies, flaws and foibles. I considered them as natural, inherent and common. I even attributed my terrible situation fallaciously to the same human flaws and failings. But all this was anathema to UG! UG held a mirror and showed me that rather it was my apathy, sloth and indulgence that were the real culprits that had brought me to the brink of disaster.

UG loathed the very mention of the word ‘human folly’ or ‘human flaw’ or ‘human error’. He would fly into a rage and point out that they were clever excuses for one’s reckless self-indulgence and ‘preoccupation.’ He could see nothing ‘human’ about such blemishes!

UG pointed out time and time again that he functioned exactly like any of us here but with one fundamental difference – we are preoccupied all the time but he was not!

Nonexistent and irrelevant things like yesterday’s losses and tomorrow’s gains and fears grip us most of the time and distract us from living in the moment! Also we are constantly preoccupied with irrelevant and frivolous pursuits that blind us to what is on hand and we fail to give our immediate care and attention.

For UG, preoccupation was the single most culprit behind all our so called human errors or lapses. The more we crave for and the more we yearn for things beyond our needs and necessities, the more we become preoccupied and invite more trouble.
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Coming back to UG’s role in my life, exactly three months into my association with him, a strange set of events nudged me towards a new career.

On one of my visits to my sister’s place, I was literally coaxed by my brother-in-law, a scientist from the Space Research Organization to apply for an airline job that he had chanced upon in the newspaper that very evening. He was fully aware of my vagabond lifestyle. Somehow he felt that I was cut out for this particular job position. I remonstrated vehemently that this kind of a job was not my cup of tea and usually there were many pulls and pushes to such job positions and that they were rigged! I couldn’t contemplate the job even in my wildest dreams. He wouldn’t listen! He clipped out the job advertisement and literally thrust it into my pocket pleading with me to immediately go and apply for ‘his sake’!

It didn’t end there! Later that day, still reluctant to apply, when I mentioned this to a dear friend of mine, he took it upon himself to pay up the required application fee (Indian Postal Order, IPO) and procured the form and threatened to fill up the form on my behalf and post it, if I refused to do so! I had no choice but to give in to their kind entreaties. I reluctantly complied.

After a series of technical and general tests and interviews that I found surprisingly easy, I finally received a communication saying that I had been shortlisted for the job in the national flag carrier! I was in utter shock and disbelief! Despite the stiff competition, I had made it to a plum job among only a handful of people from across the country! How could this be?

I was reminded of UG’s famous line, “The Age of Miracles is still not over!”

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When I had initially met up with UG in July ’92, he had told me that he would be leaving India very soon on his world travels and even showed me his travel documents – the passport, visa and the flight tickets. Given his hectic schedule, I thought to myself that I would not get to see him again till the next winter, the following year.

For some inexplicable reason it seems UG decided to skip his journey and extend his stay in India! Back then, I was utterly clueless about these turn of events.

I recently checked with Chandrasekhar Babu about this particular UG's trip and he confirmed to me about UG’s constant change of plans back then. Just a day before his scheduled departure, it seems UG tore up his flight tickets to the surprise of everyone announcing his decision to stay back. In fact, for some reason he kept pushing the date of travel for several months.

During this period, UG kept himself busy shuttling between three places - Bangalore, Chennai and Yercaud, a hill resort in Tamil Nadu. Yercaud became a favourite destination. Major Dakshinamurti, a senior Army veteran and UG friend lived here. 


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During his extended stay, UG did play a major role in Major’s life! 

Major Dakshinamurti, a ‘tough cookie’ who had recently come under the spell of UG had sought sagely counsel regarding his decision to resign from his senior Army position and retire into solitude. He was an ardent devotee of Sri Ramana and a great votary of ‘sadhana’ or the quest for truth and life’s fulfilment!

Major had always yearned to pursue an independent, unencumbered, harmonious and peaceful life away from the din and clamour of society. He wanted to spend the rest of his life in quiet contemplation pursuing his ‘sadhana.’

A highly disciplined man with an extraordinary determination and unflinching faith in God, the Major managed to secure the impossible from UG - his approval (the only one to do so!) to follow the dictates of his heart and embrace ‘spiritual’ life! 

UG’s nod didn’t come that easy for Major. He had to pass through a series of major trials, what he rightly calls 'fire tests' but he finally triumphed in winning UG’s tough approval. This is a unique story in the annals of UG that finds no parallels! (We really wish that someone will capture this extraordinary saga and bring it to light!)

Finally UG obliged Major and facilitated his retirement and resettlement. He went to the extent of personally supervising the lease of a farmhouse for Major’s solitary life! Now in his seventies, Major still continues to stay all alone in the same farmhouse near Bangalore.

Major’s life is a fascinating tale with many twists and turns that gives us extraordinary glimpses into the hitherto unknown facets of the enigmatic sage, UG.

In those initial and crucial days of Major’s transition to ‘vanaprastha’ (the forest life or the life of withdrawal from society), UG’s extended stay in India, his benign presence and guidance would have proved of immense value and benefit to him.

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No doubt UG’s extended stay proved immensely beneficial to even a lost soul like me!  

Call it providence or coincidence, whenever I turned up at Poornakuti in those days, to personally pay my respects to Chandrasekhar Babu and Sugunaji, I would inevitably bounce into UG, he would have arrived there a few hours before!

I was told that UG had pushed his travel date further away.

Poornakuti was the abode of UG and the home of the Babus in Bangalore. This kind couple, like the Parekhjis in Bombay, was instrumental in creating, nurturing and maintaining one of the finest and most cordial UG portals anywhere in the world. They facilitated scores of people in meeting and connecting with UG.

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Like so many others, Poornakuti facilitated my initial interactions with UG. They proved to be of immense help in my struggle to regain normalcy after years of spiritual despondency. I gained tremendous strength to walk alone and become self-reliant, discard crutches, especially of the spiritual kind!

UG brought in clarity, stability and sanity in my otherwise turbulent life and gave me enormous strength to deal with my peculiar situation at the time!

After many months, finally UG left India on his sojourn to the West. This trip of UG had proved to be a golden opportunity for me to meet and interact with a living sage!

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A few weeks after UG’s departure from India, I received my employment letter from the airline. It was February ’93.

I dutifully rang up Poornakuti. I wanted to convey the news of my employment to UG through Chandrasekhar Babu. Sugunaji was on the line. I promptly informed her about the new job and my relocation plans, requesting her to convey the same to UG whenever possible. 

Sugunaji cut me short, “Suresh, UG is right here! He has just arrived this morning from the US!” I was flabbergasted, “What? UG is already back?”

I was excited and pleaded her to immediately connect me to UG. There was a long pause on the line, Sugunaji was finally back on the line mumbling an apology that UG was busy with a few visitors and suggesting to me to come down personally. I too realised that I was inconveniencing both the lady and UG with my inconsiderate request! I had no right to interrupt UG’s audience or drag him to the phone! 

Even as I was apologizing to her and reassuring her that I would be there, UG had already grabbed the telephone line, “How are you sir? What happened?”

That was typical UG, there for you when you needed him most !

When I broke the news of the airline job and profusely thanked him for the opportunity saying, “UG it is all because of you, surely I couldn’t have made it by myself!” he dismissed me saying, “Forget it sir! Tell me, are you going to be on the technical side or the administrative side?”  

When I expressed my desire to see him later that evening, he asked me why later? I reasoned out that probably he might need to catch up on some rest to recover from his jet lag, especially coming from the US, UG completely floored me saying, 

“Sir! There is no such thing as jet lag for me. You come here right away! In my intercontinental travels, I always adjust my biological clock to match the local time at the destination……Our body clock is different from the wall clock. Our biological clock functions differently, here it is twenty four and a half hours to a day……No, don’t bother! I never suffer from any jet lag whatsoever, please come down, am waiting for you!”

I met UG later that day with my employment letter. He was happy for me. Then and there he made a kind pact that touched me to the bones and humbled me, 

“Look here! I come to Bombay at least twice a year. We shall henceforth meet there regularly. I will be staying in Santa Cruz, close to ‘your’ airport. I am there again in May/ June this year. From now on, we shall be meeting more often in Bombay!”

The strange developments following my meeting with UG brought down the curtains on my vagabond, indulgent lifestyle and put an end to my false spiritual aspirations and misadventures.

My life in the cozy, sleepy city of Bangalore (till the early 90s) too ended very soon and I moved into the bustling, vibrant tinsel town of Bombay which was to become my new home!

For the first time in my life, I was now threatened with the prospect of a daily grind, a punishing ‘9 to 5’ routine and a hectic and demanding lifestyle. Marriage also followed close on the heels.

At the end of a stormy, event-filled twenty four months after meeting the phenomenon called UG, I found myself being firmly anchored, grounded and secured to the mundane world, ‘the only reality’ as he called it!

My new life under UG had changed, and changed irrevocably!

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" There is no creator" - UG

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