Saleel Pulekar

After a long time I took a long walk in Ghatkopar, Mumbai on the 90 ft road, Odeon cinema, Hingwala lane, etc. These were the roads I often visited with my school and college friends in the evenings. The primary objective of these walks was never refreshing the mind and energizing the body, but rather it was soothing the eyes and warming the heart ;-) (watching the babes). Nostalgia did cross my mind as I watched the lanes, shops and various apartment buildings, but it didn't stay long. What struck my mind harder was that though a couple of decades had passed and everything had changed, some things had not changed at all! The Gujjus were hogging at the hawkers, people were in a mad rush, tired and stressed, to reach back home, young girls were flaunting their dresses, the boys were ogling at them and passing comments, aunties were gossiping about prices and jewelry, uncles were discussing the stock market and yet some others were expressing their woes of corporate politics. Ho...

I have no words to express what it is to be staying in the ashram in Bengaluru. The very air is permeated with Sattva and Grace. Its a blessing to be here. Yesterday there were stormy winds followed by heavy showers. I guess one has to have an extremely expanded consciousness to be able to absorb the divine beauty of the atmosphere. My mind fails to comprehend how can some thing or place be so so so good! The best part of the day is the satsang in the evening with Guruji. His presence engulfs the entire hall with a warm benevolence, so obviously evident. Today in the Satsang, Brijit asked about some apparent contradiction in the Gita. Guruji narrated an anecdote. Former American president Mr. Nixon once travelled to Japan. He had the occasion to have the company of a Buddhist Zen monk on his left and a Shinto monk on his right. When asked as to how much percentage of the Japanese population is following Buddhism and how much is following Shintoism, both replied 80%. Nixon could not und...

This must have been in 2003 or 2004. Guruji had stayed back in Mumbai at Sangeeta Jani's house in Juhu. We went there to catch him the next morning before he could leave for the airport. Around a couple of hundred of us were huddled in the drawing room eagerly waiting to get a glimpse of him. Though the huge 5-storey house has an elevator in it, Guruji came down by the staircase. Heads turned around, some stopped singing the bhajan they were singing, for some others the tempo of the bhajan increased and yet a few others just shouted, "Guruji!" I could notice that he had just taken a shower. He looked like a freshly blossomed flower with the morning dew drops still sparkling on it. As he walked down, the bottom of his white veshti (dhoti) gently caressed the staircase. His glowing face, radiant like the Sun was partly hidden in his long hair let loose, still a little wet. What a sight that was! A hair brush in his right hand was finding its way through the dark black tress...