My Guru

As Medha ji gave us a task of writing about someone whom we can call our Guru or who has helped us to transform, today I want to write about someone who is very close to my heart.

Definitely, Swami ji is someone who has given my life a new perspective and I feel blessed to be living in a time when he is in his physical form to guide us all, but still there is one person who became my anchor. Without him I would have been a very different person, in short absolutely someone opposite of what Swami ji wants us to be.

Before writing this post I messaged him and asked “can I write a post about him”?, he agreed but on a condition that his identity should not be revealed.  So I am using a pseudo name ‘Surya’ to write about him.

We are all born under different circumstances, and we all embark on this journey called life, a process very similar to getting on the train, where people join us at different stations. As we travel on this journey, we meet some people, who change your definition of humanity forever and your life doesn’t remain the same anymore.

Surya is that SOMEONE who changed my life for better.

I was fresh out of college and looking for a job. Meanwhile, I had my own share of breakups and betrayals. (Almost I was raped by someone very close and known to me). And due to all that I had become bitter, very bitter.

I was at an edge where I would have thought of using men for my advantage financially, physically and emotionally and that too without guilt.

I was then preparing for UPSC but I always wanted to be an RJ. My Dad saw a job opening in newspaper one day and asked me to apply.

Reasons- that place was within 8 kms of my house and office timing would have given me enough time to prepare for my exams.

I went for the interview and the man, the boss, was very polite and humbly asked me basic questions. And then and there he offered me the job. However I rejected as the money was not too big.

I bid good bye and came back home.

Dad asked me , “how was the boss?”

“He was a genuine person and a visionary as he was so clear about what he wants to achieve and he has a proper roadmap”, I replied.

Dad- “don’t’ worry about money…join him.”

Next day morning the boss called me and said he is ready to pay me my desired salary and I happily agreed to see him in an hour at his office.

He was SURYA-  the light of God who illuminated my existence.

I went to him and asked- “why did you change your mind”?

He replied, “I see a spark in you and the best part of resume was you have worked on educating kids in a slum. So you must be a kind person”

And I cried (yeah an old habit 😉  ). Because I was trying to be revengeful to the whole men community and here is a man who considers me Kind.

Since that day, he has stood by my side in all ups and downs. He is someone with whom I can talk about anything under the sun. His absolute trust in me has made me a better person.

He introduced me to spirituality, something which I didn’t know as my family was only into rituals. He held my hand strongly and made me go through all the life had to offer to a 21 year old.

He is a man of principles. Once I remember I had a tough client, who was more interested in me than the deal and I felt uncomfortable. Came back and told Surya everything. He immediately informed accounts to severe all the ties with that client , even if that meant Surya’s company suffering huge losses. For him dignity of his staff is more important than money.

Once an office colleague was very much after my job and played all sort of dirty games to malign my image. But Surya knew my dedication, sincerity and honesty (a trait I inherited from my father 🙂  ), and he politely asked my colleague to leave the job and paid her 3 months salary in advance, so that she doesn’t struggle.

Why I am telling all this is because when I read Living with the Himalayan Masters I realised Swami Rama was really a tough disciple to be handled , full of flaws but his Master never left him . Similarly Surya never left me, though I never created much problem for him in office and was self motivated to perform.

Slowly steadily I made Surya meet my family and they all had liking for him. My dad was happy to see I am under the guidance of someone so wise.

I can go on writing about him, but in simple terms he showed me a path which I never knew existed. He took me to those heights, which I could have never imagined and also showed me the things where I realised how privileged I am in life. I stopped complaining.

I was no saint, I was full of vikaars. I had huge ego. I was an adamant person, used to speak and talk loudly, had no manners when dealing with elites, got drunk and created scene, but he like a calm wave, always ensured to take me back to shores.

He taught me to accept responsibility for my actions and take ownership of my mistakes. I have bothered him a lot but he never disowned me. He is my personal Guru and only he led me to Swami, who is my lord.

There is no one incident which transformed , but it is his collective ways of living and dealing with the world which changed me. He lives by what he preaches.

Few words about him :

Surya is a very knowledgeable person and can hold an interesting conversation with anyone, be it a 2 year old toddler, an elite foreign government official or a NASA scientist, with ease.

He is well travelled and has seen so much in life.

Whether he gets Rs 100 profit or suffers losses of lakhs, his expressions will be same. No sign of worry or excitement.

He has changed the lives of many. From his family, I hear about countless stories of him transforming lives. There are people who just called him in dire situations, not knowing him, just because they are from the same town. He has served and helped everyone selflessly.

He , in his struggling days, stayed in someone’s house for almost 3 months and then lost contact. Once Surya was travelling to a different city and on a busy crowded road he noticed a familiar face. He immediately asked his driver to stop the car and went out to find the same man who gave him shelter. On knowing that the man is now financially not stable, Surya immediately arranged his travel to Delhi and gave him a huge sum of money.

No one in the world can come back and say Surya owes anything to them, rather they will only have gratitude for him as selflessly he has served everyone, even if some people didn’t deserve that much.

Definitely he was cheated too in the process but he says that’s their Karma, my intention matters.

His nephews and nieces have been inspired and guided by his example of extreme dedication and service.

He is a detached soul, still he does so much for everyone. During the Covid crisis he reached out to people to help them , even compromising his own comforts. His knowledge of medical science is tremendous though he doesn’t have any formal degree in this field.

Once he saw my mom for few moments and asked  me to get her admitted in the hospital immediately for a complete check up . My mom was fit and fine and had no physical symptom. But as I trusted Surya, I took my mom for check up and her two heart arteries were blocked and she immediately needed intervention. He saved my dad too once.

I mean he is available selflessly for everyone.  He does big charity but no one knows about that. He has planted so many trees, rescued so many creatures. Never even like to kill a fly. Twice rats torn out his car to tatters and everyone suggested to put poisonous biscuits , but he refused. He had snails in his garden and in big quantity. There was a remedy which could have killed them instantly, he denied, saying let them eat all my plants, no worries.

His silent charity, detachment, discipline, compassion and no moh for money is something I would like to imbibe in my life. I still have a lot to learn from him.

He is a family man but for me he is a living monk. Though he doesn’t follow any human Guru but his thoughts, words and actions, all are in harmony.  

Our family and friends help us to evolve. But a family is not just created by blood, but by the bonds of love. There are people whose eyes are moist, because you are in pain. There are people whose heart bounces with joy when you are happy. There are people who define what the best and purest form of humanity means.

And Surya comes in the category of those people.

I wish someday I could announce his real identity to the world so that people know what a gem he is, living among them but still not known.