My Mentor

You might have got a glimpse at my coach from the segments of these posts. In fact, here and there in these pages you come to get a look at him, if not very clearly,for talking about this great man is one of my hobbies. In spite of the fact that he probably won’t engage all in the feeling of appealing , I sure got the best training on life from him. Perhaps , maybe a couple of you perusers may like him, or possibly like him in the event that they see him eye to eye, however attempting to being enjoyed is none of his portfolio and something he had pretty much scorned all through out his life. He was galvanic to some people of course, to a great extent, for he had his own niche band and often shunned publicity and hence could move freely.In reality , he was charming, not by looks,for he has rough unpleasant skin and a chubby nose, yet anyone who happened to go with him unconsciously in a second class unreserved railroad compartment couldn’t be but diverted by his character. He doesn’t grin from the start , however did so regularly after you take part in a discussion. I met him in the primary years of my university days at a social meet in which he was one of the coordinators but not a speaker but he drew in numerous speakers for the show and that show was unique in relation to different shows because, there was a ticket for these . In spite of the fact that gathering cash for speeches was rare in our place since, many thought of it as very brassy. He was one of the organisers and towards the finish of the event there was an end tune and he chose adolescents for that and I happened to be in that gathering however my voice was not full grown nor sweet yet very funny from genuine perspectives. He had spent many years in Himalayas, may be his whole youth before marriage,and is the master of three yogas ,nada yoga, nama yoga and kriya yoga . And yet when I met him last month in the country house,knowing that he was sick, he read to me, Galatians, chapter-4 and I was quite surprised. Meanwhile his widowed sister who wore only while cotton saree after the demise of her husband,peeped in and offered us water and sweet ‘lassy'(buttermilk drink) and withdrew. It was raining then….. Once I went with my mentor from Ajmer to Pushkar on foot. I think the distance was about 20 kilometres (not sure), and we were walking and enjoying the scenic beauty and the surroundings. We had little money, still that fact could not anyway take away our ardour and jubilance and zeal . I was about 30 years old then and my mentor was about 40 years or so. He was strong and hefty unlike me who was marginally pale and had to take rest every now and then. We saw huge tamarind trees on the way and my mentor took small stones from the side walk and hit those fruits, and some fell down. We ate them and it was a sumptuous breakfast.. On another occasion, I went to a place called Srisailam in order to meet him.He was staying in a thatched cabana and his disciples stayed close by. It was like a huge family of well wishers taking part in each other’s weal and supportive of one another.There was a young medical representative who became quite close to me and we spoke in English as I did not know the local tongue which they spoke.He claimed that my mentor cured him of his tuberculosis by ’intervention’. I was leery of all such things . May be he might have been cured in some other way.I met several interesting youngsters in the group.One such was my mentor ‘s better half who was like an elder sister to me and washed my dress. I never felt the absence of my mother when I sojourned with them . Srisailam is a beautiful place in South India full of mountains and the latitude is fresh and wholesome and wintry at seasons. The river Krishna is flowing by and the coup d’oeil is amazing.You have to climb down several hundred steps to reach the river and once you reach the base, it is a most marvellous spectacle .You can see people taking dip in the cold water and sometimes barges are visible crossing the water. Sunset here is a thrilling experience with a colourful sky and it’s reflected spectrums in the water. One day, a young man came and introduced himself as his son. I was astounded . But later came to know that my mentor married at 20 or 22. This young man became very friendly to me and told that he is his dad’s disciple.He was a truck driver and went to other states in the country and had to leave home for longish spells and came to tenement only in seasons.. -(Fiction in progress ) –(To be continued)