A Guru and a lost needle
A Guru is not the one who shows you the path, a Guru shines light so that you can discover your path
Sonal warded off the battery of fans and journalists swarming her as she rushed into the hospital premises. Her personal assistant - PA - Mitesh guided her to the right floor.
She walked up to the ICU where Mouli was being treated. A tear rolled down her cheek as she saw her mentor’s frail body riddled with tubes and sensors.
Sonal Pathak - a famous theatre and movie actor was visiting a retired corporate legend - Mouli Alli in hospital. Mitesh - a well-connected PA in the film industry could not join the dots in these two disparate worlds but did his best to make sure Sonal got her privacy from the crowd and paparazzi.
After few minutes, Sonal entered the ICU and touched Mouli’s feet with reverence. Mouli gently opened his eyes. The two exchanged a few words before the medical team ushered Sonal out of the ICU. Mouli was too frail to talk for long.
An hour later, Sonal and Mitesh were seated in her plush SUV speeding down the highway. Sonal gazed into the lush green mountains lost in thought.
Mitesh, who had been patiently waiting for an opportunity to ask, muttered - “May I ask something if you don’t mind?”
Sonal looked at him and smilingly said “I know what’s playing on your mind. Who is Mouli and how are we connected? Am I right?”
Mitesh nodded with amusement.
Sonal laughed herself saying “Let me tell you an anecdote first”
One night, Sri Adi Shankaracharya, the revered Advaita Guru, was struggling to search something outside his house. His disciple saw and curiously asked the Master, “Aacharya, what troubles you at this hour?”
Sri Shankaracharya, without looking at the disciple, replied- “I have lost my needle and am looking for it.”
The disciple promptly joined him in the search, but after vain attempt, he asked the great master - “Aacharya, could you take a moment and try to recollect where you dropped it?”
Shankaracharya said, “Of course, I remember. I dropped it near the bed in the hut.”
Utterly astonished at the strange behavior, the disciple asked his guru -
“Aacharya, if you lost it inside the house, then why are we looking for it outside?”
Shankaracharya now stood up and innocently replied with a smile - “There is no light inside as the oil in the lamp is over. So, I thought of searching for it outside, since there is enough moon light outside!”
With a mixed sense of humor and awe, the pupil asked humbly -
“Acharya, if you lost your needle inside the house, how could you even expect to find it outside?”
Shankaracharya simply smiled back at the pupil and said -
“Isn't that what we all do? We run to far away temples and walk-up mountains to search for what we have lost inside ourselves.
We are all seeking outside what we have lost inside us. Why? Just because it is pitch dark inside. It is the darkness inside us that does not allow us to search within.”
Sonal - “Mouli sir brought the same realization to me as well” - with her voice trailing off.
There was a pause as Sonal shifted her gaze to outside the car. Mitesh was trying to let the profundity of the idea sink in.
Sonal continued - “I was fresh out of college and started as a sales representative in one of the brands that Mouli sir was heading. Being a drama enthusiast, I went for rehearsals on weekends.”
“Within the first few quarters, I made a good impression with my team lead and soon my name was floating within the main presentations. Sir spotted my talent and shifted me to another brand and started mentoring me.”
“As my sales runs intensified, I gave up on drama. Within an year or so, my performance dipped. Sir tried to coach me but observed that I had lost my drive.
“We spoke at length on what I could do to become better, but the harder I tried, the faster I failed.”
Mouli sir had grasped well that I missed dramatics and that was draining me mentally. He observed that my spark lay in enthralling an audience with emotions and not in enchanting retailers with brand stories. I was looking for the audience appreciation in retailers’ sales numbers.
Mouli sir is a man with great depth and one day he told me the above story. In minutes, he had lit up my life with clarity. From that day, I never turned back. It took a decade, but here I am today.
Mouli sir is the not the Guru who taught me to become who I am today, but he is the Guru who shone a light on the path I was meant to be.
A guru plays a crucial role in our lives by guiding us toward the light 🙏
Good read. We all are away from our lights and Guru’s. We falsely believe the light is here and Guru is no more needed. Thank Amit!