Many of us need a guru or a mentor to help us navigate the squalls and troughs of everyday living. Though few of us have a formalized Guru-Shisya relationship today, the spirit of that relationship is kept alive through life-or-career-steering mentors found in manifold manifestations.
Actor Renita Kapoor says that in her life she has “experienced several transformative moments” thanks to the teachings she has imbibed from her gurus. She elaborates, “I was in the extremely low phase; I had no clue how to sort out my life, relationships, work because everything was falling apart … right then, I was guided and shown the way. I was living in victimhood, but my gurus made me realise that we are responsible for our journeys; we must accept life’s incidents and flow with them instead of crying over what has happened. All these life lessons have made me a different person today, and I am proud of that.”
Though Kapoor esoterically pronounces that her guru has been “the universe or nature,” she adds that under that umbrella, “many learned people and enlightened souls touched my life and guided me.” The stage and screen artist reveals that she has been listening for over 15 years to motivational speaker and spiritual mentor BK Shivani, Jamaican spiritual teacher Mooji and self-healing advocate Louise Hay. “Also, I have met Shivanandji one-on-one,” Kapoor says. “The straightforward way he explains spirituality makes it easy for me to understand.”
Of course, the guru only points out the path; the disciple has to make the effort. Kapoor asserts, "During my meditations and while listening to these gurus, a transformation happened – sometimes slowly and sometimes suddenly. I feel that a Guru chooses us, they come in our lives and not the other way around.”
Writer-scriptwriter Dilip Talreja agrees with the last sentiment. “They say when you need a guru, he/she appears,” he points out, before qualifying the statement with a laugh. “In my case, once the guru has played his role in my life, he also disappears.” He continues, “To steal a line from Streetcar Named Desire, I have always relied on the kindness of strangers. So near-strangers have become my gurus: A yoga teacher, Raju, taught me asanas that helped me regain confidence after a health crisis; an Art Of Living teacher helped me strengthen my lungs; a meditation teacher helped becalm me, introducing the concept of being a sakshi (witness) to life’s events.”
An impassioned teacher can shape a world-view even at a young age. Talreja narrates, “I was in standard six when our soft-spoken English teacher, Mrs Rao, asked me to step out in front of the class and read aloud my composition. I was quaking in my shoes but once I reached the end, she clapped loudly and urged the class to do so too. She pointed out that using descriptive phrases like ‘he devoured the sandwiches’ showed imagination in writing. Later, she led me to the school library and said, ‘You belong here.’ Talreja’s propensity for writing was confirmed by his Hindi professor too, though he remarked drily, ‘You write so well. But don’t write like Gulshan Nanda (pulp-fiction writer), write like Premchand (littérateur)’.” These teachers ensured the youth made writing his calling in life.
Though thankful to his teachers, Talreja philosophises, “Finally, life is one’s biggest guru … unfortunately at times this teacher doesn’t give you a chance to reappear for failed exams.”
Shivakumar Keskar, partner at SmartX, has passed several examinations in Business Management and Computer Science with flying colours, but he too grasped the importance of mentors once he entered the corporate world. He says, “UG Murthy, my manager at Shell Engine Oils, was instrumental in my transformation from a college student to a corporate professional. From him, I understood how relationships are drawn in corporate life. I had experienced this earlier too, but was more hurt than trained. Thereafter, my manager at Coca-Cola, Venkatesh Mahadevan, taught me the first leadership lessons. He encouraged me to lead in my own way; I started taking initiative and gained the confidence to do what I felt was right.”
Despite the famously cut-throat milieu of the business world, Keskar was fortunate to keep finding mentors willing to invest in him. “I learned first-hand from Goutam Roy, my manager at XIUS, that the devil does lie in the details,” he says. “I used to watch him slice and dice information without being judgemental. This attention to details has stayed with me. Finally, I met Clifford, my manager at both CSC in Saudi Arabia as well as in Dallah Al Baraka, when I was in my early 40s and thought I already knew most things. Yet I learned the most from Clifford who fine-tuned my leadership style, my communication style, and showed me how much more I could be.”
As someone who has had multiple gurus, Keskar analyses, “Finding a Guru is important but it will not happen till the right person who can influence us deeply comes along in our lives. This person could be just anyone, and they could have just one lesson for us. But this one lesson from the right guru changes who we are forever."
