________________
FINDING A GURU Mahesh Verma Muscat
They say that one can never go looking for a Guru............ in fact, it is the Guru who supposedly walks into your life when the time is right.
Well..........I can definitely vouch for that!!!!!!!!
It was 1999 and I was working with Merrill Lynch, shuttling between Muscat (where the family was) and Bahrain (where the office was). A very close friend of mine from Muscat, Pradeep Mathur, was also working in Bahrain. The Mathurs were my surrogate family there, and I would often have lunch with them.
One day Pradeep called me to say that their Guruji was in town and if I would come and meet him....because I worked very long hours, I told him that except for week-ends, I really could not leave my work, and hence could not go over in the evenings.
A few days later, Pradeep called again and asked me to come with him that evening for a “pravachan” being given by Guruji at some one else's residence. I finally decided to go along with him that evening and after the “pravachan” he took me to get Guruji's blessings and introduced me as his friend from Muscat. I must have been with him for not more than a minute as there were other people behind me waiting to get his blessings. I subsequently left Merrill and Bahrain in June 2001 and returned to Muscat and did not get to meet Guruji after that brief encounter.
In May 2002, we got a call from Pradeep and Anu that Guruji was planning to come to the region and had specifically mentioned that he wanted to come to Muscat and stay with us. I was dumb- struck, and repeatedly asked Anu if Guruji had referred to me, because I had not imagined that he would have remembered ever meeting me. Anu told
258 shantidoot / messenger of peace Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
