An Enlightened Soul

There are some people who leave an indelible impression on our lives, but our equation with them cannot be classified into any category. Strangely enough, they can neither be called friends, nor acquaintances. Ali Sir was one such person who made the lives of those around him a lot better by just being himself. Sandhya was one of his many students who felt absolutely awe struck in his presence.

Ali Sir was a trained psychologist and a professor of Organization Behaviour, a compulsory subject in Sandhya’s first year of MBA. His first lecture on ‘Introduction to Organization Behaviour’ started with his own introduction which got overshadowed by his baritone voice and the friendly eye contact he made with every person in class. The two hours that he spoke for seemed to go by in minutes, and were followed by a stunned silence as few students had ever expected to be captivated by a topic as seemingly mundane as Organization Behaviour.

There was a buzz in the hostel later that day, with Google searches being done on Ali Sir’s background. As it turned out, he had a background in experimental theatre (which explained his perfectly modulated voice) and had won the President’s award the previous year for his contribution to behavioural science. Sandhya and her friends were already looking forward to attending his forthcoming lectures in a batch that otherwise focused on meeting the bare minimum attendance requirement.

As the semester progressed, Ali Sir became adept at engaging students with his thoughtfully crafted lectures and getting the reticent minority to participate in class discussions. One day he made a surprise announcement in class, one that evoked collective gasps. Ali Sir was going to deliver a special lecture on ‘Love’ for the class that weekend, on the occasion of Valentine’s day.  His students were free to ask him any questions that they had on the topic. This unusual declaration piqued the curiosity of students about the content of this lecture.

The day of Ali Sir’s much awaited lecture finally dawned and the classroom filled in much ahead of the scheduled start time of the lecture. Some starry eyed students were hoping to hear mushy tales of love and companionship. But their hopes were dashed as soon as Ali Sir gave the disclaimer that the focus of his talk was not just on love in the romantic sense of the word. He urged the class to go beyond the obvious and view love as a powerful force that helps loved ones realize their potential. This sounded quite drab to a class of youngsters in their early twenties fed on a staple of romantic songs and films. Ali Sir quoted a lot of examples to drive home the point of true love being unconditional and non-judgemental. “If you really love someone, you will accept them for who they are and not have any expectations of them”, he said. This started a heated debate with some of his students questioning how it could be possible not to have expectations from your loved ones. Ali Sir remained calm and asked students not to jump to conclusions. This was definitely not the kind of talk on ‘love’ they had expected. The students decided to treat this as an aberration and not let it affect their regard for Ali Sir.

The first break of the academic year was fast approaching, the time when most people planned to be with their families for the festival of Diwali. Sandhya and her friends had a few days to spare before they were to travel to their hometown for the Diwali break. They decided to ask Ali Sir if he would teach them meditation. They had heard that some of their batch mates who were scarred by the initial days of ragging in the hostel, overcame the trauma through meditation techniques taught to them by Ali Sir. Ali Sir was more than happy to oblige but on one condition. He started his day early and believed that meditation was most effective when practiced early in the morning. Sandhya and her friends promised to be present in class sharp at 6 am for the sessions.

Sandhya felt wonderful waking up to the sound of chirping birds and the wonderful early morning hue of the sky. On her way to class, she noticed the beauty of her management school campus for the first time – the well-manicured lawns and the different varieties of trees and plants along the way. Ali Sir had reached the class before time and had brought his laptop with him. He had a serene expression on his face and asked Sandhya and her friends to sit in silence for a minute. Ali Sir was a follower of the Brahmakumaris and the meditation technique he was going to teach was that of ‘soul-consciousness.’  Every day, he played soothing music for a few minutes, followed by an immersive meditation process focused on reconnecting with one’s soul. He then read out a short article revolving around a specific theme, followed by his own thoughts on the topic and a free exchange of thoughts with Sandhya and her friends. He encouraged them to think of themselves as ‘enlightened souls’, being mindful of their surroundings and reminding themselves that they hold the reins to their destiny. “Every time you do something, ask yourself if that is what an enlightened soul would do!”, echoed Ali Sir’s baritone voice in a half empty class with Sandhya and a handful of her friends listening to him in rapt attention.

The two years of MBA were over in a jiffy, and it was time for Sandhya to bid goodbye to her friends at the hostel. A new world awaited her, one that would help her stand on her feet and realize her dreams. Ali Sir had infused a spirit of idealism in her, making her believe that one can make a difference to others by being kind and willing to go the extra mile for them. Unfortunately, he had left the management school the previous year to teach at an American university. But the enlightened soul that he was, she was sure that he would light up people’s lives no matter where he was.