1. Guruma’s 2020 Gurupoornima Speech Summary Day 1
My greetingstoall gatheredsouls.
We will startwithan inspirationaltale aboutabigindustrialistfromIndia.There wasanindustrialist
wholivedonrentand wasverypunctual on hispayments.One dayhe returnedhome tofindhis
landlordatthe door.He wassurprisedatseeinghimbecause the landlorddidn’tlive there.The landlord
thensaidto him,“How are you today?Normally,youpayiton time.Itseemsyouhave forgottentopay
the rent thistime.Iseverythingokay?”
Lookingat him,the industrialistrememberedall of asuddenthat he forgotto pay the rent. The
industrialistthengave itandthe landlordtookit.The landlordthenaskedhim, “You have so many
factorieswhichare doingwell.Whydoyoulive onrent?” The industrialistanswered,“It’snotimportant
whatI am. It’s importanthowIam.” He thengave the landlordsome teaandthenthe landlord
proceededout. The industrialist’sdriveroverheardall this.
One day,there wasa lotof rush inMumbai withpeople waitinginlongqueues.Seeingthis,the
industrialistthoughthowmuchmustpeople rushtobe at the office ontime?Seeing acouple of elderly
people strugglingwithpublictransportation,the industrialistdecidedtogive himaride tothe office. He
thenthought‘Geesh,mycar is empty.Whydon’tI make a ritual of helpingpeopleeverydaylike this
withwhosoevershouldneedthe helpatthe giventime?
Duringanotherinstance,the industrialistwenttothe airporttoline upto buy a plane ticket.Online
purchasesweren’tavailable backthen.One of the staff atthe airport recognizedhim.He asked,“Why
are youin the line up? Come andsit onthe sofaand I will getyouyourticket.”The industrialistargued
it didn’tmatterwhohe wasbut howhe was.He insistedonlininguplike everyoneelseandboughtthe
ticketandflewoff.The industrialist’sdriveroverheardthis.He thenwonderedwhyhisbosskeeps
sayingthese verylinesaboutitdoesn’tmatterwhohe isbuthow he is. He thoughtmaybe one day
whenthe industrialistisabitfree,he will askaboutthis.
Subsequently,atone point,the driverandthe industrialistwere chattingandthe industrialistrealized
he had paidthe driverlaterthan he shouldbecause the driver’sson’sschool fee paymentswere due but
the driverhadn’tsaidanythingaboutthe inconveniencesof beingpaidlate.The industrialistthensaid
“Let me knowwhenyourson’sfeesare due so theycan be paidfor on time fromnow on.”
Atthismoment,the driverdecidedtoaskthe industrialistaboutwhyhe alwayssaysit doesn’tmatter
whohe isbut howhe is. The industrialistansweredthatpeople alwaysconnecthimwiththe factories
he owns.But inhismind,it shouldn’tbe aboutwhohe isor what he has.What shouldmatterishow he
is.He wentonto narrate howwhen he was young,he hada nannywhowouldcare for him.He wasvery
stubborn,aggressive andapickyeater.“One daythe nannygave me somethingtoeatbut I refusedto
eat.She pleadedwithme 3 times.Atthispoint,Ibecame angrywithheraskingme to eat.I thenpushed
herwithmy legs.My father,whowaspassingby,saw thisandspankedme and got madat me.NowI
had misbehavedlikethisbeforebecause itwaslike aroutine forme.Butthistime myfathersaw me.He
thensaidto me,‘Son,it doesn’tmatterwhoorwhat youare. It’show you are.That’s what’smost
importantandcan dictate yoursurroundingcircumstances. Rememberthis.Othersare people like you
2. are.’I paidheedto thisadvice fromthatday onwards.I triedtoimprove uponthispointas I grew up.I
was alwaysgroundedbecause of whatmyfathertaughtme that day.”
Sokids,don’tletthe respectpeople give youswell upyourhead.Surrenderyourdeedstoyourparents
or guru or God or circumstancesdue to whichyouare gettingthe accolades.Rememberthe one infront
of youishuman like youare.The industrialistinthisstorywasRatan Tata of Tata Industries.Sobe good
and be humble.RatanTata’sperspective hadbeen“Igotwhat I didbecause myfatherwasan
industrialist.Sobeing anindustrialistcouldnotbe myfocus perse.I justmade modificationswiththe
factoriesasper the time or situation’sdemandsorexpandedonthe workhe did.”
Ratan Tata isa verywell-knownperson.He isknownforhisverynice personality,mannersandgood
deeds. Note the thingsforwhichpeople have gottenaheadandtake inspirationfromthem.Youmay
have dayswhere youwill have eithergoodorhardcircumstances.Sothese are thingsto keepinmind.
The day precedesthe nightandthe nightfollowsthe day.We have muchto learnfromnature.The
moonshrinksovera givenperiodtill itreachesnomoondayand then itgrowsafter.Light reflectsonus
accordingto the moonsize sosometimeswe maysee lesslightwhile onothertimesitwill be more light.
The same goesforour seasons. (I.e.SpringcomesafterwinterorFall comesafterthe rainyseasonin
Indiaetc.)
Do yourecognize flowersordoyou know the name of onlyfamousortrendyoneslike rosesor
orchids?Learnabout flowers.(Gurumalistssome flowers) Doyouhow nice andfragrant Jasmine
flowersare.Itendto take some of the Jasmine fromthe gardenandsometimesIputitin myhair. I just
take a little bitaswe shouldleave the flowersforbeesandothercreaturesneedtohave some flowers
too. I justsometimestake ahandful andwashitunderthe sinkto keepthe flowersfreshlonger.Ilove
smellingmypalmsafter.The fragrance whichcomesoutfromthisleavesabitof an aftereffect.Youcan
try thiswithmanyotherkindsof flowersbe itplumeria,the chamelitype of jasmine,tuberose etc.Put
these ina bowl of watersomewhere.Itwill leave afragrance inthe area.
Justas these flowersleave afragrance behind,ourgoodfeelingsleave theirimpactonus.The same
goesfor whenwe have badfeelings.We getdistressedwhenwe see twopeoplefight.Orwe feel bad
whensomeone sayssomethingbadtous.We become disturbedatthatmoment.Afterdoingcertain
kindsof workor duty,we washour hands.Whenthere’sabad feelinginsideus,we needtocleanitup.
Leave aside ourshoeswhenwe firstfeel bad.If we are notin the space to do so, stare at the skyor
plant-likeitemsandgetabsorbedbyit.Stare at anythingexceptpeople orbuildings.Stare atany
essence of nature.Evencreatureslike cows,dogsorcats will do.Orpray to God to please remove these
feelingsorshoothemaway. This isyour instantsantizer.Close youreyesasyoudo soand you’ll feel
peaceful. Orstare intothingslike the skyor the earth. If the earthisyour mother,the skyisyour father.
Swingyourarms up towardsthe skyand release those feelingsif itisnotpossible foryoutoget
absorbedbythe earth.
If you are in a lockedroom,youcan rememberatime whenyouwere innature such as whenyou
visitedthe ashram.Imagine yourselfthere.You’ll graspthe energyof the space then.Andthenpray.
Thisadvice isin response to meditatorssayingwe live incrowdedandcongestedspaces.Whatshould
we do? Whenwe can’t reach a place by our body,we can reachit throughour imagination.We can
imagine waterfalls,rivers,junglesortrees.If nothingelse,we canimagine intense heatasthroughheat
we sweatand that releasesalotof toxicity.The circumstancesare notimportant.If we needtogo in
3. crowds,we can imagine spaceswhere we canmeditate.If youhaven’tlearnedmeditation,noworries.
The 5 elementsbalance uswiththe skyandthe earthbeingthe biggestbalancers.
We thinkmeditationisabigdeal and how can kidsdo it but meditationiseasyforkids.Kidsare the
onesto do itmost easilybecause theyhave the leastbaggage.Theydon’tneedtantras,mantrasortools
to aidthem.Pray to motherearthby saying“Motherearth,please relieve myflaws”three times.In
orderto have a thoughtfree state,one needstoremove suchflaws(orbaggage asI wouldcall itfor
feelingslike anger,sadnessetc.)
You sayto your mom,cook thisor make that and yourmom makesitfor you.MotherEarth isjustlike
your momand doesas youask. The fatherprotectsus frombad thingsandmakesus tough. So prayto
the sky,please take awaymyflaws.
If the bodyis still thenina matterof time,meditationwill happentothe person.Trymeditatingfor10
to 15 minutesinthe morningand10-15 minutesat dusktill anytime before 10pm. Asyou beingtodo
so,you will keepmovingforwardlikeRatanTata. Sometimesyoukidsinsistyouwill eatthisorthat
particularthing.The Bharat HealthDept.surveyedkidshealthandyouknow what’sstrange?20-30
yearsago, circumstanceswere different.Mostpeople hadlesseducationandearningsrelativetonow
where the percentage of peoplewithaccesstobothon a higherlevel isgreater.Forinstance,40years
ago people were graduatesorpost-graduates.(BachelorsandMasters).Today,there are many more
professions.Today moneyisnotas greatan issue forpeople relative tobefore.Yetyouthhealthisnot
as it shouldbe.More youngstersare becomingoverweightorobese.Thisisowingtothe lifestyle. For
example,whatare yourfavorite games?
If you’re wonderinghowtoanswerme whenyouare not infrontof me,thinkof the answerwithyour
heartand the answerwill reachme.Andno computergamesor videogamesare includedforthe
answer.Itcan be thingsyouplayinthe fieldsorgardens.Whatdoyou play?Do yousweatafterrunning
around?You should.It’sa wayto cleanse yourself.Itkeepsskin,heartandlungshealthy.We usedto
playthe game Outpe Out.It usedto be funto tag people andmade usalert.We wouldalsoplayHide
and Seek.We wouldrunaroundand hide onthe tree and behindit. Orwe wouldswitchsashes around
so the people taggingcouldn’ttell whoitwastheywere tagging.We usedtoalsoplayLangdi Tang or
Lame Foot.Or the circle and ball game.These thingsmade ushealthy.Youcrywhenyoufall but then
youdust yourbum off and getup.
I would goto my bua’sor aunt’splace and playhide andseek.Iwouldhide behindplatpotsorpillars.
Once there were 9 stepswhere Ithoughtthere were 3 and I jumpedsohardand slippedIgota hairline
fracture.I lovedclimbingtrees.AfterIfinishedmyB.Ed.,Itaught between9nthto11nth standardsor
grade students.We once wenton a picnicwhere there wasa mangogardenand a natural lake.Kids
linedup.We were the lastbatch inthe line up.Ilookedaroundtomake sure no one was looking.Note:I
was workingata conventschool back then. So as I wasensuringnoone wasthere,I urgedeveryone
else togo ahead.I thenclimbedthe tree andenjoyedmyself somuch.Aftersome time,anunsawme
on the tree and said,“Miss,youclimbedthe tree.Come down.”
Kids,youshouldtryit.The dayI stoppeddoingthese kindsof things,Igotbiggerbuilt.Youguysare
skinny.Gofor it.As we fall,we getencouragedtorise onour ownand innovate aswe must.So parents,
don’tmake themsuch lallus(ordon’toverbabyyourkids). Letthemclimbtreesor playinthe dirt.Or
make organicstatuesof Ganpati ( elephant-headedGodGanesh).POPcausesharm.Mom andDad can
4. jointhemandtry makingthese.Youcan use foodcolor.Decorate it. Ganpati isthe God of contentment.
The statue that getscreatedwill manifestfromthe kindof feelingsyouputintomakingit.Letyour kids
gethurt. Justcleanand dressthe injurykidsordry it and putturmericpaste on it.Or put an anti-septic
like Dettol onitor dressit.Neverleave behindrunning,danglingorclimbing.Myparentsare my
inspirationforhowIam.
Nowadaysparentssayexamsare onso no playing.Butstudiesare knowledge.Evaluate are youdoing
thingsforknowledge ormarks?Parentssometimessaywhydidyouonlygetx amountof marks?
Insteadaskdo youunderstandthe material? Sokids,studysuchthatyou understandthe material.It’s
aboutunderstandingratherthanmemorizing.Today’skidsdon’tevenshare notesforgetotherthings.
Some kidsargue I got these notesfrommycoachingclassessoI am not goingto share these.Butnotes
have knowledge.Trade subjectstolearnfromone another.There mustbe somethingthe bothof you
are weakin.
We don’tlearnwhenwe study.We learnwhenwe explain thingstoothers.Conceptsbecome clear.
You can explainthe knowledge youlearnedinyourownwords.Sowhenyouwrite answersonthe exam
paper,the answerswill be unique. Whenthe examinerlooksatthe answers,manytimeshe/she can
inferthe similarityof notinganswersiscomingfromsupplementbooks.Theycannote itfromthe order
of the linesandsequencesandthe teachermaynodtheirheadand say,okay,this hasbeenmemorized
fromthe supplement.Sonosurprises.Butif youansweritinyour ownunique way,the examinerwill
give more marks.
Marks aren’twrittenonyour forehead. If youdidn’tgetadmissionintoaparticularschool,itmeans
God had otherplansforyou. My youngersisterhada school friendwhowere bothverygoodstudents
and were bothtoppers(orthose whotop the class). Now myyoungersisterisa goldmedallistengineer.
I was a veryaverage studentandworkedharderbutshe had a highlevel of retentionanddidn’tneedto
studyas much. For the grade 12 results,people usedtohave togo andcheck theirresultsbygoingto
the school to see whocame infirst.Somy sisterwentandfoundshe wasfirstand thoughtherfriend
was secondbutshe didn’tsee herfriendanywhere.She thenwonderedwhathappenedandwentover
to herfriend’splace.She saidtoherfriend’smotherthatshe came to have sweets(atreatto have when
youhave done somethinginthe Indianculture). Butthe friend’s motherlookedsad.Mysister
wonderedwhyandlearneditwasbecause herfriendfailed.Apparently,she got2% inbiology.Mysister
was inshock because a topperfailingwasshocking. We were thentransferredoutof thistownwhere
all thishappened.Twotothree yearslater,we foundoutthisfriendselectedfineartsandwenton to
pursue itfurther.She turnedoutto be a verynice artist.So some thingsneedtobe leftonGod. Accept
it as a tokenfromGod and move forward.Todaythere isa lot of demandforfine arts.
Earlier,people wouldsayIwantto become a doctor,engineerorscientist.IwouldthensayIwantedto
become a teacher.People wouldstare atme questioningly.Now mydaddidn’toppose me.He would
say it’sa noble profession.Butmake sure youtryto become the bestteacher.My studentsgave me
great love.That’swhykidsare dearto me.Don’t thinkof death.Deathisnot a solution.It’slike if astore
closedandyou didn’tgetthe itemyouneeded.Youcanalwaysgofor the secondprofessionaloption
store.You don’tneedtodie overthis.You needtowaitfor a secondprofessional optionstore toopen
up.
Twofriendscanplaytennis. Or theycan playtable tennisorcarom boardif theyare indoorsto use
theirfingersinsteadof usingyourfingersforgadgets.Use yourfingersforcarom boardsand not
5. gadgets.The bodycan become ill.Spare yourselffrombecomingoverweight.Eatgoodfood.Eat sweets.
I use to love boondi ke laddoo.WhenaweddingwouldhappenwhenIwasyoung,the cookwouldleave
out a bigtray of the cookedgram flourandsugar mixture forus to roll intoballs.Whenwe wouldpeek
to see that noone was lookingaround, we wouldgobbleuplike 8to 10 of themand thenwouldget
back to workwithsome ladiestomake the restof the laddoos.We wouldhave laddoocompetitionsto
see whocouldeat the most. Once I ate 18 laddoos.WhenIwas 18, I wishedtodonate bloodtothe Red
Cross.Theycheckedmyweight andwishedme ahappy birthday.Iwasabout 48 kilosthen.TheysaidI
weighedhalf akiloless.ButIwasdeterminedtodonate bloodandsaidletme drink2-3 glassesof water
and myweightwill be right.Sure enough,itwas.
Today’snotionforsweetsare different.Youguyslike chocolate right?Well,letme tell uastory about
chocolate. Chocolate ismade fromcocoawhenit isfermented.The International StandardsforFood
saysthat no matterhow hard chocolate makerstry,it’shard forthemto keepcockroachesfrom
infiltratingintothe chocolate. Sotheythereincreatedaminimal standardforwhat’sacceptable for
chocolate. Soif there’slessthan4%infiltration or4 gm/100 gm of chocolate,itisconsideredeatable.
You are potentiallytheneating15-16 cockroaches.Now youdecide whatto eat.Eat sweetswhichthe
cook or sweetmakeroryour mommakesor get itfrom a reputedstore.We tendtolike toeat whatwe
grow upeating.Try sweetswithmilkorall purpose flour. There’salotof nutritioninthere.Chocolate
has lessof it.Indiansweetstendtohave natural calcium, vitaminA andD, and clarifiedbutterwhich
acts as a digestiveaid.
Mom and Dad adjustso muchfor you.Theyhave triedto grant youreverywishanddo everythingthey
can for you. Shouldyounot try to nothurt them?Keepteachersoreldersinmindbefore youdo
something.
Considertree planting.Considerthe tree youare plantinglike alittle brother.Willyounotlike togive it
food?Or howabout givingaspace for cows andgoats? Or dumpthe leftoverwaterfromyour thermos
ontoyour gardennear yourhome.Do somethinggoodeveryday.Feedanimalsaroundyou.Asfor
plasticanddisposable use,tryusinglessof it.Now if youare goingto argue,we can’t carry the
disposable home thentrytakinga steel glasswithyouorkeepwaterina thermos.Or try eatingon
banana leaveslikeSouthIndiansorMaharashtriansdoonoccasions.People were healthierearlier
because of such a lifestyle.
(Gurumasummarizedmajorpointsfromherlecture whichIdidn’tcatchto scribe butit’sall here).
Respectandcare for parentsandhelpthem.Learnpatience fromthem.Itwill come inhandy
throughoutyourlife.Rememberthe pointaboutchocolate. Climbtrees.Be veryhappy.Helpfriends.
Share notes.Learnfrom them.Evenif theydon’tshare withyou.You will rememberthe piecesof
knowledge andtheywill staywithyou.Mayyou be inpeace and reach the summitof spiritualityand
make the worldone family.Jai babaswami.
