Recently I happened to attend the interesting philosophical and spiritual discourse of one of the famous orators of our times on Bhagawad Gita. I generally keep myself away from many of such lectures because most of the time I feel that I do not have the exact mind set and maturity to attend those speeches, comprehend them and put them into action. Further, I work on my own philosophy of life; the correctness of that might be highly debatable, of course.

Nonetheless, hearing about the huge crowds the speaker draws, my academic interest and inquisitiveness prompted me to attend the lecture. It is true that the spacious auditorium was completely packed with audience of all ages, sizes, gender and shapes. In fact, at the end of the talk I should accept that I was fully impressed with the way the speaker drove home the importance of the mental discipline and control for enjoying eternal bliss in this chaotic world. I felt that there is no wonder the orator commanded immense respect and sway over the audience because of the knowledge, language and communication skills.

But what was more surprising for me was my bumping on some of the persons during my two days attendance whom I least expected in that crowd; One of my professional friends, who is very intelligent, ambitious and also works almost round the clock to meet his goals in his professional life. The first word I asked him after he waved his hand at me was ‘God, you found time for this?’ for which his answer with a smile was ‘Yes. I made it possible today.’

The other is a man whose character I am yet to understand. He is a person well employed but perennially bogged down by domestic and professional problems. He is simple as well as on many occasions I found him very simplistic. I know he used to express his interest in spirituality, abstract philosophy but he is one who dodges responsibilities, meandering and at times exasperating also. He seemed to be in close contact with the organizers as I found him exchanging pleasantries with them. 

The third one was my old student who is a very handsome, smart, intelligent, strikingly wealthy and successful business man who spotted me and volunteered to speak to me. He was with his family. It was also surprising for me on how he managed his time and mind to attend this program and what exactly he expected from it.

The fourth one was my cousin who is an absolute mercenary who wishes to revel in worldly pleasures and always attaches a price or utility tag to each and every of his as well as other’s act. His presence on all the days came as a rude shock to me to say the least.

However, on pondering over the contents of the talk and analyzing the presence of these personalities belonging to four different corners of life I understood one important thing; every one of us suffers with some unfulfilled desires as the speaker rightly referred repeatedly. It is also a fact that all of us try to find some path or route or salvation so that at least hear about it even if not follow diligently. The listening itself could have provided a satisfaction to them that at least they are aware where the happiness lies.

Finally, like I felt, they also might have wondered what this single, gregarious, at times obstinate, self opinionated, carefree man was doing in this crowd.