A butterfly emerges, Durvasa Junior disappears

Most of us know that IIT refers to the Indian Institute of Technology, India's premier Tech schools. I worked really hard, I count myself lucky to have earned a seat in IIT Mumbai in the Department of Computer Science.

Many of us may not know IIT also stands for Intense Inner Transformation. In IIT Mumbai, my life changed dramatically. I didn't just graduate with a B.Tech in Computer Science, I had my first introduction to The Art of Living and my dearest Guru; Poojya Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji.

Recently, Sri Sri was saying (Not verbatim, I have paraphrased based on my understanding) -
" Being with a Guru, is like being in a cocoon. You are protected. There are restrictions on the caterpillar inside the cocoon. It can't move as it wishes, it can't eat what it wants. All for a purpose ... to transform into a butterfly, that is beautiful to look at, that can fly around the garden! The cocoon enables the transformation"

This analogy struck a chord in me.

I recalled the time before I came to my Master - I was A shy, coarse, intense, angry, self-centred IITian who believed that life was unfair, that hardwork and honesty had no place in the world's scheme of things. I had a very short fuse. This led to my parents calling me 'Durvasa Junior' . (Durvasa was a powerful and learned sage in ancient India, who was known for his short temper and was more feared than revered).

I WAS angry...with myself, with my professors, with friends, with classmates, with the Mumbai locals trains for being so crowded and inefficient,. with the cab drivers and rickshaw drivers who never went where I wanted to go. ..... until I stumbled across The Art of Living course.

This was in early January 1993, when Mumbai was rattled by the communal riots in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition. A small group of 6 would travel each evening from Powai to Dadar for the course by bus, train, cab, whatever and return late at night. Each day, I would return refreshed, smiling and happy. The Sudarshan Kriya was a revelation. Never before had I experienced anything like this!! I dilligently practised what the teacher instructed.

Slowly but surely, the anger melted, the inhibitions dropped off, the intensity sharpened, a smile appeared on my face ! I found that situations that earlier caused me to blow my lid didn't do that anymore. People whom I used to despise earlier, were suddenly more acceptable (not totally). The cab drivers and rickshaw drivers - I could smile at them irrespective of what they said or did. I was at ease with myself.

I observed that when my mind was calm and pleasant, the world also appeared beautiful, I realised for the first time ' Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder'.

What happened to Durvasa Junior ? Well, he start taking longer vacations when he found out that the Guru was working His magic.