The Un-Guru

We have T.K.V. Desikachar sightings around the Mandiram, and we totally act like nervous groupies. The first time, Priya, with total mock-seriousness, cocked her head towards him as we walked away from the building and said, "That's the dude!" in a whisper. It's true, he is the dude, but you know he doesn't want to be overwhelmed by his dudeness. Sometimes he'll sit quietly in the back of the classroom and listen to our discussion for a bit before slipping back out. Once, he came into our philosophy teacher (and his wife) Menaka's class and they carried on in the totally cute way that couples who've been together forever do, and we were all, "Omigod! They are so cute!"

I was in a rickshaw with Anna the other night and Desikachar was walking by; he said hello to Anna (they are totally down, yo) and then said in his booming voice, "And who is this person you are with?" I tried to be cool, but you know how I get in these situations. It's like I've moved on from stalking Thurston Moore (no wait, I still do that)...

So, a couple days ago, Desikachar shows up in our morning theory class with this wild-haired man all in white. He tells us that we are in the presence of a true yogi, and introduces U.G. Krishnamurti. After they left, Mark said, "Do you know who that was?" and of course, the answer was "No, I've never heard of him." Mark filled me in: UGK, as those in the know call him, is an unwilling guru. He travels around the world with only what he can fit into a small suitcase, often turns down requests for an audience, and is, as this site describes, "the Howard Hughes of the guru set: enigmatic, brilliant, charismatic, reclusive and publicity-shy," which, if you're going to be a guru, sounds like the way to go, no? It's all of the fun of being a spiritual leader but none of the bummer responsibilities.

Nice work, if you can get it.