My wife my guru
November 2013 My dear wife Anuja passed away recently. She has left behind three priceless gifts which I am accepting with gratitude and living with wonder: the gift of courage and dignity at all times; total clarity about where I am today; and the inspiration to live life fully, no matter what. She taught me all this by living her life in the very same way, for she believed in teaching by example. To many, she is a role model of handling cancer � by taking it all on the chin, and with a smile on her face.
Her commitment to her work was always total � three months before she passed on, she went to Singapore all by herself to successfully handle a 10-day assignment. And three weeks before her passage, she summoned her team to her hospital room to personally hand out their promotion and increment letters! I have been an active spiritual seeker since 1992. And in the course of my journey, I have been searching far and wide for the right gurus, teachers and guides. And, like the protagonist in The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho, I finally realised that the real teacher was waiting for me back home. I suppose I was not ready for her teaching till five years ago. The full force of her teaching came home to me in the last month, while she was in hospital. We sat together holding hands and communicating more than words can ever say. And her master class for me was conducted on the last two days, when she, our son Aneesh and I bonded in a most beautiful way and witnessed a most beautiful completion during her transition, while holding her in our arms. She was instrumental in cracking open my heart and getting me in touch with a loving compassion that decades of seeking had not achieved. -Anand Tendulkar, Mumbai