Inspirational experience

All of us have experienced situations that are extremely embarrassing. We have felt guilty about letting people down and redemption has come in the form of messages from the very persons we feel we have let down. The following incident will perhaps illustrate the point I wish to make.

Decades ago, I was the vigilance officer at a public sector company. I was also entrusted with the task of arranging talks and training programs by eminent persons.

A senior IPS officer who incidentally acquired a PhD after retirement was one such speaker. His talk on ethics, finding purpose in life and not letting past experiences hold us prisoners was so inspiring that I felt that the families of the staff members would also benefit from it.

I asked the gentleman whether he would be willing to address the families. He agreed on one condition that he would do so in the evening of the next day.

He did not want to extend his stay in our township beyond what was already scheduled. I took permission from my higher-ups, arranged for a hall, sent a circular to all the departments and was confident that the talk would be met with a rousing reception.

On the scheduled evening, Mr K was in the hall well before the appointed hour. I welcomed him and was getting a bit nervous about the no show from families. I apologised and pleaded that we wait for another fifteen minutes to which the gentleman graciously conceded.

When after ten minutes there were exactly five people in a hall, which had the capacity to seat 300, I was almost in tears. I tried to communicate my sincere apologies.

In the gentlest of tones, Mr K said “Do not worry Prasad, Bhagwan Krishna had an audience of one for his discourse!” He was of course referring to ‘Bhagavdgita’ that Krishna revealed to Arjuna in the middle of Kurukshetra. Though I was embarassed, his kind words were reassuring and the evening came to end.

He must have delivered a scintillating talk to the five people present there. I do not recall what he spoke about. But his message for me that a life altering message can be delivered to one person has stayed with me all these years.