Page 176 - JOURNAL OF THE KRISHNAMURTI SCHOOLS

the journal of the krishnamurti schools no.25

“He’s shown the way, now it’s my job to walk”, was the refrain my head.
Nevertheless, I had one final meeting with him in Rishi Valley,
where I said I didn’t have any questions, really. So, he had one for
me. ‘Will you be a teacher all your life?’
With both parents ill (one with cancer, the other Parkinson’s)
I had to return to Mumbai for a job that could pay their medical
expenses as well as share with my gallant sister the responsibility
of their care.
Since my father was one of India’s best commercial artists, I had
grown up with pantographs, Winsor and Newton brushes, 4H and
6B pencils, and since I was a published writer (while in Benares I
wrote on the ‘Burning Ghats of Benaras’ for Celebrity magazine),
I decided to join advertising, hoping this combination of art and
words would prove an advantage.

How disappointing…in the eyes of most of my friends and ene-
mies!

From the noble work of teaching in a Krishnamurti school to crass
advertising!

I continued spreading the word.
Having experienced the disappointment of the total absence of
Krishnaji’s books in my own college (SIES) library, I started a pro-
gramme to buy a set and donate it to colleges in Mumbai.
The results were amazing. The colleges wouldn’t believe they
were getting anything free and some were suspicious enough to
refuse the offer!

So, what happened to Krishnaji in my life in advertising?

When I left Rajghat, I was warned of the ‘big bad world’ out there.

As it turned out, I realised my first instinct in Rajghat was right—
the place does not change you, you change yourself.

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