As alumni, we were grateful to Bhagawan for a designated spot in front of the garage for darshan. Back then, there were times when Bhagawan would seemingly avoid us. He would often look away and move closer to the devotees, making his intentions clear. Our relationship with Bhagawan had perhaps reached a stage where we even cherished his “avoidance.” Our darshan area overflowed with grateful smiles.

In those days, Prof. Anil Kumar would sit wherever he pleased, even though he had the option of a front-row seat in the portico. One day, he approached me with his signature smile, greeting everyone as he entered for darshan. He gestured for me to move and took a seat beside me. Jokingly, I said, “Sir, this is a particularly blessed enclosure. We are a very special group. You wouldn’t want to be seen with us, would you?” He chuckled, understanding the humour and asked, “What’s going on here?” We explained the unique evasive interaction we were having with Bhagawan. We mentioned that he might encounter the same avoidance if he sat with us. He burst out laughing and said, “Don’t worry, I’m no stranger to that. It’s a delightful phase.” From that day forward, he joined us regularly for darshan.

One day, when he arrived, we were in an exceptionally jovial mood. He wanted to know what we were discussing. We tried to deflect his question, but he insisted. We finally relented, requesting that it remained “our” secret. He readily agreed.

Pointing to the pillar in front of us, I said, “Sir, we’ve named this the ‘Narasimha Pillar.’” Intrigued, he asked why. “Sir, you’ve probably noticed how Bhagawan seems to avoid us. He scoots as close to the devotees’ side as possible. It’s almost as if He’s brushing against the pillar as He walks by.” I explained further, “Sir, there was a devotee named Prahlad whose devotion brought the Lord out of a pillar. Here we are, practically pushing Him back in. Hence, the ‘Narasimha Pillar’ name.” He roared with laughter and declared, “I must tell Swami about this! He will love it.” We pleaded with him not to. That evening, it was another lovely darshan, all of us grinning as Bhagawan approached the ‘pillar.’

Prof. Anil Kumar often had the privilege of lunching with Bhagawan. The very next day, he received another lunch invitation. That evening, he walked towards us in the mandir compound, a wide grin on his face. He came directly to us and said, “Boys, I had lunch with Bhagawan today, and I told him about the Narasimha Pillar!” We were shocked and inquired about the details. “Swami asked me, ‘Emi smacharam?’ (What’s the news?)” He continued, “Swami, I must tell you something. The boys call that pillar the ‘Narasimha Pillar.’” Bhagawan, looking surprised, asked, “Enduku? (Why?)” Prof. Anil Kumar then shared our entire conversation with Bhagawn. So much for keeping secrets! Bhagawan, it seems, simply smiled.

He said, “I can’t keep anything to myself.” Prof. Anil Kumar once humbly replied to Bhagawan’s request to keep something confidential, “Swami, then please don’t tell me. I can’t keep it a secret. Sharing everything about you with the devotees brings me joy.” That’s how lively, fun-loving, and devoted our Sir, Prof. Anil Kumar Garu, was.

Abhimanyu Kaul, MBA 1990 – Prashanti Nilayam