MENTORS

The song goes…..but how do you thank someone who has taken you from crayons to perfume……. after almost 35 years, one hears the same tenor, the same tone, the same candid candor….and how does one react….well, at my age I can’t possibly scream off rooftops but yes….had I been many years younger, I would have actually done that.


When you are in mid-teens, a lot of influences work on you and they are lasting impressions. In my case, it was not my parents, my teachers or even my friends. It was surprisingly, two of my father’s friends; his chess mates to be precise. At an age when any advice from parents and teachers is a complete anathema, these two people unwittingly became my mentors. Maybe there was an element of infatuation from my side which they very wisely scoffed and dismissed. But then they impacted my life….my first teachers.


Both of them in their late twenties appeared to be the very epitome of “freedom” especially to a teenager in Delhi, completely trapped between the Punjabi display and the Mallu sobriety. These guys to me then appeared to be people who worked just to eke an existence…..an existence that took them from one music festival to another, helped them lounge around in art galleries, buy rare books to add to their library maintained by their father back home………no doubt they became my role models making me a hopeless idealistic romantic even to this day.


This impact happened over series of conversations that was very overt and approved. It began by replacing my transition to pulp fiction to better reading habits. It began by recognizing the soulful nuances of classical music as opposed to the superficiality of light music. It began by a general disconnect with all feelings superficial and cosmetic and a journey deeper within oneself…introducing me to a new definition of honesty; being honest to myself. No doubt I had my flirtations, especially due to my connections to the flamboyant defence services lifestyle; but I always returned to what was more permanent and enduring…..even making me change the course my life


Looking back I can say that it is them who showed me the road less travelled and I took it….without any regret. It does not matter if they have lived up to what they had symbolized then……but they made a huge difference. Today whatever I am or not; is largely because of the influence they had on my impressionable mind. I have evolved a lot and maybe I am just not what they would have expected me to be…but whatever I am today would not have happened if I had not been shown “the two roads converging in the woods”.


After so many years hearing the same voices brought in a rush of memories……I can’t say about them but they have made all the difference!