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Best things happen in life,unplanned...which totally takes you aback...makes you soul search yourself as a humanbeing and makes you ponder about how deserving you are to receive a sudden, pleasant and divine surprise!
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I had received information in 2014 that the Nobel Prize winning divine figure...His Holiness,The 14th Dalai Lama or Tenzin Gatso...as he is religiously called... is going to come down to Kolkata in Jan 2015.
I had read many of his books earlier and had gone into the depths of thought after reading each of his lessons and statements on life as we see it! I had this deep craving to meet him if ever I did get a chance to.I had narrowly missed on attending one of his sessions in Taiwan in 2001 when I was serving in the ships as a marine engineer. I didn't any chance again until 13th Jan 2015 came along,14 years after Taiwan!!
I had received information in 2014 that the Nobel Prize winning divine figure...His Holiness,The 14th Dalai Lama or Tenzin Gatso...as he is religiously called... is going to come down to Kolkata in Jan 2015.
I had read many of his books earlier and had gone into the depths of thought after reading each of his lessons and statements on life as we see it! I had this deep craving to meet him if ever I did get a chance to.I had narrowly missed on attending one of his sessions in Taiwan in 2001 when I was serving in the ships as a marine engineer. I didn't any chance again until 13th Jan 2015 came along,14 years after Taiwan!!
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I had received the invitation that His Holiness was in Kolkata to speak on "purpose of education and what education actually meant" at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on the 13th of January 2015 at 1pm. Likewise I arrived at the hotel at 12:45pm on the day and seated myself among atleast 400 strong crowd which comprised predominantly of prominent business tycoons of Kolkata and a tsunami of media journalists from all around the world! I was the only actor present in the crowd I found out with surprise! Another personality somewhat linked with my profession present in the crowd was Dance Exponent Alakananda di...I could make her out from far with her signature floral headgear!
Minutes ticked by after 1pm and we all anticipated with excitement the arrival of the Divine, international figure.He arrived at around 1:15pm with a strong security of atleast 20 bodygaurds and 20 more of the hotel personnels! I was wondering in dismay,on the fact that even He who is the God's chosen one ,needs bodyguards! We all stood up to show our respect to which He promptly asked everyone to sit and requested for an informal behaviour! He took seat with our education minister of state Mr.Partha Chatterjee.
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He started to speak on what education actually is! He said education is not what we memorize from our text books,give exams,pass and earn degrees! Education according to Him was beyond those printed lines on the text books. He said education is knowledge and to gain knowledge one needs to ask questions.The more you try to think deeply about something,the more you will feel like questioning and the more answers you get, will enrich you with actual knowledge! He recounted his meetings with Pope Paul VI in Vatican and stressed on religious compassion being the key for building up a developed educated country. He stressed on using our knowledge and education for the purpose of conserving our environment which will give our next generation a better place to live in. "Warm-heartedness is a key factor for healthy individuals, healthy families and healthy communities" he said! So very true. It is this warm heart which lacks in individuals these days that leads to so much of anarchy. He stressed on the fact that proper education will open our minds towards equal rights for women,towards our sexuality,kindness towards animals...'compassion' is the word according to him which is the outcome of proper education.
Hyatt Regency had provided everyone with a pad and a pen to note down His Holiness' preachings. Everyone was busy writing down his valuable teachings! I didn't...instead I heard him very carefully and on the pad I started drawing His sketch instead ,I do not know why!! I was seriously drawing a portrait after quite some time,but as His face was turning to a proper shape I thought of gifting the sketch to Him if I do get a chance to,which seemed very remote ,with the amount of security around him.
In the mean time he had discussed more priceless preachings on education being the motivating force behind democracy,psychology,economics,secularity,non violence,anti addiction,interfaith dialogue,physics,astronomy,reproductive health etc. He urged some students in the crowd to give more stress to try and learn Sanskrit because according to Him the root of all knowledge lies in that language. He gave a standing ovation to India as a democracy because according to Him our country is one of the best, compared to the lack of secularity in other countries that he has travelled to. He praised the Indian philosophy,Indian psychology,Indian Values and asked everyone to retain it by properly passing it on to the next generation.
After His discourse ,He asked for questions from the audience. Very strangely He said "I am not in a hurry if you are not in any!!" . Suddenly I could feel a window of chance to go near His Holiness, has opened infront of me ,which was worth giving a try!
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As my chance came to ask him my questions,I said,"His Holiness,I have 2 questions for you.Firstly as I always wanted to be a teacher if I wouldn't have been an actor or marine engineer,I would like to ask you Who according to You is an ideal teacher? Secondly I have drawn your portrait just now as I was listening to your speech.I have also written a short poem along with it and I want to come to you and gift you these!" I was getting ready for a cry from his security personnel with a BIG "No" or a "No" from Him...but instead He said..."Oh! Please do come.Let me see what you have drawn"!! I could not believe my ears of what I just heard. I mean THE Dalai Lama... actually calling me to Him????
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Unbelievable were those each step I took to reach Him! I gave Him the Pad on which I had drawn and written a poem on Him. He saw the drawing,looked at me,laughed...then He read the poem,looked at me and laughed a bit more! I was a bit confused as I could not really make out if he was liking the gift or finding both the drawing and the poem funny!!
Then he said "Bobby I think that apart from an actor you are good at drawing and a very good poet.Tell me Bobby what is your age?...ok!! don't have to tell me,as I know very well actors never tell their age! Come near!" I had utter disbelief in my mind ...I mean THE Dalai Lama actually calling me close to Him??? I sort of tip toed to His seat.He gestured me lower my head down when I reached absolutely near Him. I did so and He placed his fingers very loosely on my left ear lobe!
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Then it happened!! The moment He touched my ear lobe a Sort of current passed through my spine which I cannot properly describe,but it was definitely something that I haven't EVER felt in my life,the shiver! I was transfixed on His eyes!<script data-ad-client="ca-pub-7793499699554504" async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
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Then He placed His warm ,soft right hand on my left cheek. This was a touch I have never experienced! If supernatural or divine touch is the word,so be it!! Placing His hand on my left cheek He said "Bobby you have a pure soul and your parents are proud of you" My right leg had started to tremble by that time in awe...in shock...! I was asking myself "is this really happening to me or have I fallen asleep in my seat \back there in the audience and was day dreaming all this happening to me?" I wasn't!!!
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Then He took the pad and turned it to the audience and said "I think I look better in Bobby's sketch !!"<script data-ad-client="ca-pub-7793499699554504" async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
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As I was preparing to get down the dias He called me again and said "and for your first question that you asked Bobby,you yourself are your ideal teacher as it is only you and only you who knows your own flaws and mistakes you have made in life the best...so it only you who can take those into account and rectify yourself and prepare yourself not to commit the same mistake again! So you are your own teacher,the ideal teacher!"
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I was touched by this reply and took leave and went back to my seat and was trying to organize the chaos that was doing a mess in my mind at that time ,trying to comprehend what just happened with me!! A journalist from CNN whispered in my ears "Dude you are super lucky.Today is your day Dude"...But wait...it ain't over...I heard His Holiness calling out my name yet again!! I was surely in a trance this time I thought,when suddenly I realized everyone looking at me in anticipation that I will reply His Holiness!! Ok!! So it was not a trance!! It was the 2nd call from His Holiness...for real!! I stood up in my seat.
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He said " Bobby I have never asked for excess in life!" ...I was a bit confused as to what He was trying to say! Then He said"I only need this one page where your have drawn and written the poem Bobby.I don't need this whole pad!!" He tore that page and asked his attendant to keep the page with care in his belongings. Then He said "Come Bobby ,take this excess off me!"
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I actually went to His Holiness for the 2nd time ,took the pad ,came back to my seat and heard the others questioning him with their doubts in life! But then onwards everything sounded unclear to me as if I was transported into a diffrent world and dimension ,from where I was faintly catching vibrations of this frequency down on Mother Earth! I went into a shell! I kept on watching His Holiness ,kept on feeling my left cheek,my left ear lobe,myself! He glanced at me many a times while answering others with a witty smile,perhaps understanding my hypnotized,exhasperated state of mind!! May be He was having a bit of fun with a mere mortal with love and affection being his tools!
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Around 3:30pm when everyone was satisfied with their querries, His Holiness took leave and went back to his suite. I gave Him a last glance of goodbye and a wave of my hand. He waved back to me I suppose and to everyone present there!
Everyone crowded around me,as He left and told me how lucky I was!!Someone told me that I must have done something good in this life or my last life that I could actually go up to Him and get His blessings! I really don't know what good have I done to whom.I really don't know if this life of mine is of any worth to anyone!I really don't know if I deserved this encounter! But it DID happen!One of His Tibetan attendant while leaving the hall told me "What just happened to you is very rare.You are really blessed!".... I am sure I was!!<script data-ad-client="ca-pub-7793499699554504" async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
Sitting there on the hotel lawn,long after His Holiness left and sipping a steaming cup of coffee,this mere mortal kept on thinking the truth about the saying "the best things that happen in life are totally unplanned"...so true...and moreover it had a 'Divine Touch' to it!!
BOBBY CHAKRABORTY
ACTOR/ACTIVIST
I had received the invitation that His Holiness was in Kolkata to speak on "purpose of education and what education actually meant" at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on the 13th of January 2015 at 1pm. Likewise I arrived at the hotel at 12:45pm on the day and seated myself among atleast 400 strong crowd which comprised predominantly of prominent business tycoons of Kolkata and a tsunami of media journalists from all around the world! I was the only actor present in the crowd I found out with surprise! Another personality somewhat linked with my profession present in the crowd was Dance Exponent Alakananda di...I could make her out from far with her signature floral headgear!
Minutes ticked by after 1pm and we all anticipated with excitement the arrival of the Divine, international figure.He arrived at around 1:15pm with a strong security of atleast 20 bodygaurds and 20 more of the hotel personnels! I was wondering in dismay,on the fact that even He who is the God's chosen one ,needs bodyguards! We all stood up to show our respect to which He promptly asked everyone to sit and requested for an informal behaviour! He took seat with our education minister of state Mr.Partha Chatterjee.
He started to speak on what education actually is! He said education is not what we memorize from our text books,give exams,pass and earn degrees! Education according to Him was beyond those printed lines on the text books. He said education is knowledge and to gain knowledge one needs to ask questions.The more you try to think deeply about something,the more you will feel like questioning and the more answers you get, will enrich you with actual knowledge! He recounted his meetings with Pope Paul VI in Vatican and stressed on religious compassion being the key for building up a developed educated country. He stressed on using our knowledge and education for the purpose of conserving our environment which will give our next generation a better place to live in. "Warm-heartedness is a key factor for healthy individuals, healthy families and healthy communities" he said! So very true. It is this warm heart which lacks in individuals these days that leads to so much of anarchy. He stressed on the fact that proper education will open our minds towards equal rights for women,towards our sexuality,kindness towards animals...'compassion' is the word according to him which is the outcome of proper education.
Hyatt Regency had provided everyone with a pad and a pen to note down His Holiness' preachings. Everyone was busy writing down his valuable teachings! I didn't...instead I heard him very carefully and on the pad I started drawing His sketch instead ,I do not know why!! I was seriously drawing a portrait after quite some time,but as His face was turning to a proper shape I thought of gifting the sketch to Him if I do get a chance to,which seemed very remote ,with the amount of security around him.
In the mean time he had discussed more priceless preachings on education being the motivating force behind democracy,psychology,economics,secularity,non violence,anti addiction,interfaith dialogue,physics,astronomy,reproductive health etc. He urged some students in the crowd to give more stress to try and learn Sanskrit because according to Him the root of all knowledge lies in that language. He gave a standing ovation to India as a democracy because according to Him our country is one of the best, compared to the lack of secularity in other countries that he has travelled to. He praised the Indian philosophy,Indian psychology,Indian Values and asked everyone to retain it by properly passing it on to the next generation.
After His discourse ,He asked for questions from the audience. Very strangely He said "I am not in a hurry if you are not in any!!" . Suddenly I could feel a window of chance to go near His Holiness, has opened infront of me ,which was worth giving a try!
Unbelievable were those each step I took to reach Him! I gave Him the Pad on which I had drawn and written a poem on Him. He saw the drawing,looked at me,laughed...then He read the poem,looked at me and laughed a bit more! I was a bit confused as I could not really make out if he was liking the gift or finding both the drawing and the poem funny!!
Then he said "Bobby I think that apart from an actor you are good at drawing and a very good poet.Tell me Bobby what is your age?...ok!! don't have to tell me,as I know very well actors never tell their age! Come near!" I had utter disbelief in my mind ...I mean THE Dalai Lama actually calling me close to Him??? I sort of tip toed to His seat.He gestured me lower my head down when I reached absolutely near Him. I did so and He placed his fingers very loosely on my left ear lobe!
Then He took the pad and turned it to the audience and said "I think I look better in Bobby's sketch !!"<script data-ad-client="ca-pub-7793499699554504" async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
I was touched by this reply and took leave and went back to my seat and was trying to organize the chaos that was doing a mess in my mind at that time ,trying to comprehend what just happened with me!! A journalist from CNN whispered in my ears "Dude you are super lucky.Today is your day Dude"...But wait...it ain't over...I heard His Holiness calling out my name yet again!! I was surely in a trance this time I thought,when suddenly I realized everyone looking at me in anticipation that I will reply His Holiness!! Ok!! So it was not a trance!! It was the 2nd call from His Holiness...for real!! I stood up in my seat.
<script data-ad-client="ca-pub-7793499699554504" async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
Around 3:30pm when everyone was satisfied with their querries, His Holiness took leave and went back to his suite. I gave Him a last glance of goodbye and a wave of my hand. He waved back to me I suppose and to everyone present there!
Everyone crowded around me,as He left and told me how lucky I was!!Someone told me that I must have done something good in this life or my last life that I could actually go up to Him and get His blessings! I really don't know what good have I done to whom.I really don't know if this life of mine is of any worth to anyone!I really don't know if I deserved this encounter! But it DID happen!One of His Tibetan attendant while leaving the hall told me "What just happened to you is very rare.You are really blessed!".... I am sure I was!!<script data-ad-client="ca-pub-7793499699554504" async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
Sitting there on the hotel lawn,long after His Holiness left and sipping a steaming cup of coffee,this mere mortal kept on thinking the truth about the saying "the best things that happen in life are totally unplanned"...so true...and moreover it had a 'Divine Touch' to it!!
BOBBY CHAKRABORTY
ACTOR/ACTIVIST
