There is a latent vichar dhara in all of us. It is the tapestry that binds us all together, but it has taken refuge in our subconscious, in our myths and stories and rituals, which have stayed relatively unharmed even though our minds and hearts are in the grip of modernity. It lives on in the many odd things that we have seen and heard and experienced, but never understood in totality. It stays hidden like a timid lion cowered into submission by a cruel master.

Guruji is a magician unlike any other. While other magicians will use sleight of hand to hide things under our noses, Guruji does exactly the opposite. Through his anecdotes, stories, rituals interleaved with his own interpretations, and by drawing us out to share what we have seen, he reveals to us only what has been in our own minds all along.

For some people – particularly those working for India’s development – meeting Guruji causes them great distress, for they have lived their entire lives (and have tried to change society) based on misconceptions about Indian society which Guruji calls into question.

For other people like me, meeting and staying in touch with Guruji triggers a period of self-reflection. This process waxes and wanes as we go through our professional and family lives, but the vichar dhara begins to flower inside us. It becomes increasingly confident as we begin to believe in it. The more we believe, the more we see and the more it makes us believe. Yet this vichar dhara is also constantly endangered by our interactions with people around us who don’t understand it.

The seeds were sown for me at least three generations ago, but I began to think deeper about society as I began volunteering for a group called AID while I was studying in the USA. I had already begun to question modern ideas of development and education. I had begun to understand Gandhiji’s ideas about society. Given all this, I think I only met Guruji when I was ready.

Guruji is like a Zen master. He teaches without teaching. He changes your mind without trying to change it. He convinces you, because he doesn’t want to convince you. He uses whatever and whoever is available for his work and is unperturbed when nothing is available. Yet things and people come to him when he needs them. He is famous without seeking fame. For all his incredible knowledge, he remains profoundly down-to-earth. He mingles with village folk and city folk with equal ease. He accepts everyone and rejects no one. Even those who disagree with him leave the ashram refreshed!

Perhaps the biggest enigma facing anyone who begins to understand this vichar dhara is how to bring it about in society today. Gandhiji’s genius was that he saw existing bits and pieces of this vichar dhara during his travels and understood how to revive it, but he also had the advantage of a common enemy, the British, which united widely disparate forces in society in his time. Today the common enemy is modernity itself, which has no face or location, which offers sensational products while hiding the accompanying destruction, which is changing our hearts, minds, families and society to suit its proliferation. The battle is far harder this time, will require an even greater yugpurush.

But one thing is clear. Whoever or wherever this yugpurush may be, will need to understand India to change it. For this (s)he needs to look no further than Guruji.