For years, I’ve been observing a four-month long hiatus from eating non-vegetarian food, sweets and alcohol. This year I’ve added bakery stuff in the hope that I refrain from puff pastries and sandwiches. When Anna Shetty and D invited me to The Craftery, I had minimal choice but made an exception with a sourdough made of millets and slathered with sour cream. D, of course, told me that I may as well go for a self-induced 4-month coma since I will have so little chance to enjoy myself with these stringent restrictions.

But giving up these things will help me enjoy the rest of the 8 months that make up the year, particularly the cooler months when life is more happening than it is during the dreary, the wet monsoon. Besides, as I explained to Mr. P, Vishnu is on a holiday, so one has to be more careful and protect oneself from all the germs that are crawling around.

However, as I learned only yesterday on an Insta reel, all is not lost during these four months. According to the TEMPLEGIRL, various gods and goddesses are stepping in to protect the world while Vishnu naps. Incidentally, the four months are not really a nap; it is a blink of an eye for Lord Vishnu.

So, the Templegirl explains that the first four days of Chaturmas are taken care of by our spiritual gurus and teachers. Hence, today, on the fourth day, are honoured and celebrated on GURU POORNIMA.

Can you believe I didn’t know this all these years? I foolishly imagined that the celebrations during Chaturmas were to brighten up the dull rainy season! it took me more than 3 decades of following the practice did I learn the real significance of this period.

So really, one is always on a learning curve.

But of course, it is not only the teachers who teach you, but life itself, with the challenges it throws up. One can learn from children who are free and frank with their opinions and fill the gaps in generational knowledge.

I’ve been lucky to have good teachers. Even the bad ones compelled me to use my wits to figure out what we were supposed to learn. So, thank you, dear teachers, wherever you are, for setting me on the learning curve and sparking the joy of finding something new every day.

Happy Guru Poornima and watch this space for more on Chaturmas.

Ciao,