Mumbai-based film-maker Mahesh Bhatt has just done what he describes as the “most defining work of his life” - a tribute
in fine print to his spiritual mentor U.G.
Krishnamurti.
His book, “A Taste of Life: The Last Days of U.G. Krishnamurthy” was published by Penguin Books-India in the last week of May.
Philosopher U.G. Krishnamurti, the anti-guru who de-constructed the myth about men playing gods, was like a wildflower who chose to die unsung, says Bhatt. “He was like a blossom in wilderness which bloomed, withered and then crumbles - the one that was there on a universal plane and yet not there - kind of ephemeral,” the film-maker said about his spiritual mentor from Mumbai.
The memoir, a slim 164-page volume, compiled by the filmmaker from the jottings that he had “managed to put down on paper during his life-altering days with Krishnamurti” is divided into five chapters.
The first chapter, “Uppaluri Gopala Krishnamurti” is biographical that profiles the philosopher and his association with the film-maker, the second chapter “A Taste of Life” chronicles Bhatt's decision to meet his mentor in Italy while “Nine Days in Vallecrosia (the place in Italy where Krishnamurti died)” describes Krishnamurti's slide.
“The Final Act” talks of his death and in the last chapter “After the Death”, Bhatt explores the state of minds of those who watched Krishnamurti die.
“U.G died on March 22, 2007 at the age of 89. He had slipped and injured himself. After a gap of one year, I decided to go through the notes in March 2008 and began to write. By September 2008, I was done with the book. It was like fire- lava- coming out of my belly on the paper. The book was not an exercise in flashing my writing skills, it was a sense of awe and wonder that drove me to write the book,” Bhatt said.
Recalling his meeting with “his best friend UG”, Bhatt said, “I met him in Mumbai 30 years ago during my troubled days. I was drifting through a spiritual wasteland post my LSD-dropping days. I spent two-and-a-half years with Rajneesh and then went to listen to Krishnamurti.”
What struck Bhatt was UG's simplicity and honesty that stripped
spirituality of its divine pretenses. “UG used to say I am not a godman, I would rather be called a fraud. He was emphatic that the quest for god has become an obsessive factor in the lives of human beings because of the impossibility of achieving pleasure without pain,” said the film-maker explaining why he liked “UG”'s philosophy.
The first time Bhatt met “UG” after his stint at Rajneesh's commune, the philosopher told him that the “reality of the spiritual bazaar was that of a market place.”
“He said there was no point escaping to some cave on a mountain top. UG did not offer any alternative world view and demolished power centres, who dared to be god,” Bhatt said.
“I had the privilege to be with him in life witnessing his staggering experiences and even in death which I describe as the taste of life because it removed the morbidity that one associates with death like the wind blowing on a landscape where bloom and decay were all one,” Bhatt analysed.
Pointing out the differences in ideology and outlook between Rajneesh and “UG”, Bhatt said, “Rajneesh was part of the entertainment industry. He was good at story-telling and offered an alternative reality. “UG”, on his part, rejected the idea of 'moksha' saying how can you have something that you already possess.”
The film-maker says even his daughter Pooja, a film-maker, has been “hit by the intensity and the positive energy of the book.”
“Taste of Life...” is full of strange incidents and omens that surrounded “UG's” death.
“On the morning of March 22, I saw thousand of black ants marching in a line on the white carpet, up the white sofa and on UG's stone-like face where they spread out and completely darkened the left side. There were thousands of them moving with the frantic intensity of life. I remembered someone asking him sometime ago what the ants were doing in his room. UG had replied they were coming for me,” Bhatt writes in the book.
On March 22 afternoon, “UG” left the world.
“I still feel like a child. I feel what I have written is inadequate compared to what I have experienced,” Bhatt said.
The film-maker is awaiting the release of new movie, “Jashn”, in July and is working on “Tum Mile”, “a tale of love on a stormy day when two people meet and their pasts explored”.
--Madhusree Chatterjee