Harsha Dalal, a resident of Mumbai, narrates a short but memorable interaction with J Krishnamurti
This picture below (from the early 1980’s) surfaced just by chance. It brought back lovely memories of days which now seem as benedictions of divine grace. As many will know, Krishna ji gave many talks in Mumbai and would live in Sterling Apartments in Mumbai at Asit Chandmal’s house. I and my family members once had the chance to meet Krishna ji there. The picture captures that magical moment.
Through sheer good fortune, the duty of delivering fruits to Krishnaji’s place of stay was given to me. This was such a delightful experience. I would meet Krishna ji briefly and hand over the fruits to a person there. This continued daily. Such proximity even for a brief while every day used to fill my whole being with a tremendous joy and enthusiasm.
On one occasion, Krishna ji said “You have such a lovely smile…..does it remain with you always ?”. I replied “Unfortunately, no” and laughed. “The pressures of domesticity take away all my smiles and I am unable to retain that untold delight which I feel when I am with you”.
He looked at me intently and said “I must meet your husband and discuss this. Your smile should remain with you always.” Those moments spent in the presence of Krishna ji were some of the finest moments in my life for me. All of us could see the compassion that he had for one and all.
The importance of relationships was brought out. How does one perceive with freshness each moment, each person one meets without holding on to the image you have of the person? The image is the meaningless past but the person you meet daily is the truth of the present. Turning to the present with vibrant buoyancy makes life so interesting and not futile drudgery.
Krishnaji’s simplicity of demeanour concealed the deep wisdom of the ancients. He silently permeated your thought with deep insights. He was very much the piercing voice of truth that inevitably brought about intense soul searching. Now more than ever, his ever-resounding message of freeing our minds from the burdensome past is the need of the hour.
How beautiful and meaningful is this little joyous anecdote of yours. Brings about the simple honesty in your lovely being. Yes the smile says it all , deep expressions of the ever seeking mind. When its quiet and in fulfil and in compassion, the smile says it all. And the deep contemplative smile says it all too…And so true one can silently permeate without a single expression , a single word or a single thought, in the infinite stillness of time. And honestly i always found an ever embracing smile emanate through K’s sparkling expressive warm eyes…
Thank you for this wonder share. Now i know how lucky Kamalji is ( and you are too ) !
Lots of love from a distant land…
Sayan
So refreshing and profound insight … Meet each and everyone without holding on to the image you have of the person or situation. Well penned Harsha ben and thank you kind Soul.
Loved it madam 💕😊 very fortunate to have been so close to krishna ji …..indeed you have a great smile ….keep it with you always……
Lovely article !! You indeed have a wonderful smile.
Thank you for sharing your meeting with Krishnaji. You have a beautiful smile. Some people, who smile beautifully, do not know that they are smiling.
I smile rarely. When I was teaching in Sahyadri School, one lively Punjabi girl said to me that she felt happy when I smiled. She said – “Sir! Let us play a smily game. Whenever we see each other – we say ‘smily’ and we must smile.”. I said okey. We enjoyed playing this game. Some other girls also joined in this game.
One Headmistress of Rishi Valley once said to me that she was smiling too much and that made her cheeks painful. She had to smile when she met parents and visitors to the school and sometimes there were too many visitors.
Smile, which comes naturally from the sense of inner well being, spreads happiness around. Once I was driving a car in Canada. I stopped my car at a red signal on a road. Another car also stopped next to my car. A lady was driving that car and her little son was sitting with her. The little boy smiled when he saw me. I felt very happy the whole day. It was an innocent smile.
I wrote a poem about dreaming – dreaming about mountains, lakes, birds, love and life, and a child’s face bright
Dream, dream day and night
Of mountains snow white
Dream, dream day and night
Of lakes sparkling with light
Dream, dream day and night
Of a child’s face bright
Dream, dream day and night
Of an eagle’s effortless flight
Dream, dream day and night
Of Buddha’s clear insight
How truly fortunate is a person whose silent smile generates praise and affection from others and that to from Krishna ji, who understood that it was short-lived. Nevertheless, smile gestures work wonders even if a word is not uttered…. respect, loving kindness all follows. Keep smiling always.
Very touching narrative!
I really amazed after reading and observing your big and soft smile at your charming face in company with Krishna ji. It’s like sparkling Star ⭐ in my life. Hope you will keep it long lasting as similar as Airhostess hold it on their face. You are also a Lifehostess, so please keep it super up like smile-house of simplicity. Why we call smile as SMILE? Answer: Smile is the coil of simplicity. It’s my own self-made definition of Smile. As Krishna ji told to you! You are so luck who had interact with Krishna ji. Love from India chhattisgarh bilaspur 💐🧡!