My father was my first teacher, my first guru. When I say he got to me before any other teacher could get a chance, I really do mean it. My mother tells me he would read to me when I was still in her womb. Of course, after I was born, his lessons continued. I was curious in the annoying sort of way that most children are, pestering grown ups with an unending stream of questions about absolutely everything. I remember sitting in the back of a car on a long journey in India. The road was so bumpy that I could not sleep. I spent the whole night talking with my father about the constellations, god, life, anything my imagination could think of. When I was seven years old, there was one night a lunar eclipse at 3 o’clock in the morning and he stayed up to watch it with me. My father was always able to find time to indulge my curiosity, long after everyone else had lost patience with me or simply fallen asleep. Of course, letting my curiosity run wild did get me into a lot of trouble at school. I would always get report cards with the same message: “intelligent child, but never listens to his teachers”. This would inevitably lead to my father being called in to explain my behaviour. I remember he once told a shocked teacher that I was disruptive because they weren’t giving me anything interesting to do and so I must be getting bored in lessons. My father was a worshipper of knowledge, his life was spent pursuing it and sharing it with others. He taught me all that I know about how to live my life. He also helped many others, whether it was sharing his knowledge of medicine with other doctors or his extensive work in the community, running workshops on philosophy and spirituality. During these last few weeks, as I sat at his bedside while he battled cancer, I felt that my father was giving me his final lesson on life. He showed me the strength of his character, his resolve never to give up, his self-sacrifice to protect his family. He showed me what it really takes to be a father and a husband. As I tried to come to terms with his passing, I turned to the Bhagavad Gita, which is where Hindus believe god, as the supreme teacher, is speaking to mankind. In Chapter 15, Verse 20, god says: “Once you understand the sacred knowledge imparted by me, you will awaken to the highest enlightenment and so all your duties are thus accomplished” Dad, all your duties have now been completed. I will strive to live every day of my life with your example as my guide. I pray that you find peace and the enlightenment you strove for in life.