When the father becomes the disciple

In Hindu dharma, there is a beautiful story of Lord Murugan teaching Lord Shiva the meaning of the cosmic sound 'Om'. As a parent, the story is fascinating to me on many levels.

The legend goes that the playful divine child Lord Muruga chides Brahma if he, the lord of creation, knows the meaning of the Pranava Mantra 'Om'. When Brahma admits his ignorance, he imprisons Lord Brahma for the travesty of continuing the act of creation without deeply understanding the meaning of Om.

Now this is a troubling situation as creation can never be stopped. Demigods pray to Lord Shiva for help. Lord Shiva intervenes and asks Muruga if he himself knows the meaning of pranava mantra Om'.

Murugan smiles and makes a proposition of divine audacity:

"I will teach you if you accept me as a Guru and listen in as a devoted disciple".

In poignant moments of playtime with my child, when my son's cherubic innocence opens up an infinite divine dimension, I often ponder over this story.

Few weeks back, he was sincerely attempting to learn to read the clock. I was nudging him to read the position of the hour hand and minute hand and at one point, I asked him, " Do you know how many minutes we have in an hour?"

He threw his hand as wide as he could and said, "This much".

I felt like an utter idiot.

Here was my son teaching me the infinitude of time and I was busy showcasing my polished ignorance of adulthood.

It was a beautiful penny-drop moment that humbled me as a disciple towards the guru standing in front of me, taking pains to teach the deep indic view of time.

Few weeks back, I had a heartwarming family ritual. I organized my first Annual General Meeting for Gigyasa Labs. I presented my Q1 results to my best half and we discussed how the FY 24 is currently shaping up. Watching myself do this quirky family ritual was heartwarming at many levels

When you are in your twenties, you chase dreams of creating startups and changing the world.

When you hit your thirties, with more grey hair, you discover that the purpose of solopreneurship work and business is to savour your dharma as a householder and discover deeper meaning in ordinary moments of waking life.

While dropping my son yesterday to school, my son posed a googly of a question.

"Appa, who is the manager of your office?"

"What do you mean by manager?"

"Appa, In my school, I have my teachers no? In your office, who is the manager?"

With a glint of smile, I shared, "I don't have a manager in my office".

As his school bus vroomed past me, the poignancy of his question hit my gut. I was humbled yet again by this five-year-old Guru.

It was a stark reminder to me of the central fact of solopreneurship: Managing the boss in your head is far more difficult than managing a boss who is other than yourself.

Have you been humbled by your children? Have you discovered poignant moments when your children become the guru, showing the nascent light of wisdom?