agnostic and conjectured, ‘Ok, maybe God
exists, but without proof, I am not going to
believe in Him.’
So how did things change?
At that time, fortunately, I studied in Mother’s
International school, which had a nice library
filled with spiritual books. During that time,
I went through all the scriptures like the
Bible, the Koran, the Gita, and read books
by philosophers like Bernard Shaw, Jiddu
Krishnamurti, Sri Aurobindo, and Swami
Vivekananda. At that time, Sri Aurobindo
appealed the most to me. The answers I was
seeking started coming to me. And that’s when
I decided to move from religion to spirituality.
Of course, I understand that religion is very
important to many people, and it has its due
place in society, but I realised that it was not
meant for me. I needed to move away from
religion; therefore, I moved to spirituality.
Do you consider yourself a practising Sikh
anymore or not?
I have not been a practising Sikh since the age
of 15 or 16. But I resonate with the teachings of
all the religions. When I say this, I don’t mean to
say that I believe in everything which is written
or preached. But I believe that the basic tenet
of Sikhism or, for that matter, any religion is
part of the spiritual message by the Divine. So
I am not denying the messages that have been
propagated. But for me, to be religious means
to exclude others from myself, which is not the
path for me.How has LP affected your personal life,
thoughts, career and decisions?
Through LP, I came in contact with many
positive, highly-evolved souls—people with
strong spiritual energy, who influenced me in
ways big and small. Being a Sikh by birth, I was
a strict non-vegetarian. It wasn’t possible for meClose Encounter 21