THE MASTERS BECKONED

Ms Anjali, a 32-year-old native of Thiruvananthapuram, now settled in Ernakulam, Kerala, has been on a unique mission at an age when young women are immersed in pursuing a career.

- Pradeep Krishnan

For the past several years (except during the COVID period), Anjali, along with her guru, Shri Jayakumar, and her mother, Dr Ajitha, have been incessantly travelling from Kanyakumari to the Himalayas (including Nepal), documenting the lives of Avadhutas (mystics), past and present, to include them in a book called Mahaavadhutam, to be published initially in Malayalam. Just before the commencement of the first journey at the instance of paramguru Sudheer Vaidyar of Agasthya Ashram, Trippunithura, Kerala, Anjali changed her name to Lakshmi Dhuta.

Travelling all over the Indian subcontinent, the trio visited several places sanctified by the presence of Avadhutas such as Shivapuri Baba, Bhagwan Nityananda, Neem Karoli Baba, and Shirdi Sai Baba.

Coming to know about the travels of the trio, I was eager to meet them. On the appointed day, Sri Jayakumar himself came to the Kalamassery metro rail station to receive my wife and me. While driving to their residence, he said about their spiritual guru, Sudheer Vaidyar, "Though several could not recognise his stature, Sudheer Vaidyar was not only an ayurvedic physician but also an Avadhuta as there were several instances of him curing incurable diseases. Though he attained samadhi (liberation) in 2003, he still guides me. We undertook the yatra (journey) by road, as guided by him."

Sitting in the drawing room, along with her guru Sri Jayakumar, Lakshmi Dhuta talked to us for an hour about her unique life mission.

How did you come to the spiritual path? What was the turning point in your life?

Imagine you're walking down a path and you suddenly make a turn. You'd think you just changed directions, but actually, you were already there in the first place. My turning point, or in this case, my signboard, would be my guru and my soul friend, Jayakumar Uncle.

How did you meet your guru, Sri Jayakumarji?