Bahar se Bheetar

At the wedding of my son, I was wearing a self-designed brocade lehenga. One of the guests asked me, "Who are you wearing?"

- PRIYA S. TANDON

I said, "Sorry, I didn't get that." She then named a couple of designers, trying to guess whose creation I was wearing. I said simply, "No no, it's my own creation. I designed this myself." Her jaw dropped. Her eyeballs literally fell out of their sockets. It is no secret that it's a fashion statement to wear the big labels. Sadly, the world lives in awe of glitterati, though they may be far from gold. The focus is on everything that's outside us.

I wish the focus would shift on what's inside us, rather than what's outside. The fashion industry is hugely dynamic, and there's lots to lure the senses. With the internet being all-pervading and digital marketing being the way to shop, everything is delivered at the doorstep, and can be ordered at the click of a button. But, is that all there is to life?

We need to surf the Innernet, not the Internet! As the 'world' envelopes us, we immerse and drench in it; and forget our purpose. The purpose of life is not just eating, drinking, dressing well, socializing and making merry. The purpose of life is to realize why we were born and find our true identity. Our true identity is that we are a small part of divinity. A Guru can be the one who demystifies this for us and shows the path to understand this. A guru guides and goads us, to look within and surf the inner-net to realize the Divinity within. A Guru illumines the path for us to find our purpose in life.