Guruji Product Placement....

At the end of Guruji's last conference, two men and a woman in a saree came up to the front where Guruji sits and presented him with flowers and some incense. They were from a Mysore incense company. Then, one of the men knelt to touch Guruji's feet (a sign of respect in India done to an elder such as a wise man or a grandparent). The other man took a picture...

This was fine. Although there are signs in the Shala that say no photographs, photographs with Guruji are allowed on days when there is conference. But then the man touching Guruji's feet adjusted the incense that he was holding so that the name of the incense was showing and facing the camera and then raised his eyebrow at the other man who took a couple more pictures. Because the man turned the incense label towards the camera, neither Guruji nor Sharath saw this product placement; however, two other students sitting with me in the front exchanged a look. The picture shows approximately what it looked like except that the name of the incense has been changed and the hands were not coming out of a dark hole in the floor.