I remember him making a joke one time about Eduardo Cianelli playing the guru in Gunga Din and that must have amused him that an Italian actor was playing an Indian guru. I do remember hearing him referred to sort of despairingly as a guru but I don’t remember feeling overwhelmed by him. I remember being curious about him. Certainly curious about his personal background — but then it wasn’t just him. I tend to be curious about most people because to me to understand somebody you need to understand their history. You can’t just look at the moment. You have to look at how things developed and evolved. I remember after he died finding out that he was from Los Angeles, of all places.

David Lee '71