'Osho is a cool guy' was the response from a number of young persons who had listened to him and been exposed to his ideas, said Dileep Padgaonkar, the Editor in Chief of The Times of India in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Launching 'Buddha Week' at the Osho World Galleria, Mr. Padgaonkar said he expected the young persons to comment that Osho was philosophical or a great guru but he was surprised that they termed Osho as 'cool' - someone they could relate to and who was relevant to their lives today.

Mr Padgaonkar said that Osho had three qualities - he uses very simple language, his range of ideas and spiritual systems is vast and he has a great sense of laughter taking life as a joke. The most difficult thing is to be use simple language while talking about complex matters like spiritualism, said Mr. Padgaonkar. Osho's vast range of discourses on various spiritual masters and methods of inner growth is impressive as he talks on all major spiritual paths and masters. Finally, his sense of laughter and making a joke without targeting anyone is unique.

In this context, Osho's concept of Zorba the Buddha combines the laughter and the love for life of Zorba with the silence and peace of Buddha, said Mr. Padgaonkar. Osho was an iconoclast and disturbed the establishment with his thought provoking ideas, he added.

Osho's famous insight - Meditate and go to the marketplace' is carried out in real life by Osho World Galleria in Ansal Plaza that has a very strong Zen environment in a busy commercial complex, he added.

After releasing Osho's discourses on Buddha's Dhammapada on MP3 format, Swami Chaitanya Keerti led the gathering in Vipassana meditation. Buddha Week continued at Osho World Galleria till Saturday, 25 May 2002.