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Tales from Grandpa IV

She sat by her grandpa under a starlit sky. It was a sultry summer night and was still an era where she could actually escape into her dream world aided by power cuts which had devoted hours each night.

She would fiddle with her Maths copy unable to bear the wrath of sums and would keep praying to God to bless them with a power cut which meant story time with her grandpa. No sooner would her prayers get answered, she would spring to action. Ah! There was her grandpa waiting for her as eagerly as she was waiting to hear the story. It was a daily ritual for them to discuss stories. I am attaching one of those:

WHO IS GOD?

The idea of God often perplexed the little kid. Born and brought up in a Brahmin household which vibrated each morning and evening with the chants of prayers offered to deities, the idea of the supreme almighty seemed perplexing. Her mother had instilled into her  the habit of chanting saraswati vandana which she would chant each evening folding her hands as she were expected to do but those Sanskrit words held no meaning for her. She would stare at the statues blinking fast and slow and fast all over again in search of a divine light but she wouldn't find any.

The only recluse she could seek was her grandpa, he had answers to all of her doubts. It was on one such calm evening  that she asked him about the idea of God. Who was he  and how were she to believe in him? She hadn't even seen God except for those statues and posters which weren't convincing enough .

Her grandpa pointing a finger towards a tree whispered, "There, you see God". She was confused, it was a mere tree which held no traces of divinity. Her grandpa with a smile said, " People are looking out for God, but let's say you and me find ours today". He went on to explain how the tree had been supporting life by releasing out oxygen which kept us alive. The idea of God as people believe is as a superpower which is supposed to lease out life and protect it. Thus, the tree had been doing it without asking to be revered. It perhaps found it's God in humans as they aided him to stay alive. The idea was to find the superpower in anything mundane that deserved reverence. She was even more confused and ended up asking grandpa, " Grandma has so many idols adorning our prayer room whom she calls her almighty, why would she do that if the almighty was a tree standing at the front yard?" .

She could see her grandpa's face relax as he pondered over her question and finally spoke to her, " Your grandma inscribes the idea of God in those lifeless objects which she believes protects her whereas for me my god has been anything that i see existing along with me. People wait for their god but what they fail to realise is god is already in and around them. All they need to do is to stop, think and feel".

She finally had found some answers to her questions, she silently muttered a prayer as she helped her grandpa water the tree. They both had found their God!

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