I saw God
One frightening night I saw a fifteen-year-old boy studying in the light of light on the steps of the temple. It was a cold day. Was grumbling but was engrossed in reading.
I used to go that road twice in installments. Never seen during the day. There was a lot of curiosity about those kids. One night I had a meal and drove down that road. It occurred to me that if the boy was there, I would take some parcels for him.
It will be half-past midnight. I came to that temple. So the boy was seen studying on the steps of the temple as usual. I stopped the car. Went to him. He smiled at me. As if I had an old acquaintance with him. I said baby why are you sitting here every day studying.
Sir, there is no light in my house. My mother is sick. To practice by putting kerosene in the lamp. I do not know.
I saw God
Baby did you smile sweetly when you see me
Sir, are you God?
No ray
Sir, you are God to me.
Did you eat it I have brought a food parcel for you?
That’s why I laughed, sir. I knew. It will come in any form. But it won’t keep me hungry. Whenever I am hungry, he gives me something. Sometimes he gives me fruit and sometimes he gives me fruit. Today I was hungry but fearless. I knew. He will come to see me for some reason. And you came. You are God!
I became silent, unknowingly doing the work of Pune. Every day, under the weight of debt, God was hurting me, and today I was ashamed to call him God.
He ate half of it. And said, “Sir, stay here.” I give half to my mother. My eyes watered. Before asking him anything, he had already told the essence through some action. He returned five minutes later. In his hand was a flower of Parijatka.
Sir, my mother says that the Lord who filled his belly should have at least a handful of flowers at his feet. Closing my eyes for a moment and looking at the stone in that closed door, it also felt like the sweet smile of those children.
I saw God
Then there was the lockdown for fear of Corona. Schools and colleges closed. The dew fell on the temple. The temples were locked and the streets were deserted. That’s how one day the boy remembered and deliberately peeked towards the temple. It was nighttime. The lights on the steps of the temple were off and the boy was nowhere to be seen. I feel bad. Where did this boy go in this epidemic? What to eat. Fertility will be alive. No questions asked.
The Corona epidemic claimed countless lives. That’s how one of our friends became positive and betrayed. I had gone to the cemetery for his funeral. The funeral took place. All went home. We went to the tap near the temple of Lord Shiva to wash our hands and feet while leaving. He was washing the white clothes of the corpse that had been thrown into the cemetery on a pipe and drying it on the wall of the cemetery. He looked at me and gave a voice. Sir,
Hey, what are you doing here?
Sir, I live here now. We moved house. There was no money to pay the rent. In the lockdown, the Shiva temple was closed and the light on the steps was also turned off.
Then my mother came here with me. Three have said that education should not be stopped no matter what happens. The doors of that Shiva temple are closed but the doors of this corpse temple are never closed. The living used to come there and the dead here. My study is going on under this light. Sir, I did not give up. The mother used to say that the one who gave birth will fill the void of hunger.
I saw God
Then where is your mother?
Sir, she went to Corona’s illness. The fever had been coughing for three days. Then the breath caught. Where did I go? She was set on fire by broken, half-burnt wood lying here. Home Corinthians stayed in this skull for 14 days. “Don’t break government laws, it’s for your good,” she said. Mother’s bones were immersed in the river in front of her, and yesterday the crematorium at the local cemetery was fed and the mother’s activities were stopped.
Sir, I have not lost. But the sad thing is that my mother is not in this world to see that I have passed. She will be very happy to see my success wherever she is in the world. I got my result yesterday and I came first in school. Now my teachers are going to pay for further education. But now the real problem is. I don’t even have a mobile to study online.
Sir, why do you feel bad, you are not happy that I passed. No matter where you go, sir, stay here.
He had brought sugar from a small box. He put a pinch on my hand. Sir, sweeten your mouth.
As soon as he went to the hut to put the box, I splashed the tap water on my mouth and came to my senses. Washed face to hide full eyes.
Sir, I knew. God is in this world and He will surely come to pat me on the back in my joy. Before he could say anything further, I put my new mobile phone in my pocket in the hands of the children and patted his back, and started walking out
