A promise is a promise, and, well, a few, are meant to be kept!!
The credit for the topic goes to my full time friend Prashant aka Kaalu aka Hritik.
A challenge is a challenge, and sometimes it comes in the form of writing about something that one has not thought of. Fathom a topic that is not dear to my heart (I am only saying this because I didn't give birth to it, not because it doesn't have enough fuel). And trying to do justice with it. Well not everything is supposed to make downright sense.
OK, let's go.
What is the difference between a prayer that is offered in a church and a casino? Well, the one that comes from the casino is for real!!
So it's not about the highest chance of winning (0.5%) on a 21-blackjack game that we trust. We trust in God!!
We do not trust your intentions when you say you are coming from your island city of India's financial capital and saying that you just want to visit a friend who has been living in new Mumbai. But we do trust that 25-er you are giving to us everytime you cross this 2 km bridge!! Therefore it becomes mandatory for you to trust us back!! Trust that we are going to religiously account for all the passing vehicles every hour of the day and put all that we collect to the development of 8 new projects throughout new Mumbai. Oh what did you say mr.? You are a superstar movie director who wants to see the locale of a waterfall in khopoli for a potential shoot-spot and might actually promote tourism for our city? Umm....well.....see we don't trust words and promises. We believe in now. That translates into.....that's right.....money.
What happens when we combine the two concepts of God and trust? Better still, throw in the third one of cash too. We put the words (that more people will approve of) to be in charge of the moolah. Yes, the "temple trust". The "trust" manages the cash that believers readily give in for the (hope of) return of trust from God. Which brings me to this piece narrated very well by my childhood teacher. This is about God, even when he taught us science back then.
"Once upon a time an avid devotee goes to the temple to get the darshan of his beloved God. Of course, being the temple-law abiding citizen, he leaves his shoes back outside, un-monitored and dangerously prone to theft. When God sees the level of devotion in him, he decides to give him the luxury of a private prakatikaran (appearance). God gives him a modest worldly ichchha poorti (granting of a wish). But there is a catch. The ichchha poorti can take place but it will take time and in the meantime the devotee's shoes would have been surely gone. The devotee thinks about it and decides to ask God for his expensive shoes back, giving the ichchha poorti back to God."
Isn't it an amazing story? Why? What's so special? You might ask. The speciality of this story can be summed up as: "And they live happily ever after". Just be with me if you haven't wandered off already.
1>The devotee is not trapped in the viles of greed. He learns ultimately that whatever he has already got is indeed something worth being content with. (What can be more important than keeping the possession of expensive earthly possessions while being here on earth).
2>God does not have to cleanse the morale of anyone on this earth. (Why him God? What's wrong with my devotion? Don't I listen to enough T-series tapes singing your praises?).
3>The devotee does not have to explain the tax department/gossipy relatives/suspicious wife that this "gift" was indeed a gift and does not form the part of an undeclared income/undeclared love.
This story also has a deeper meaning. That somewhere in the realms of the world we live in, the concepts of God, trust and money are all intertwined.
Perhaps we should be looking for more. No, not more cash, but more things that we can trust upon, that don't require the stamp of association with God. Loans require guarantees. Book Issues require entries. Recruitment of full time housekeepers require police registration. Apples require "imported from amreeka" sign. Hmmmm come to think of it, haven't these "things" originated in the presence of, that's right, God?
