Yes, I saw god. Unbelievable as it may seem, it is true.
The incident below is based on facts. It happened sometime back. I was going from NCR to Mumbai in train on 31st Dec,2009. There was almost no fog, and train was only 20 minutes late. The earlier week was terribly cold and foggy. All the guys at my company were saying that it was the worst in last decade. I was lucky to have a nice weather.
I confined myself to the window seat lower berth of my compartment. In the seats opposite mine were an elderly Punjabi gentleman , tall, slim and nimble on his feet at an age almost seventy, and his son, a young guy in his thirties. The father was always guiding the son, and he was happy to do as told.
A couple and two kids occupied the remaining seats near us. They said they were going toAgra Agra
The TTE came and sat on the edge of seat opposite mine. The TTE was thorough in checking my photo ID as it was an e-ticket. He checked the tickets of the father – son duo. Next he took the couple’s ticket and told them in a soft voice “ This train does not go toAgra , this goes straight from Mathura Mathura
The wife looked at the husband, and he stood like a student showing his report card full of red marks to his parents. The children were happily chattering away. The TTE asked them to buy tickets toMathura
The journey was not a short one at 22 hours. I was enjoying the sites outside and listened to the conversations between the father and son. The noon gave way to the evening and after an eternity it was sunset. I had my dinner and retired to sleep at about 9 p.m. A young guy in his twenties spread his bedsheet on the floor between the two seats, and made a berth for himself. He tucked himself in his blanket, and was asleep in no time. I turned and tossed myself in my berth, I do not sleep well on train.
At about 3 in the morning, I was woken by the movements of the father figure from the opposite berth. He went to the toilet and came back to settle into his calm sleep. I searched for my shoes, and had some difficulty in getting them, as the fellow sleeping on the floor had shoved them below the seat. I finally put them on, and went to the toilet. I was back in three minutes or so. But I could not sleep thereafter.
At 4 a.m, the father woke his son up, and started getting ready. The time of arrival of our train at Borivali station was 4.36 a.m. The son started searching frantically for something,,,,oh! He had lost his specs.. He took a torch and moved all luggage and searched under the seats and on berths, no luck. Then he removed his jacket, and lo! The glasses were there in the arm of his jacket. He broke into a radiant smile.
Continuing to lie down in my berth I felt in my shirt pocket through the jacket. Thank god! I could feel the headphone of my mobiles. I was carrying two of them, one a personal one and the other an official one. The train was stationary but no station was there. The parsi gentleman in the side seat commented “ waiting for signal”. Soon the father and the parsi were laughing and sharing stories.
I got up and checked my luggage, all OK. I reached out for the mobiles to switch them on and check the signal strength. What a shock ! there was only the headphone cord in my pocket. There were no mobile phones. I told the sad news to the father-son in opposite seat. The young man gave me the torch. The old man said “ don’t worry, it must have fallen down”. I checked beneath the seats, on the berth, inside the jacket, every possible place. Nothing !!. The young fellow who had slept on the floor also chipped in “ I didn’t see anything when I got up.”
The mobiles had just vanished into thin air.
I sat down dejected, all my telephone contact numbers were in those phones. How will I do the important work in the day ? How will I talk to people? The world seemed cruel.
The incident below is based on facts. It happened sometime back. I was going from NCR to Mumbai in train on 31st Dec,2009. There was almost no fog, and train was only 20 minutes late. The earlier week was terribly cold and foggy. All the guys at my company were saying that it was the worst in last decade. I was lucky to have a nice weather.
I confined myself to the window seat lower berth of my compartment. In the seats opposite mine were an elderly Punjabi gentleman , tall, slim and nimble on his feet at an age almost seventy, and his son, a young guy in his thirties. The father was always guiding the son, and he was happy to do as told.
A couple and two kids occupied the remaining seats near us. They said they were going to
The TTE came and sat on the edge of seat opposite mine. The TTE was thorough in checking my photo ID as it was an e-ticket. He checked the tickets of the father – son duo. Next he took the couple’s ticket and told them in a soft voice “ This train does not go to
The wife looked at the husband, and he stood like a student showing his report card full of red marks to his parents. The children were happily chattering away. The TTE asked them to buy tickets to
The journey was not a short one at 22 hours. I was enjoying the sites outside and listened to the conversations between the father and son. The noon gave way to the evening and after an eternity it was sunset. I had my dinner and retired to sleep at about 9 p.m. A young guy in his twenties spread his bedsheet on the floor between the two seats, and made a berth for himself. He tucked himself in his blanket, and was asleep in no time. I turned and tossed myself in my berth, I do not sleep well on train.
At about 3 in the morning, I was woken by the movements of the father figure from the opposite berth. He went to the toilet and came back to settle into his calm sleep. I searched for my shoes, and had some difficulty in getting them, as the fellow sleeping on the floor had shoved them below the seat. I finally put them on, and went to the toilet. I was back in three minutes or so. But I could not sleep thereafter.
At 4 a.m, the father woke his son up, and started getting ready. The time of arrival of our train at Borivali station was 4.36 a.m. The son started searching frantically for something,,,,oh! He had lost his specs.. He took a torch and moved all luggage and searched under the seats and on berths, no luck. Then he removed his jacket, and lo! The glasses were there in the arm of his jacket. He broke into a radiant smile.
Continuing to lie down in my berth I felt in my shirt pocket through the jacket. Thank god! I could feel the headphone of my mobiles. I was carrying two of them, one a personal one and the other an official one. The train was stationary but no station was there. The parsi gentleman in the side seat commented “ waiting for signal”. Soon the father and the parsi were laughing and sharing stories.
I got up and checked my luggage, all OK. I reached out for the mobiles to switch them on and check the signal strength. What a shock ! there was only the headphone cord in my pocket. There were no mobile phones. I told the sad news to the father-son in opposite seat. The young man gave me the torch. The old man said “ don’t worry, it must have fallen down”. I checked beneath the seats, on the berth, inside the jacket, every possible place. Nothing !!. The young fellow who had slept on the floor also chipped in “ I didn’t see anything when I got up.”
The mobiles had just vanished into thin air.
I sat down dejected, all my telephone contact numbers were in those phones. How will I do the important work in the day ? How will I talk to people? The world seemed cruel.
The parsi gentleman in the side seat asked what had happened and I told him that I had lost two mobiles. He took out his mobile and asked for my numbers, and I sheepishly told him that I had switched them off to save battery. After about two minutes the parsi gentleman smiled and spoke “ I have got both your mobiles. I got them from the passage, you had dropped them in the morning. I was going to other coach to have my medicines”. He had a berth there also.
” I realised the mobiles must have fallen down from the jacket when I had got up then. The cost of both handsets was almost 20000/-. The parsi was talking “ my cellphone is much cheaper one, it was securely hung by a lanyard from his neck, and I always get costly things of other people”. “ God was testing you when he gave you two mobiles. He was tempting you” commented the Punjabi gentleman, his son was happy that I had not lost the mobiles.
Then small scenes of the past flashed through my mind when I used to return the 2 and 5 rupees which the vegetable vendors and shopkeepers used to give back by mistake. I could see the gratefulness in their eyes then. I had thought “ this is not mine, why should I take it ?”. Even in schooldays, some friends used to get happy when they got back extra money, and used to comment “ the fellow was overcharging and god has returned the money “ , I had different opinion, then and now too. The smile on the face of the vegetable vendors was much costlier than their coins.
At Borivali, I picked up my bag and laptop and followed the parsi guy to his coach. Seated in the coach was his friend, another TTE, a young man from Mangalore. The old man gave the phones to the TTE. The young man asked me what the wallpaper was, and I told that that it was the photo of my son. When they switched on the phone, it indeed was. The young man gave me my phones.
As the train pulled into Dadar station, I asked the parsi gentlemen for his name. He smiled “ it is Zaheer Bawa”. I thanked him and got down. As I glanced back, he was there smiling, and the next moment he was not there.
And I realized “I have seen god ”! Oh ! I had lost the chance to touch him, but he was so close.
Then another series of thoughts struck me
“ were the Punjabi gentlemen also not god, they were so kind ?”
“ Was the TTE of the earlier day also god, he had walked away smiling, without fining the couple ?”
And my belief was all the more firm “ Every person who does an act of kindness becomes god for the other person "
Yes ! god is omnipresent.
I recounted the incident to my wife and son in the night and they were happy that the ending was good.
” I realised the mobiles must have fallen down from the jacket when I had got up then. The cost of both handsets was almost 20000/-. The parsi was talking “ my cellphone is much cheaper one, it was securely hung by a lanyard from his neck, and I always get costly things of other people”. “ God was testing you when he gave you two mobiles. He was tempting you” commented the Punjabi gentleman, his son was happy that I had not lost the mobiles.
Then small scenes of the past flashed through my mind when I used to return the 2 and 5 rupees which the vegetable vendors and shopkeepers used to give back by mistake. I could see the gratefulness in their eyes then. I had thought “ this is not mine, why should I take it ?”. Even in schooldays, some friends used to get happy when they got back extra money, and used to comment “ the fellow was overcharging and god has returned the money “ , I had different opinion, then and now too. The smile on the face of the vegetable vendors was much costlier than their coins.
At Borivali, I picked up my bag and laptop and followed the parsi guy to his coach. Seated in the coach was his friend, another TTE, a young man from Mangalore. The old man gave the phones to the TTE. The young man asked me what the wallpaper was, and I told that that it was the photo of my son. When they switched on the phone, it indeed was. The young man gave me my phones.
As the train pulled into Dadar station, I asked the parsi gentlemen for his name. He smiled “ it is Zaheer Bawa”. I thanked him and got down. As I glanced back, he was there smiling, and the next moment he was not there.
And I realized “I have seen god ”! Oh ! I had lost the chance to touch him, but he was so close.
Then another series of thoughts struck me
“ were the Punjabi gentlemen also not god, they were so kind ?”
“ Was the TTE of the earlier day also god, he had walked away smiling, without fining the couple ?”
And my belief was all the more firm “ Every person who does an act of kindness becomes god for the other person "
Yes ! god is omnipresent.
I recounted the incident to my wife and son in the night and they were happy that the ending was good.
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