Question to my answer

When the garage guy told me that the service will take an hour and half, I decided to visit the landmark book store in  forum mall, which was  nearby, a 10 minute walk.

I went around the book stall  from one section to another picking up, reading the extracts, selecting a few, going forward ,returning to put back some, finally deciding to buy two of them and come back later for others. As I was moving out of the counter, a young man, said “excuse me, Sir, can I have some time with you “

“Are you trying to sell some thing to me ? “, I asked.

Looking at the books in my hand he continued “ you have two books, adventures in human being and in the name of GOD”.

‘I am a confused person, I want to talk to you and need your advise”, he said.

“What is your name “, I asked him

“Pradeep”, he answered

At that moment, I get a call from the garage, “ This is Mahesh, during the check up we noticed your car’s reverse light switch is not working, we have to replace that, it will take time and there is a lunch break, please come at 3 – 3.30 to collect your vehicle.” I said “OK”.

Here, I have two hours of time with me and I thought lets give some of it to this young man.

“Come , let us find some place to sit” I said and we found one nearby, all this while wondering, what is in store.

I opened the conversation “what is your confusion ?”

“I do not know where to start “, he said.

“You do not know where to start, what to ask, what to do, how to go forward, what you want to do, what to believe, whom to believe, what is the meaning of your life, to commit suicide and get out of the meaningless life etc , right” I said.

I said “You have lost your job , you are feeling bad about it and you think you have reached the end of your life ”.

“I cannot believe, that we do not know each other and you have agreed to spend time with me, I am feeling happy about it “ he said.

“ I am giving you the most precious thing I have, my time and  am happy for that. We have grown up by picking all the negative things in life, people are bad, don’t trust them, be selfish. That is why you cannot believe, a stranger is giving his time to you. There are more good people than evil. Not exactly evil, changeable. We have been told and taught what to believe, by people from their learning which has come from what they have heard. You may think, that all you have learnt is right, whereas others may not agree since they have grown in another environment. We are programmed , our thoughts and opinions are borrowed, not our own”

“You are wondering, what is the meaning of things happening  around you ? Well, it may be different for all of us because we are giving a meaning to everything. You have lost your job. You can be upset. Another person may think it as an opportunity to find a better one. Last month, a friend of mine had to leave a job for personal reasons. She took up a job of teaching for a lower take home pay. We discussed and gave a good meaning to her new job, when others were critical about her accepting a job with lesser salary. She loves teaching, which will make her do a good job. Its near to her home, walking distance, that’s more energy for the family due to reduced travel stress (better than one hour through the heavy traffic), improvement of health being in a happy state of mind, no corporate competition, larger social contribution and other  tangential benefits . ”

“ Similarly, you can give a meaning to your situation. You have heard the story of the man who found his house on fire when he returned from a tour, upset him. His son comes and tells him not to worry, he has sold the house to some one, now that made him happy. Another son comes to him and tells him, its not sold yet, only advance has been collected. There he goes, upset again. Then the new purchaser comes and tells him, since he had agreed to buy it they can assume it as sold. There was  joy again. You see the house is on fire, look at the changing reactions.”

All of a sudden, I realised, he has not asked me any question and here I am rattling away like a politician, I don’t care what your question is, this is my answer. Very recently a politician was addressing crowd and mixed up his words and said, what is the question to the answer.

“Do you believe in GOD, is there a GOD ?” he asked, looking at the book in my hand, in the name of GOD”. That book was a fiction, a detective story, with the background of a famous temple in South of india.

“What do you mean by GOD ?” I asked him.

“No, I don’t believe he exists. If, yes where is he ? “ he asked.

“ Like success, GOD has different meaning for different people “, I said.

“Do you believe in him, if yes, why, can’t you see him ?” he asked.

“The truth is, I know nothing and so are many others who think they know everything”, I said, emphatically.”If there is a GOD, I don’t know what he or she looks like, and do you know how he looks like, will you be able to recognise him?” “ You are asking, why cant you see him ,where is he ?  that’s why I am asking you, will you be able to recognise him if you see him

He was quiet.

“We all have a belief system, a set of beliefs and we follow it. I kept changing mine, as I grew up. Different times, different  belief system.”

“All the GODs, Brahma, Jesus (son of GOD), Allah were part of my belief system. I was told, pray to them for everything, they are listening.” “Later, ok, they are there, let them be, I have nothing to do anything with them because I did not need them, at the same time I was afraid not to believe in their existence ”.”GODs were getting defined, expected them to be proved in the science laboratory .””The religious and spiritual gurus kept talking about them and we accepted , they had proof which we did not understand. Science rejected it, some one got a noble prize for discovering “GOD particle” (Higgs boson)”

“Einstein theory says energy equal mass multiplied by square of speed of light. I don’t understand it, and some of science gurus have accepted the proof and told us ordinary guys, its OK. And I have accepted it as part of my belief system. Similarly, why can’t you accept GOD’s existence and add it to your belief system. It may get disputed, even Einstein’s theories are getting challenged.”

“Later, I changed my definition of GOD. You may not be able to see GOD with your eyes. When I sweat, a breeze dries them out and I experience a pleasure in the whole process. I cannot see the breeze, so can I deny it’s existence, so is the flow of electrons that lights the bulb is invisible, can I. “Show me GOD” do not prove or disprove anything.

The Sun’s energy and light is GOD for me. The breath that keeps me alive is GOD for me. Any help, I get is an act of goodness and I am grateful. Assistance comes to me in various FORMS and they are GOD for me. Hence I believe in GOD in million forms and grateful to them.

I love to go to temples, not for praying, just to experience the energy and feel thankful, also to churches to sit on those benches and feel the quietness. Once I go to these places, I would like to keep the decorum intact and follow the rules, since I am there, not to challenge what I do not know.” “I stand in the crowd with folded hands, not knowing what to say”.

“These days, I am reading and thinking of Karma, which says what you sow, so you reap”.”What you experience, is the reaction of your actions.” This theory will help people, who believe, destiny is in your hands and you are the creator of your fortunes. The fruits of your actions may not be immediate. You may be in jail for something you did not do. You are a good person and bad thing happens to you and you ask why ? Well, you may be paying a price for something you did and you cannot remember, when or what ? May be in the previous life. There you are, to accept that, you have to add rebirth into your belief system.

Like your body needs to lean on some support, so does your mind requires an anchor, a belief system helps.” “I wonder what an atheist does, may be depends on EGO.” “Erasing God Out.”

“If you are not getting what you want, get interested in what you get. Anything that comes your way, deal with it.” “You may not get the job that you are passionate about, the first time or the second time, it may be the Nth one”. “If you want money, car, house etc that also in millions or crores , a Merc, a palace, then passion may not get you that, you have to find a job that can give all those.”

“You can be an entrepreneur”. “ You may have  passion for cooking or love for animals, going into hotel business or opening a zoo will not get you anywhere.” “Passion is good as a hobby, check what you are good at, it may be public relations or communication or what ever. You may have passed your engineering, not necessary you are good in it and may not get a job of your liking.”” You can start a band, be an actor, a trainer, a coach, a radio jockey, a reporter, a writer, a singer, NGO worker, a tuition master, travel, automobile, oceanography, it is an end less list”. Those who have lived their passion and made a living are exceptions. Do not regret, if you did not.

Do not go in search of God, they are in millions of forms,  find HIM in the breeze, light, water, trees, air, Sun, flowers, nature, love, feel grateful to everything that takes care of your life.

“Identify your spark, get trained, if necessary, and go for it. “ Keep reading and listening

“Build your knowledge, develop your skill, add one or two if you can.

“Try to work your way up, don’t dream of getting millions on day one, if you know some one has got it, do not make him your role model”

“ Many over night success, have years of toil behind it” A Ussain bolt became famous in less than 10 seconds, he must have run more than 10,000 , 100 metres before that”

“Respect others views and time, you need not know everything, you do not”

“Your attitude and intention matters”

“Arrogance is the  first visitor, during the first sign of success, be aware of it”

“Integrity, confidence and patience will take you places.  Best wishes”.

Look out and understand the need of the crowd, may be you can  develop an application or get one developed and market it.

Make a CV, which shows how you overcame the obstacles of successes and the learning from failures. Many will reject you for your failures, be happy you are not with them, others will appreciate your experience which comes from failures, be with them.

There I go again, answers, no question.

When my phone rang and the voice said your car is ready, you can take it, we shook hands and went our way.

I felt like a salesman trying to sell something that no body wants.