There is God, and then there are people who love God....

I did my MBA in Cochin, for the uninitiated it is a small town in Kerala, India. On my way to the college from the railway station is St. Anthony's Church. Out there I always see people, some teary- eyed, some grateful, lighting candles and praying. 

I decided to go and pray there. (Again to the uninitiated, I am a believer). So there I was amidst teary- eyed, trouble-worn people and others, with my list. Those were the pre - Dan Brown days of my life, not that I doubt my faith now, but somewhere in my mind sits the 'Da Vinci Code'.

Well I sat there praying and opened my eyes to people who rolled themselves to the altar, or dragged themselves on their knees to the altar, tears flowing down their cheeks. People had much bigger problems than my trifles, I said in my mind, please listen to their prayer. 

Why did I talk about this instance, I wonder in what form should God manifest himself. People have a wide variety of different problems, Is God the solution, the catalyst that enhances the solution making process, an acquaintance you would like to share the burden with, someone who would not rat you out in a time of need,or someone who "sees the truth but waits"?Is the solution to our problems His/Her method of manifestation?

In India religion is huge, we take to different modes of worship, but what is common is an unshakeable, often fanatic belief in God.

For us, we have god-like religious leaders, who galvanize our path to a good and peaceful living, the other end of that path is the entrance to God's villa.

Then there are movie stars who become larger than life and people are willing to put themselves  through the same rigors in 'worshipping' them as they would to get to their God.

There are also the great cricketers,when we talk of gods they cannot be counted as people off the A-list, they are on and right on among the top two on the popularity charts, the other fave being some movie star.

There are employers who are pursued with the same fellowship as to God. If you watch any bollywood movie of the 1980's you would find a humble, honest, lowly, under paid but satisfied hero (or his dad) reverberating the famous "Sahab aap mere Bhagwaan hai, aapne mujhe naukri di, mujhe zindagi di"dialogue.(translation for the hindi challenged: sahab is often used in the context of an employer, someone given due respect, I'll translate it as Sir; so the statement would be"Sir you are my God, you gave me a job, you gave me my life"). Well, reaffirms our belief in employers being equated to the "giver- of- all".

Then there are the "rich and famous" god-like gods. Also there are the tangible ones, money and  political power could make one if not a god, a demi-god, or at the least, (borrowing Arundhati Roy's award-winning title here) "a god of small things".

Amidst all these Big and small, semi and demi-gods, there are people like me who believe in a power which looks over us, who seems billions of miles away even when right next to us, whom nobody has seen but all have felt.

There is God, and then there are people who love God..