this neighbour of mine passes by the little ganesha temple everyday on his bike on the way to work. unfailingly, he slows down his bajaj scooter, takes a quick peek inside the temple, takes aim & throws a red hibiscus with postman accuracy at the feet of the shrine. As his right hand comes back to the handlebar, his left does a quick salaam, and briefly touches his lips as he mumbles some half-word prayer. Both hands back on the handlebar, he vroooooooms off. All this in barely 5-6 seconds. If that shrine had sight, it couldn’t have seen anything more than a road-runnerish blur.
When I put on my best I’m-in-awe-of-you face and asked this neighbour about his deftness, he said, “You should try to think of god all the time. You’ll get moksha.”
Believe me, I tried. (Hey, I want a shot at moksha too) But the handlebar wobbles and the lip-brush ends up as a hard sock on my nose. Plus, I have to stop a few streets later to wear my helmet. The mini-prayer sounds like a word you can’t utter in church. (I’m assuming same rules apply for ganesha too) About the hibiscus, I don’t think stealing from the neighbour’s garden is the right way to go. Those little flower girls in front of the temple giggle at my antics. One cheeky one whispered that I was trying to get into the circus.
Oh maybe I’ll just burn in hell.
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