YES, I Saw God!

It was my normal workday. Woke up early in the morning, got ready had a quick break fast and ready to board the bus below or hostel. I had no idea that a mundane workday would turn into a soul stirring and a life changing experience. By the time we had got the news that the bus to our site was delayed due to some technical snag. All I had was no other option but to wait. As we were waiting I started observing. We had a not so fortunate old man who used to sleep near our building.

As a part of a routine everyday when the bus which took us used to make its squeaking brakes sound, this old man used to wake up in disgust, give us a cold look and start his day. But then came the real character of this story. A man in his 80s pedalling heavily a old 'Atlas' cycle on a relatively flat road was approaching us. He seemed to be a worker from the nearby bobin factory. His frail body was a testament of the physical strain he had to endure to meet his ends. The wrinkles on his forehead spoke a lot about the best and the worst times he has gone through.

He finally got to where we were standing, got off his bicycle rather strenuously and went and sat beside our old man. Then he reached out to his bag, removed his tiffin box. I was watching very keenly his moves and was ready to confront him if he did anything which was not conducive to 'our' old man. He had suddenly became ours as a stranger was interacting with him. He then pulled out a plate from under the old man's pillow and transferred half the food to from his tiffin to it. He then silently pedalled away without disturbing the old man. Our bus arrived and as everyday it woke up our old man. That's when he realized his plate was already full. He simply looked up to the sky and folded his hands and thanked god. That man who had shared his part of the food was none other than god for him. And even I realized it too that I had seen god that day. We often look for God in places of worship but the only true real god is in our hearts, in our deeds for fellow human beings, in the compassion that we show.