Humans, supposed to be one of the most intelligent beings on Earth, are probably the only ones who believe in an unseen higher power who can drastically affect their lives. From our childhood, most of us humans have been taught to pray and believe in God. Many among us have also experienced the presence of the Almighty in ways of fulfilled wishes, unexpected results and inexplicable happenings. I, on the other hand, had a very unique experience of being chased by the Supreme Power of the universe.
This incident occurred in the summer of 2004 in my maternal grandfather’s village. At that time, it was a typical Indian village- it had mud tracks, very less accessibility, electricity for only an hour a day, and a prevalent open defecation system. The majority of the population was involved in farming, so, during the summer months houses were filled with the season’s harvest. In my grandpa’s house, for example, the room near the entrance was filled with potatoes while the courtyard had more than 100 tender coconuts.
One fine evening, when we kids were playing and grandmas were busy gossiping about their lazy daughter-in-laws, the village had a guest. He came out of the blue, the seemingly calm, innocent faced, two legged creature.We all gathered around him, as it was the first time in years that one of his clan had visited the village. An old lady, bent with age and thus considered to be very wise, went as far as to tell us that he was the incarnation of God and hence should be fed. While the elders were contemplating on the best item to be used as an offering, our beloved guest decided to exit. Disappointed on losing an opportunity to be in the good graces of the Lord, people started speculating on why He decided to leave.
The next morning, everyone was pleasantly surprised to find Him waiting for the service of the villagers. Not wanting to repeat their mistakes of the previous day, everyone hurried to bring the honourable guest whatever food items they could lay their hands on. My cousin sister and I, not wanting to be left out, brought Him pieces of coconut. All the devotees crowded around Him and started offering food. Such a kind soul, He did not reject any one’s offering. After we were all done pleasing the Almighty, our visitor did an unexpected thing. He started chasing us. It was probably an indication for us to start working out and lose weight, but nevertheless, we were frightened. And we all ran. Faster than Usain Bolt, faster than even a rocket. We ran till we found an open door, and people started running in. Sadly, my cousin and I were last in the line of running people, and the open house was almost filled. My cousin, luckily, had the presence of mind to continue running till our house. I blindly followed her inside, and was followed by the Lord. Our dear God, luckily(or unluckily?), did not follow us deep into the house as He had seen a room that interested him. It was the room filled with potatoes. To our dismay, His hunger had not been satiated by our offerings, and He decided to devour the raw potatoes. Seeing this, my aunt came running with a spatula in her hand, screaming furiously and asking our visitor to get out. I was shocked seeing the sudden change in attitude towards our revered guest. I guess the change occured because the Lord was eating into sources of profit. Anyhow, our visitor stayed for a few more hours, till my uncle came home from the farm and was able to shoo Him away.
Later in the day, when we kids were discussing about the fun we had with the Lord, the same old lady who had named Him an incarnation of God, and later had to run when Her God chased His devotees, came and interrupted us.
“ Don’t call that Monkey Lord Hanuman.”
DeepSea Cucumber 