Would God prefer butter toast? or vermicilli? or stuffed bittergourd and orange juice? or fish curry with rice?
Why do people vie with one another to feed sweets to the gods? What if they don't have a sweet tooth? Sweets, fruits and milk - form a huge chunk of all offerings.
Bechare bhagwan ji subh unko kitna meetha khilayenge? a bewildered senior at work questioned.
Yes, come to think of it all offerings comprise
sweetmeats and sugary stuff. What if he has diabetes or high
BP? my senior continued.
Its tough being baghwan in this subcontinent.
But I particularly like the TV commercial for a popular health drink where children mutter a quick apology before they proceed to polish off the glasses and containers of milk they trugded up a hill as offering to an idol under a tree.
There isn't any specific reason for this post (I do like to think that other posts serve a specific purpose-Ego trip:)) but just that a couple of days ago I paid a visit to the Gurudwara Bangla Sahib. And along with the tasty prasadam I also found a beach in Delhi.
After several weeks of the sun beating down in all its harshness, the capital got some relief with a sprinkle of premonsoon showers.
Surrounded by a carressing breeze, the weather was perfect for a walk and so two friends and me decided to drop in at the nearest bookstore. But then one informed that since it was time for the prasad to be distributed at the gurudwara why don't we go there first?
Within no time I found myself depositing my shoes and entering the sanctom sanctoram. Not acquainted with customs I cautiously followed everybody, careful to cover my head with a duppata.
Inside the gurudwara there is a small pond filled with fishes, around which the devout take a parikrama. The evening was young, the sun reflected on the water that was rippling in the breeze created an impression of waves on the sea. (Perhaps I was trying too hard to recreate the beach) But I swear that it was the first thought that struck me when i saw the lake/pond/ Hey Beach.
I felt the same sense of peace, the same euphoria and the same tinge of pain that I associate with the beach.
After that we stood in line for a share of the halwa being served. It was amazing, absolutely-out-of-this world.
The bookstore was closed so we took a stroll on the old Janpath road, filled with the usual clothes and knick knack accessories.
Mother dairy icecreams and then Bhutta!
It's another story that I couldn't eat the corn. Darned teeth. I went around for two days with my jaws feeling like lead. Signs of old age :-).