Eternity...

     No human being is immortal!! I wish I could take over God’s role in giving a longer lifeline to people whom I love the most! I tried thinking over the criteria by which God must be deciding  about how long a person should exist on Earth but could not conclude with any solid reason, though I came up with a few possibilities. But for those possibilities to be true, I would have to believe in “Karma”.

      As Indians, in almost every family we have had some elder person who would take out some time to tell us the stories from the great epics like The Mahabharata and The Ramayana. So as a matter of fact, there was a time when we did believe in reincarnation or “Punarjanma”. Its only later that we actually get our senses and ponder whether there is really something like rebirth. Millions don’t bother about this subject while the remaining don’t have the time and patience to contemplate on such issues. But I have always been fascinated by the two Indian epics, with The Mahabharata being my all time favorite. Inspite  of being given a boon as “Iccha-Marani” by his father, even the great Bheeshma Pitamaha could not live on Earth forever. As kids, my brother and I were given examples of how a person was rewarded with punishment for the sins he had committed in his life. If he luckily escaped the punishment from his present birth, then definitely it would have been waiting in his next birth..(but mind you, the punishment was certain)!!

      I had been to the temple today for a small ritual that was to be held in memory of my maternal uncle who passed away back in 2001. Looking at the rituals being done by the pujaris in the temple, I really wondered whether it would really be useful for the person whom we had been doing this for!! After all each person has their own beliefs.. The 1 hour 15 minutes that we(my cousin, aunt, mother n me) waited in the temple brought back all the old golden memories that I have had with uncle. I just couldn’t stop thinking about him. There was a sense of freedom, a sense of attachment whenever uncle had been around. They say God takes away those whom he likes the most.

 

     There is a small fireplace within the temple and the place where we stood was almost covered in white smoke. All of a sudden I got a reason which I could tell anyone if they asked me why was I crying!!