Him!

Have you ever seen God? Have you ever imagined how he would look like if he were to ever appear before you? Today I saw Him.....in the eyes of this Giriyappa born in pre independent India. He may not look like the conventional Gods we see in framed photographs draped in silks and glistening ornaments. He may not carry a chakra or a weapon. He may not chant Sanskrit slokas. But what makes him God like is the fact that he is our "Annadatha" a term being popularised by the Governments for their benefits .His smile filled my heart with a kind of peace rarely experienced. When he shook my hand and called me his daughter my eyes welled up. With hardly less than a 4digit figure in his account, his joy is contagious. It grounded me. Here I am still unsatisfied with the arrears credited, the apartment I live in, the dress I wear. Giriyappa came alongwith the rains.. the most anticipated natural phenomenon in the hottest summer of our times. Tomorrow is the Magadi Ranganathswamy Jathre and it is popular belief that rains come no matter what during Jaathre and Giriyippa I fail to fathom if alongwith the rains you are sent by HIM or you are HE HIMSELF! Our Annadata