I used to think that I will be the next big Godman of 'Inclusivism,' a religion that I will find in the future, where all human being will shed their exclusivist traits and embark on a journey of unity in diversity. Strangely, a man sat on my train berth very recently. (I was travelling from Howrah to Sahibganj a town in Jarkhand). My spirit of being an inclusive ‘Godman’ vanished (I use this word as a sarcastic gesture to all Godmen by the way).
He was drenched in sweat. He was ugly, his skin sagged in a not so aesthetic way all over his face, he was slow to speech and oh how I wanted to ask him if he had a reserved ticket and if he indeed belonged here. To make things worse his eyes had this horrible squint, so I never knew if he was staring directly at me or into empty space.
Turns out he did have a reservation and other people (a family) had temporarily dislodged him from his seat. What I have realised is that you trip on your own preaching like the preaching itself were a rock, a stumbling block. Your own words of wisdom sometimes end up as a pebble in your shoe. Very annoying, but you put it there.
Talking to this guy who was slow in speech I found out that he is mechanic who works in a train shed, and that is about all I got from his slow incoherent speech. There was a strange humility in him, like he were the Godman who was including me in his book of life.
2 comments:
It happens Godman.. nothing to be astonished.. it may be one great day, a sense of realization for you, but for the other Godman, its another day..
Cha I was expecting something more interesting than a philosophical rant! :) Bit of a SLIP up really!! :D
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