How a person handles an intense emotion such as grief says a lot about them. Some people isolate themselves, others become too social. Some drown themselves in smoke and alcohol, others leave this entirely. Some lose their faith in god, others only have faith in god. Here we'll see the later.
The city of Banaras knew grief very well, it had seen the cremations of millions. People and their faith was what kept Banaras alive, and prospering. Perfectly pretentious promises being made to people by priests. Banaras was never quiet, temples bells were its musicians, the people its singers and the animals its artists. Another thing Banaras was known for was the Ganga, washing away the sins of people since the dawn of civilization. Ganga was known as mother ganga, the most forgiving mother in existence she was. It is hard to believe this river was once clear, once free of the mistakes of its children.
But some of its children were adamant on fixing their own mistakes, and the mistakes of others. Their entire purpose to make people follow their faith. One such man was praying at the moment.
The smoke of burning incense sticks filled the air. .A man donned in saffron was sitting in a dimly lit room,from it's windows, the shore of the ganga could be seen. The man's lips moved in murmurs,his hands telling the beads of his rosary. The light from the diyas casting a golden glow on his face. After he was done, the man gently placed the rosary back in its container, a small wooden box. He joined his hand and said the last line of his prayer. He took out a smaller rosary and started telling that.His face as calm and serene as a sunrise. He stood up from his prayer mat and walked towards a little wooden structure, mimicking a temple. He say down in front of it, his hand grazed the surface of the temple, eyes admiring it. He proceeded to grab the handle on one of its drawers, and slowly pulled it. The drawer was filled to the brim with cotton, incense sticks, rosaries, old dried flowers and some small booklets depicting tales as long as the yamuna. He picked a small section of the small cotton, and sculpted it in the form of a wick. He gently placed it in a gold diya, and then grabbed a small container of clarified butter. The man poured the butter on the wick.
Afterwards he lit a matchstick and held it near the tip of the wick , until it caught fire. The diya was now illuminating the temple, its light reflecting the wood. The man joined his hands and then got up. He walked towards the door of his room, he opened it.
Two young boys were waiting outside for him, one tall with short hair and other short with tall hair. As the man walked out, they threw themselves at his feet, the man placed his hand on their heads and murmured a blessing.
"What's the occasion?" He said and started walking down the narrow hallway, the two young boys following him. "Diwali is coming bhaiya, bade guru ji had ordered the celebration to be as grand as possible" the boy with long hair answered. "Hmm" a low sound escaped from the man's thorat. The sounds of temple bells became louder and louder as he walked further into the hallway.
"What has he ordered for me?" The man asked, his voice soft,eyes focused.
"Bade guruji has ordered you to come back to the ashram, and take care of the preparations." The shorter boy said, his hand still joined. The hallway was almost finished, and at the end of it was a large hemispherical room. The room was painted a golden yellow colour, and it smelled of flowers,incense and sweets. There were people scattered all over, women in saris, men in suites and little children running around barefoot. The sound of temple bells ringing and women singing made the atmosphere lively.Crushed flower garland, empty diyas, and offerings dispersed on the floor . Men wearing saffron consulted distressed mothers and depressed sons. More people came to touch the man's feet, he placed a hand on their head and murmured the same blessing. A few asked questions and solutions for their life's problems, all of them got the same answer. Some gave him offerings, others threw garlands around his neck, he handed everything to the young boys behind him. After dismissing the group of people swarming around him, the man made his way to the center of the room, his feet crushsing flowers on the floor. At the center there was a structure, similar to a house, it carvings at its frames depicting ancient epics. Inside was a sculpture of a God. A priest was standing near it, he joined his hand and welcomed the man. He then placed a red dot on the man's forhead. He gave him offerings, the man placed them at the feet of the sculpture. He lit a diya, circled it around the sculpture three time and subsequently rang the temple bells. All of the people present in the room gathered around the structure, and started chanting the God's name. Suddenly, a man rushed forward into the crowd. Three other men following behind him, trying to stop the disruptor. They grabbed his arms before he could make his way to the structure.
"Let me go!!" screamed the disruptor.
The man in saffron raised his hand, " its ok, let him in" .
The other men let go of the the disruptors arms. He walked near the structure, whispers from the crowd became more prominent. He knelt down, hands joined and pleaded,
" My kid is dying guru, my kid is dying" tears came flowing out of the man's eye. The room fell silent. He man's face showed the image of a calm sea disrupted a storm. His eyes focused on the man infront of him. Everyone looked at the man with a saddened expression. The disruptor was wearing disheveled clothes,his hands dirty and nothing on his feet.
"Help us, please!" the disruptor pleaded again.
"What happened to your child?" The man questioned.
"Cancer guru, cancer has gotten my kid" he answered
The man's throat became dry, eyes watery and hands shivering. "Come meet me in the moring, we'll surely find a solutions to your child's disease" he bent down to lift the man up from the floor. The disruptor looked into his eyes, a glimmer of hope shining. The man held his gaze and said," it'll all be fine" the disruptor nodded. The man pursed his lips together and nodded as well.