What Do You Pray For?
KIRAN KUMAR KARLAPU
SILENT MESSAGE A concerned prayer is just as important as an intelligent vote. Photo: K.R. Deepak
I have a very close friend, who goes to the temple regularly. I always accompany him to the temple of Lord Satyanarayana near the Women's hostel of Andhra Medical College every Saturday.
When we visit the temple, I often noticed that he had an idiosyncratic way of communicating with the Almighty. He would walk into the sanctum sanctorum along with me, close his eyes for a fraction of a minute and be out. It contrasted greatly with my own technique (if I can call it so) of interacting with God. I would stay for a full five minutes and garrulously pour forth my wishes and requests, until my whole heart's burden would be transferred to God and I could leave the place with an imaginary assurance from him.
After a few such incidents, I finally mustered enough courage to ask my friend about his prayer, breaking a sacrosanct religious etiquette. He although initially reluctant finally spoke out saying that he prayed for rain. Rain!!!
Of all the things, rain! I asked him if his family had fields in his native place or something of that sort. It was a stupid question because I knew he had grown up in the city and would not be so sensitive towards ancestral crops, if any.
I did not get it. Why would someone like him pray for rain? I even teased him asking him whether his father was supplementing the household income by selling umbrellas. He glared at me through his spectacles but would not tell me the reason for his desire to see the skies darken.
Later on hot summer days, I never missed an occasion to ask him playfully whether god had received his prayer and had sent him an acknowledgement letter. Whenever it rained (which is a rare joy in Vizag), I would call him up and congratulate him jestingly. He heard all my banter silently.
A few Saturdays later, exasperated by his reticence about the issue I brought up the topic again. He refused to speak initially, replying to my requests only with those heavenly smiles of his. At last he acquiesced and spoke thus.
"Kiran, all of us are busy with our own lives. We are not trying to improve the lives of others anyway. The least I could do is pray. I don't need rain nor do you. We have uninterrupted water supply. We get uninterrupted electricity. We buy our rice and vegetables from these grocery stores. We water our plants with garden hoses. The only reason we need rain is to beat the sweltering summer heat or dance a jig like a deranged child.
But for millions of Indians, this rain is the only source of income and livelihood. Our farmers depend a lot on the rain for their crops. Only a third of India's cropland is irrigated and only a tenth of our croplands are irrigated to an extent that three crops can be grown in a calendar year. The rest of the fields are rain fed. I don't know how they eke out their livelihood with the monsoon having failed in Andhra for eight consecutive years. No wonder we read about so many farmers committing suicides in the newspapers. I don't know and don't care for what the government is doing for them. Let me try something.
Several of our cities are facing acute water shortages. Our city might be on the bottom of such a list but others are not so lucky. City reservoirs have dried up in several areas, thick rivers have dwindled to shameful streams and ground water is absolutely non existent in places. Women walking distances with pots on their head is not just in Rajasthan anymore. It could happen and is happening in several areas in our State. I don't have to pray for myself. God has never forsaken me all my life. My problems are miniscule when compared to the problems of our State and our country. Just like everybody has the right to a vote in a democratic establishment, all believers have the right to a prayer in God's kingdom.
A concerned prayer is just as important as an intelligent vote."
The next we were in the temple I followed his method of worship.
He looked at disapprovingly and said "Kiran! Don't tell me you are praying for rain as well!"
"No" I replied, "that is your prayer. I just prayed for your prayers to be answered".
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