LIFE AND LIES #44 | Om Namah Shivay

On approaching the traffic light, he accelerated hard. The countdown for the red light had begun. He could make it. There was a scooty up ahead. If only he could overtake it.

He swerved to the right but at the same time, the scooty driver did the same. The brake light glowed and the scooty came to a stop. He applied the brakes hard.

In a split second, he felt the tires skid under him, his legs flailing to find balance. At that moment, he knew he was going to crash.

Om Namah Shivay

A mixture of thoughts and words came out as he braced for impact.

He wasn't religious like his mother. But he wasn't an atheist either. He believed that there must be some kind of management up there, some kind of governance, just like humans had down here. Not necessarily fixating on each and every move of each and every human being, just overseeing the grand scheme, whatever that was. Opposed to the common pundits, who encouraged taking God's name multiple times during the day, he believed that God's name should not be taken as routine. Obviously, He would have other important things to do. Redirecting your every whim at Him would only mark you as a crybaby. No begging God for topping the class. C'mon. He must have bigger things to take care of.

Keeping this in mind, he whispered the three words only on two occasions. Firstly, whenever he was in immediate danger, the words came out of reflex. Secondly, whenever something turned out great, he just sent a thanks. It was the one Mantra he had learnt as a kid. More often than not, it worked.

Just like now. He missed the scooty by a few inches and landed his feet on the ground.

He looked to the skies and whispered a thanks.

Om Namah Shivay

***

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