A Beggar’s Blessing: Believer’s Benefits

For once, in my life, I tried being a pessimist and I was whapped with prayers and wishes of my beloved ones. I was infused with an overdose of optimism this time and it surely worked. I was going through a rough patch where I was facing rejections and dejections from every corner of the world, but something really happened; I started gathering more faith in God. I didn’t pray hard for myself; I knew someone else should be doing that for me. So, I thought of doing the same for everyone. It was nothing like returning a favour, because whenever I joined hands and closed my eyes, I thought of everyone around who’d made my life better and joyful.

I was on my regular journey of employment expedition back to Bangalore and was travelling in Janshatabdi Express. I didn’t care to spend much because I was trying to curb expenses as much as possible. After sometime, I saw a beggar who’d lost his arms and limbs and was crawling in the gangway. I was tugged by the sight and offered him money. I usually don’t do that for anyone who walks and grabs my hands and legs to offers alms with a God’s photo in a steel plate. I believe that all the love and compassion for those people comes neither from their looks, nor their condition, but it comes from the fact that you feel for them. I believed that they too pray for getting into a better condition and serve their families and children. If someone willingly helps them even when they’d not asked for, the joys and prayers double on both sides. Prayers that don’t have a heart behind it, end up in donation boxes as “Tax Exemptions” and the ones that contain all the Theo-cardiac elements, end up as Cleansing Holy Water on your bad times.

It is never a bad thing to have faith and be optimistic forever. If that can make one ill-fated beggar smile at you, imagine what the world has to offer. Being nice to them doesn’t really mean to empty your pockets and flourish theirs. I’d found out long back when I was a kid and my parents used to take me on an annual pilgrimage tour to Shringeri, Udupi, Idagunji and Murudeshwar. I never prayed when I had exams or anything important, because I’d be greedy in that matter. I also believed in an age-old proverb in kannada that said, “sankata bandaga venkataramana” (when you’re in trouble, you pray to God) which made me feel I prayed even when I wasn’t in any trouble, and that way, I’d be seen like a “normal” person. I never had issues with God and that normalcy lasted for quite some time. It was only when I moved away from friends I loved and people I knew, I started questioning myself and the God within.

I got a very quick and undisputed answer from my conscience that, “Time Changes. And I should move on and learn new things.” I’ve not been a magnanimous person always, but my time makes me whatever I am. I’ve let off many profitable opportunities, obviously because I wasn’t worth it, neither I was meant to obtain it. I’ve been stupid enough to make mistakes of my own and learn not to repeat the same ones again (rhetorically creative people are meant to do so) and most of the times, I’ve been crazy at my own risk and that has paid off well, altogether. The only thing that hasn’t changed is ‘begging’! I fundamentally feel that I am one of them because I too have begged for many things in life. Maybe it’s not about the money, but there are other things that I craved for; friends, love, respect and money was an integral aspect. I’ve never shown, but I’ve always known that I’ve been a doomed beggar when it comes to begging for patience. I’ve never used the right statements to get me what I wanted, but telling the truth was never a favorable option, but I always ‘believed’ that sugary, cutie-pie talks will make me more fluffy and I’ll be loved if I remain the same. I had my conscience screaming and repeating its sentence and I stayed with it. Hence, life moved on and I became a learner. Begging became an art and now I am learning to master the same. Every experience gives birth to advancement in education. What’s wrong if you’re learning lessons from life itself?