The Truth Begins

At the age of eight- I was bestowed with the sacred thread, by the pontiff who spear heads the community I hail from.It was the ceremony which marked me as a Brahmin . He was my guru- not the only one, there were many later on to follow the suit. I relentlessly searched a teacher who could teach me to rein my restless soul. But of all of the teachers who walked along in my sojourn. The first one who initiated me into the vendantic way of life also bestowed upon me two things:

An old Bhagavat Gita and an umbrella.

" Anil, the umbrella will shield you from rain," and "The Gita will save you from everything else."said the pontiff smiling as I held the two things in my tiny hands.

As time passed by, my umbrella's purpose held true. The umbrella did guard me when the sky was at its worst. And as time passed by, my Gita's promise held true!! My book savior guided me when my life was at its worst.

Then came a day when my umbrella wouldn't spring open anymore and I had to walk home in the humbling deluge.

There came another day when my old Gita couldn't help me out anymore, and I had to suffer in resounding distress, while not a single passage seemed to make sense to me.

I never did throw that umbrella away, nor did I banish the Gita to hell in the dark pit of a trash bag. One sits in a box, back home in India, with odds, ends, and oddly enough, some junk from the yesteryears. The other rests on my shelf with Eliyahu Goldratt and Thomas Freidman.

It was easy enough to buy a new umbrella, but when, I see people asking me to hang in there and hold on to my faith , I like to think twice about the only opinion I hold in the matter now

"I guess my faith is a faulty umbrella."

July 4th 2006
Vienna,VA