One can meet God in the crowd or any other place

Last year I was feeling very low and depressed for just something unknown. It was a feeling of living a caged life without being able to do and contribute what all we desire and would like to. And then I decided to go to Jaipur / Ajmer / Rajasthan with my brother  for a break.

One fine day we planned to visit a temple which is quite well known in the state of Rajasthan. It was near Udaipur and the place is called Nathdwara. The temple is known to worship a form of Lord Krishna and attracts millions of the devotees especially from the state of Gujarat and other places.

I was unable to decide on my itinerary – should it include a visit to this temple? I was not very inclined to do service to God and being a new comer to such place didn’t particularly help the cause. So I thought to buy some flowers for the deity as a small service on my part.

Since there are a multiple choices of venders it is difficult to choose any one particular flower seller. But somehow I caught the voice of this old and poor man who was trying to sell his flowers at very attractive rates as they were the last lot left with him.

The flowers very really fresh and on its full bloom , I tried to look at them closely but couldn’t find any faults so decided to buy the flower and paid him as per the rates.

While returning I just went to him again and started talking to get some first hand information. I enquirer about the local area, the temple and about his flower and where he got them from etc. to find his basic interest most in it which he described with great enthusiasm. And so I also asked whether it will be possible for him to take me to his farm where he got these flowers. Surprisingly his answer was in the positive. We
then decided to meet the very next day at 11 a.m. by which time he would have finished selling his stock of flowers. At the pre-appointed time I was there. After taking a 10-minute rickshaw ride we were outside the town. He then started moving through the open fields and asked me to follow him quietly. In between he used to stop at small temples where he prayed. He appeared somewhat different to me. He distributed "Prasad" to the children and the poor we met on the way. He then stopped to feed the little ants on the ground.

He was walking briskly and I had to move fast to catch up with him. He then did something which amazed me. He started telling things which I used to think and ponder over. It was amazing to hear those things from a poor farmer in a remote place.

On the way back I could not resist to see the place where he fed the hungry ants. And there was lying this peacock feather which is considered as the sign of Krishna. It was not there earlier, and neither was there any peacock in the vicinity. I took the feather as a kind divine gesture.

I came back to my small hotel room to think over all the incidents and then I realized it was the lord who met me through this man to make me realize certain things. I am grateful to him for sharing a few hours with me and telling me things which were close to my heart.

I knew for certain that one can meet God in the crowd or any other place. These are his ways. One just needs to pick the clues and follow him with all faith.

The next day I went again to the temple to see the man. He was still there but the enthusiasm was missing. He was his normal self but didn’t display any emotions towards me. I felt a little embarrassed.

I came back to my small hotel room to think over all the incidents and then I realized it was the lord who met me through this man to make me realize certain things. I am grateful to him for sharing a few hours with me and telling me things which were close to my heart.

I knew for certain that one can meet God in the crowd or any other place. These are his ways. One just needs to pick the clues and follow him with all faith.

S.G.