The miracle of a discharged vow (1308)

 

Appa(Daddy), I have arranged for puja tomorrow evening at the local Ganesh temple. You must accompany me without fail,“ said Lalita.

“Any special occasion?” asked Mahalingam.

“Nothing special. You have been complaining for the past two months that you are unable to sleep well at night, I had prayed to Lord Ganesh that  I would do a special puja and  that He should  bless you with uninterrupted good sleep.” said Lalita.

“Silly girl, why do you disturb Ganesha for all your petty problems? Anyway, I will come with you,” he assured her smilingly.

The temple was not big in size but famed for the Lord‘s proclivity to grant boons  readily if prayed for with sincerity and devotion. The temple was situated in the main bazaar on the top of a  narrow staircase between two buildings and strangely did not lead to the two buildings or the  terrace. The idol was situated at the small  landing at the top of stairs. An old  priest came daily  in the mornings and evenings and did his job devoutly and sincerely to clean the space, decorate the idol with flowers, light the lamp, burn incense and do a small puja.

Except on the evenings and on important festival days, there would not be many devotees. However, there was a rope tied in the middle of the staircase from top to bottom separating the space for ascending and descending. Since it was narrow, only two persons on each side  could ascend and descend. People who visit the bazaar especially those who shop in the adjacent buildings generally climb the staircase to offer their prayers.

The next afternoon Lalita  steamed the soaked chana dhal and made a delicacy known as sundal. When it was nearing 5pm she asked her son, “Gopi, grandpa and myself are going to Ganesh temple at the bazaar. Since I will be  carrying sundal prasad on one hand and puja materials on the other, will you accompany us to hold grandpa’s hands? You know the staircase is often slippery and it has been drizzling since morning. He is also not stable while walking.”

“Amma. Sorry I cannot accompany you. I have urgent work elsewhere. Please manage yourself,” he replied  bluntly without any feeling and sped away on his cycle.

“Do not worry,Lalita.I will climb carefully holding the railing,”  said Mahalingam to assuage her fear.

The temple was near to their house. When they reached the space between the two buildings, Lalita said, ”Appa, hold this bag with you. It has a vessel containing sundal  prasad. I will buy coconut, flowers, plantain fruits and betel leaves and will be here within 10 minutes. Do not climb alone till I come. It may be slippery.”

“ Do not worry. The drizzle stopped long back. The staircase is dry and I do not see anyone climbing. I will carefully climb and remain seated at the sanctum,” Mahalingam assured her.

“Be very careful,appa,” Lalita warned again.

As he slowly climbed, midway the priest who was coming down hailed him, “Swami,namaskaram. Lalita was telling me about your lack of sleep. I am sure you will sleep better after the puja in the coming days? I will be here within five minutes. Please be seated there.”

As he climbed two more steps, he heard more than a dozen boys chatting and laughing loudly at the landing waiting for the priest to come. He could surmise the reason for their presence there in such a large number as the annual results were expected the next day.

Suddenly there was a slight tremor with buildings shaking and lasting hardly  for a few seconds. The boys started scurrying downwards in no order on both sides of the rope and in their urgent  rush pushed down the old man and ran over him in their anxiety to be out of the structure. The stampede lasted for no more than a brief moment.

Lalita who had just arrived shrieked “Appa” and started climbing followed by the coconut vendor and other passers-by. He was found lying upside down and when the coconut vendor lifted him, his face fell on the side. When the vendor put out his tongue to signify the old man was no more , Lalita’s loud shriek ‘Appa’ rent the air across the road.

It was then someone pointed out a framed picture of Ganesh on the side wall where Mahalingam lay and the sundal had fallen in a heap from the vessel below the Ganesha picture. The priest who had just then arrived at the spot sized up the situation and told, “Lalita, I can understand your shock. But look at the grace God has bestowed on him. He fell just at the bottom of Lord’s framed picture on the side wall and the prasad meant for the lord fell before Him signifying the fulfillment of your vow. Look at the irony. Your dad  was suffering from sleeplessness and now the Lord has bestowed on him eternal sleep at His feet. God’s ways are inscrutable. Do not grieve. What more blessing can one ask for?”

It was then a young man in the crowd, not satisfied with the hasty pronouncement, examined the old man again and felt his nostrils to announce the old man was still alive and needed to be rushed to hospital. Two fractures on right hand and many abrasions on  right leg were found but the old man, possibly due to a clot, was not able to recognize or do anything on his own. Immediate surgery to remove the clot  was ruled out by the hospital  due to other circumstances.

Muthu  was hired as a help to take care of him 24x7 to give him bath, fixing and removing diapers, feeding him and taking him for a small walk daily. Luckily, he was gentle and kind towards Mahalingam. Finance was no problem as he was drawing a fat pension and well off. Life was humdrum and Lalita was full of remorse that she had left him unattended at the temple on the fateful day  for a while. Her son Gopi too regretted that it was his refusal to accompany his grandpa that brought about this sad outcome.

 In a fit of penitence, he said one day,” I feel I am responsible. I will accompany grandpa this time. Let us do the undischarged promise of  puja again. I strongly feel it would be beneficial.” Lalita readily agreed and carried out the  promise the next day itself without taking her father hoping Lord Ganesh would listen to her prayers.

Nothing happened and there was a pall of gloom in the house seeing the  man in such a passive condition. It was a fortnight later, when there was none save Lalita and her dad, she fell asleep on the sofa watching the TV. It was then she felt someone touching her shoulder to wake her up and heard a soft voice, “Lalita, I am hungry, can you give me a cup of coffee?

Startled at the unexpected development, she jumped in joy and hugged her father saying , ”Appa,I am so happy that the Lord has listened to my prayers. Please sit down, I will get you coffee in a jiffy. Would you like  a few cookies too?”

As they sat before TV sipping coffee and munching biscuits, the bell rang. As Muthu entered and saw Mahalingam sipping coffee normally, he gave a surprising look at Lalita.

“Yes. A miracle has happened.Appa is normal and talked to me, I am so relieved now,  “she said.

“ Who is he? Why do you say appa is normal now as if I was crazy earlier? Strange, as I am always normal,” Mahalingam said to the amused laugh from both. Lalita decided to tell him later gradually what had happened in the intervening days.