The Transformation on a Deepavali Day (600 words)

Narayanan’s sister, Jalaja, had come from Seattle to Ernakulam on a short holiday to his house. She and their aged mom wished to visit the famous Krishna temple at Guruvayur. Though he was an atheist at heart, he agreed to take them to the temple town in his car. He had a great fondness for his sister and always tried to please her.

When they arrived at the temple gate, he asked them to go inside for darshan and said that he would wait at the tea stall, sipping tea.

“Narayana, why don’t you accompany us and come inside? It will make mom very happy,” said Jalaja.

He shook his head and said, “Please do not insist. You take your time and have a good darshan. I will enjoy watching the people and the temple elephant tied to the railing here.”

“Jalaja, do not waste your time. He is a Nasthikan (atheist) and will lecture like Jabali that there is no god. It is all his past karma. Leave him alone. We should hurry up before the crowd starts turning up,” said her mom.

When they went inside, Narayanan bought a cup of coffee and sat on a bench outside the tea stall with the day’s morning paper. He looked at his morning emails and kept his iPhone on the bench by his side as he turned his attention to the swaying elephant. Though he felt sorry for making his mom unhappy, he had always been irreligious and without faith. His father was a communist ideologue, and maybe it was his influence on him.

As he was browsing the headlines, he felt a movement by his side and saw a boy running towards the temple. He found his iPhone missing and ran after the boy. Nimble-footed, the boy ran fast inside the big temple Prakaram (corridor). The boy ran so fast amidst the crowd of devotees that Narayanan could not keep pace with him. Everyone stood and stared in wonder at this chase.

After one round of the outer prakaram (corridor), the boy ran inside towards the sanctum sanctorum with Narayanan closely behind him. Amidst the commotion, everyone, including his mom and sister, turned towards him. Both were surprised to see him and were happy that he had come just in time when the bell rang for the arathi. Narayanan could not see the boy. He mingled with the devotees and suddenly vanished

Just then, the priest moving the arathi clockwise around the God, illuminating the sanctum, was heard telling, “Today, the lord is in Shri Bala Krishna alankaram(decorated as a young boy).

With tears flowing on their cheeks, his mom and sister were grateful for His grace in bringing Narayanan inside the temple. As everyone raised their hands, Narayanan also raised his folded hands involuntarily with his eyes focused on God. He had a good darshan of the Lord, who seemed to smile at him.

When asked by Jalaja, “How come you followed us surprisingly?” Narayanan mentioned about the young boy who snatched his iPhone and ran inside the temple and how he could not catch him.

“What are you telling? I can see your iPhone very much in your shirt pocket,” she exclaimed.

As he felt the phone in his pocket, he wondered who and where that mysterious boy could be. He was pretty sure that the boy had snatched the phone. Confused when he looked again at the God in a child’s form amidst the light of the sole oil lamp, he felt, he knew the answer and an indescribable thrill of a change in his heart.