WHEN GOD WALKED THE EARTH CHAPTER 10
God goes to watch Govindas and saves a boy

After Janmashtami the next day came Gokulashtami John and Harry took God to see Govinda’s.This festival is celebrated to commemorate Lord Krishna’s childhood when He went from home to home with His friends breaking the pots of butter kept in every home and taking out the butter and sharing it with His friends.Govinda is celebrated with great gusto by all the youngsters in the city.along with religious fervour there is an element of fun which brings the youngsters together every year to act as Govinda’s on Gokulashtami.The real Govinda’s practice for months together ,there is rigorous training followed by stringent selection process and physically fit boys are selected as Govinda’s.They prepare a human pyramid which requires at least thirty-five boys are required.
When God and His friends reached the vanue where a dahi handi was strung on a thick rope across two buildings at a height of six feet.God was amazed to see the dahi handi hanging at such a great height”don’t you think it is hazardous for young boys to climb so high to break the hundies?’.
“Govinda’s have been doing this for many years now and no body minds it or cares,a few falls here and there does not deter them to get at the hundies and the money they get to do it”,replied Harry
“these days this whole festival has become commercialized,the politicians and dons vie with each other in shelling out money to Govinda’s which runs into lakhs to get publicity”,said John,”many years ago this festival was celebrated by men who belonged to kabadi and other such sport groups,for them dahi handi was an adventurous sport sprinkled with religious sentiments,the cash prize was just a few rupees .money was of no consequace to them,it was the spirit of being a part of the Govinda group that meant a lot more to them,today dahi handi has lost its true meaning,it is a publicity gimmick controlled by political parties,corporate houses and even dons,everyone wants to be a part of the festival for the money they can earn from it,therefore anyone forms a group without proper training,adorning company and their parties Tshirts.,they roam around in trucks creating chaos and acting as walking advertisement they go around breaking hudies not giving any chance to real Govinda’s
“I can see that there is no religious fervour in the festival”was God’s reply
Just then a group of youngsters arrived in a truck with filmy music blazing loudly in the back ground, they swaggered towards the hundi with people readily clearing the way for them,below the hundi they started forming a human pyramid,five to six times they made the pyramid but every time they fell like a pack of cards.God was highly amused by the spectacle,at the seventh attempt when they had already reached their target,the small child who was at the top of the pyramid and whose task was to break the hundi slipped and fell,his body was about to hit the ground when God rushed forward and caught him in His arms the boy would have surely died if God had not saved him in the nick of time.The boys mother who was standing nearby rushed forwards and took the boy in her arms and started kissing him all over the face,then she humbly touched Gods feet and said tearfully”you are my God because you have saved my only child from sure death”,
“why did you allow this toddler to be a part of this show?”,questioned God
“I would have never allowed him, to take part it was his father who made him join the group,he is a drunkard who goes to any length to get his regular fix,he is jobless daily he beats me black and blue to give him money for his regular dose. I too have lost my job therefore he made me beg to get money ,but since begging does not give us much income, he requested this troupe to use our son with the promise that they would give him money” ,said the woman with tears flowing from her eyes
“where is your husband? ’,asked God
“he is standing here besides me,” ,she said pointing to a bedraggled man God looked at him ,he looked double his age, depressed and distressed dressed in hand me downs” what’s your names? ,asked God
“my name is Panduranga”,replied the man
“you have a lovely name”,said God,”this is another name of Krishna,you are putting your Gods name to shame by your shameful behavior,do you know that children are a blessing of God,they are the ones who take care of you when you are old and infirm and when you are dead they carry your name forward ,today if your child would have died then”, said God
“please sir donot speak such hard words, my circumstances have made me a no -gooder and a drunkard, but I do love my child believe me sir, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving his life” ,said the man in a humble voice
“because of your previous karmas the child has been saved ,but what will happen when your good karmas get over and your bad karmas take over?’ asked God” then what ever good is coming your way will stop and bad things will happen there is still time to turn over a new leaf gather into yourself good traits of an honest man and inspite of adverse circumstances ,environments and conditions in your life ,the negative tendencies in your mind will be wiped out ,you will turn into a good person and will gain every thing you desire in your life” ,said God
“I promise I will turn over a new leaf”, the man said with remorse in his eyes When they reached home after witnessing the Govind’s they found an eviction notice pasted on their door,they were asked to vacate the flat within three months or face the bulldozer. Society chairman said that the building had been damaged in the recent earthquacke,the building had shaken so violently that it had destroyed the foundation of the building, a structural survey undertaken by the local municipal ward office had confirmed the existence of major cracks and corrosion of the beams and supporting columns of the structure. The RCC columns in the building had also developed cracks and all the RCC slabs were badly damaged therefore there was not much time left for the building to collapse.