WHEN GOD WALKED THE EARTH CHAPTER 17
God visits Calcutta

Dr Mohamed had to visit Calcutta because one of his patients who had gone visiting Calcutta had suddenly fallen ill and was admitted in I.C.U in one of the hospitals in the city, and since Mohamed was his family doctor ,his family called him over to assist the local doctors. Since God loved traveling ,Mohamed took Him to Calcutta, soon they found themselves in the city which is the capital of west Bengal .There is a vast contrast between Bombay and Calcutta ,Bombay is always on the move and Calcutta is a laid back city where every one takes life at a slow and leisurely pace ,hours are spent by the babu’s of Calcutta discussing politics and literature without a care in the world,while in Bombay nobody has the time to spend on these pursuits, everyone is running and running fast to capture fame,name and money in the fists of his hands,day and night he is dreaming of moolah
Since Dr Mohamed was busily occupied with his patient, God was left on His own to take in the sights and sounds of the city. God was standing outside His hotel looking at the sight of numerous rickshaw pullers ,pulling rickshaw’s with their bodies. God had seen people traveling by planes, ships ,cars ,boats ,motor cycles, but he had never seen anyone traveling by a rickshaw pulled by human beings
A rickshaw puller suddenely stopped before Him, ”new here? ”,he questioned Him
God nodded His head” then you should pay a visit to Dakshineshwar which will be quite a memorable experience to take back home”.As God stood debating wether to go or not,the rickshaw puller said in a cajoling voice,”it is only a kilometer from here and anyone who visits this city makes it a point to visit the place”
“what is so special about this place? ”,God wanted to know
“Dakshineshar together with Belur math is any visitors paradise,once you have visited them you will know for yourself that I was speaking the truth”
God had noticed that he was pulling his rickshaw with only one leg therefore God was hesitating to go in his rickshaw because He did not want to add to his misery,but God also knew that this man was sorely in need of money,God was in two minds when the rickshaw puller said again,”you are afraid that I will involve you in an accident because of my one leg aren’t you,but don’t worry I am driving with one leg for many years now and I assure you I will reach you there safely”.God could not refuse his offer.

As the rickshaw puller started on his way,God was amazed to see that educated and respectable people urged the rickshaw pullers to run faster and faster as though they were beasts of burden,the poor men had no option but to oblige but God cringed at this inhuman sight which surpassed all limits of humanity.Since the rickshaw puller rode the rickshaw with one leg,the ride was extremely bmpy,suddenely the rickshaw came to a halt its wheels had hit the back of a bike because the bike was parked in the centre of the road and its owner was busily occupied in conversation with a friend,the man stared at the rickshaw puller and gave vent to his anger by hurling choicest abuses on him.Although God was angry at this injustice done to the poor man without any fault on his part,He kept His peace and He advised the rickshaw puller to ignore the man and get on with his mission,till the rickshaw puller was within the earshot of the man he kept on hurling abuses at him but the poor man ignored them and kept on pulling the rickshaw resolutely.The man knew the place inside out and very soon God found Himself at Belur math,nestled in acres of verdant greenery surrounded on all the sides with river Ganges,it was like heaven on earth,peaceful and beautiful.It was built by the famous monk Swami Vivekanand for his guru Shri Ramkrishna Prahmansa,God visited the Samadhi of Vivekananda which was built within the math then He walked along the Ganges river enjoying the brilliant morning sunlight.Here He took a boat ride to Dakshineshwar although there was a long queue waiting for the darshan of the great guru, God too waited patiently in the queue to get a glimpse of His disciple who had always been a great bhakta of God.
After having the darshan,God went into the community kitchen and ate with every one piping hot khichadi accompanied by vegetable curry.
The rickshaw puller was waiting patiently outside the huge gates of the muth.”you realy spoke the truth when you told me that this place was every visitors paradise,it truly was a beautiful experience ,I enjoyed it very much all thanks to you”.God said
On the way back,God asked him about his life,at first the man was silent,but seeing the eyes of God which were brimming over with love and compassion,he started narrating his story “I come from a small village in Bhuj”,he started,”in the village I fell in love with a girl called Gauri,we both came from rich families.Since both the families were known to each other,they readily agreed to our marriage even our wedding date was fixed,but a day before our marriage tragedy struck us,Gauri was returning from the beauty parlour when she was abducted from outside the parlour by a group of college boys,she watched her abduction in terror as they looked at her with lecherous eyes”we are going to rape you”,they told her”and if you fight back we are going to kill you”
Desperately Gauri searched fot ways to escape from their clutches.Looking at the car door she considered leaping out,seeing her gaze a boy told her sneeringly that she would not be able to open the door as the door had an automatic lock.There and then she decided to pray because she had great faith in God,she knew in her heart that He would rescue her,suddenely the car lurched and the tyres squealed,when she opened her eyes,she found that the car had stopped moving”get off”,said a boy harshly”we have remembered more important things which we have to attend to immediately besides we have to have the car repaired,therefore be gone fast before we change our minds”.
Gauri who was frightened beyond imagination rushed home and slept the whole day through without talking to anyone.Every one thought that she was nervous and tired due to her wedding therefore she was left alone
That night a greater tragedy struck us,a great earthquake struck bhuj and its surrounding areas,I was buried under the debris for 3 days and nights,Gauri escaped the earthquake unscathed because since she had slept the whole day,she decided to go out for a walk to freshen her mind and whilst she was walking the earthquake took place and she was saved .in all those three days Gauri kept vigil at the site where I was buried without food and water,after 3 days I was rescued by by the army and they took me to a hospital ,Gauri followed me, like me she had lost every thing to the earthquake ,suddenely we had both turned orphans Whilst physically she had not lost any thing but I lost one of my legs .She stayed by my side throughout my stay in the hospital taking care of me, Although I loved her to distraction I did not want to marry her because of my handicap ,but Gauri was adamant on marrying me, she argued that if the earthquake had happened after we were married would she have abandoned me, since there was nothing left in the village except painful memories we decided to leave and go to a big city to make our living ,we thought of many cities and then we zeroed on ,on this city because Gauri was born in this city. We did a court marriage and took up a small rented room with the little money we had saved, our next door neighbor was the owner of this rickshaw, since he was bed ridden he gave me this rickshaw on monthly rent ”,he stopped for a while,” I have a strong feeling that he will demand his rickshaw back because many times I default in my payments, the reason being that people are afraid to be driven by a one legged man,1 thank you sir from my heart for riding on my rickshaw ,I have not had customer since last so many days,1 needed one badly because I can no longer see my wife living in hunger”
“I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and I must thank you for making my day for me ”,replied God kindly.
“why does a man suffer so much ,why does life suddenely change its courses which sends you whirling in a storm from which there is no escape?
”if life is caught up in a storm so that nothing helps not even love, devotion and meditation then only one thing helps, surrendering yourself to the will of God. if you call upon the creator with true love and devotion He will surely come to your rescue. every storm touches life and creates ripples ,take life as it comes with both your hands ,do not resist life ,with time you will out grow this crucification,this intense pain and then a new dawn will appear over your horizon bringing in its wake love,joy and happiness”
“only if 1 could afford an artificial leg for myself, then things would have been easier for me and my wife”
“you will get an artificial leg don’t worry, God will grant you your wish soon” ,said God
Gods destination had come and He removed a thousand rupee note and offered it to the man, God saw that the man was about to refuse the extra money because the only thing intact with the man was his pride ,and that he wouldn’t allow anyone to take from him ”I am helping you because you need this money very badly ,you can repay this by helping some on else in time of need ,this way you can repay my loan and don’t worry your better days are waiting to welcome you, just have faith in God” ,said God and the man said to himself” its only faith in God which is carrying me on, otherwise I and my wife would have finished ourselves long time ago”.