The Incense Stick

I snuffed out the matchstick with which I had just lighted the holy lamp and the aromatic incense stick. It was 6pm. What ever I may have been doing, I take a break at this hour to perform this chore. It gives me a sense of satisfaction of having remembered God and thanking Him for everything He has given me.

To tell you the truth, this evening routine was included in my daily schedule only about two months ago. 62 days to be precise. From the day I got a job. My first job.

Not being a very religious person, I have never really spent time at the puja room nor have I been on any pilgrimages. But yes, I have always had a strong belief in a divine power which governs our every action. I recall several instances when I would silently pray to God for giving me the strength to face the world bravely. And He has never let me down. Even if it was a failure that I had to face, I could do so with courage, because of His guidance. Thankfully I have been gifted with a very optimistic and a strong mind, which enables me to take life as it comes and enjoy it in the process.

In retrospection, I regard myself as a truly blessed individual. My life till date has been like a song, which I would love to hum to myself in my later years when ever I feel nostalgic. My family, my biggest influence, has ever guided me and helped me overcome every hurdle in life (not that I had many!!). Not believers in religious rituals, but at the same time, never forgetting God, my family hasn’t an elaborate prayer area, or puja room. Just an idol of Lord Ganesha, to symbolize God, stands on a shelf in the dining room, to which y father has been lighting the holy lamp and the incense stick every morning for over a decade. He has on several occasions told me to do so too, every evening. I have also made several attempts to regularly light the lamp, but all in vain. After a few days I would forget to continue, and there ended many earnest tries. It wasn’t that I didn't enjoy the task, or felt that it was not necessary; it was just that it somehow slipped out of my mind. 

I have always been connecting to God mentally and so having to do something physically to link to god was difficult for me to habituate. So I gave up hoping God wasn’t upset with me.

Then one day, fate struck. All of us at college were informed about a top MNC coming for campus recruitment program. Excited and nervous, I sat through the presentation and the aptitude test. As luck would have it, I was short listed for the interview. In less than half a day’s time, I sat astounded with the offer letter in my hand!! Out of 250 candidates only 35 made it and I was one of them. Honestly, I wouldn’t have even been able to participate in this recruitment program if it was to be held as scheduled 4 days earlier. I was not in station on the original date. I believe that my beloved God arranged for it to be postponed only for me.

I still had 3 months to go before I graduated, and here I was with a swell job in hand, which was offered on a silver platter to me. How lucky I was compared to the hundreds of weary job hunters in the outside world.

I could hardly stop thanking God that night. In spite of me forgetting to light the lamp for Him, he never forgets me. A pang of guilt stung me. I then decided, it was time and by any cost I would start lighting the holy lamp. The next evening, my family witnessed me light the divine lamp and the incense stick. Only then did I feel that I have actually thanked Him for everything. Not an evening passed since, without me setting the life the dancing flames of the lamp.

The enchanting fragrance of the incense stick hangs in the air. And every whiff of it, makes me realize how truly lucky I am to be me – happy, contended, grateful and above all else, blessed.