God and Gustad…12……………………………..FAITH ASSASSINATED.

Gustad had a fleet of 25 cabs now ; he had shifted to a tony apartment at Bombay Central with the family and their pet dog Buster. As expected, his demeanor had not changed over the past 8 years since God had first visited him in the single room tenement he lived in. Gratitude was a virtue which came to his small family like second nature. At the stroke of every Geh (call to prayer) they would utter “Kodaiji Tamara Lakh Lakh Sugrana”( Dear God Thanks for everything you have given us)… from wherever they were.

As Jeroo , Gustad’s wife, stood on the balcony of the 15th storied apartment sipping a cup of tea, Buster and Gustad joined them. Soli , their son, had finished his MBA and was interning with a MNC at Nariman Point. In spite of all the materialistic acquisitions they had, Gustad was still out of the house driving his cab by 8am every single day.

He was flagged by a middle-aged couple who wanted to reach the Ashram of a popular Godman, known to his followers as Baapuji. He had a huge following including fashionistas, politicos, bollywood stars and common people .

As they arrived at their destination God whispered in his ear, “Meet this “Baapu” and give him my message, go ahead don’t be scared the words will come to you automatically and I will protect you from any harm”.

Gustad drove around, parked his cab and walked back towards the ashram. There was a huge crowd already waiting for the Godman to start his sermon. He surveyed all very condescendingly and said…”Today we will talk about what causes anger”, as the crowd clapped in raptures.

“ Can anyone tell me WHY people Shout in anger at each other?” and one of the disciples said “ Because we lose our calm, we shout”.

“ But WHY should you shout when the other person is just next to you ? You can as well say what you have to say in a soft manner and he or she can hear you easily.”asked the Godman.

The disciples thought for a while and gave different answers. None satisfied the Baapu. Then  Gustad raised his hand and replied, “ When two people are angry at each other , their hearts distance a lot. To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are, they will have to shout louder and louder to cover that greater distance.

What happens when two people fall in love? They don't shout at each other but talk softly, Because their hearts are very close. The distance between them is either nonexistent or very small...'

And  Gustad continued, 'When they love each other even more, what happens? They do not speak, only whisper and they get even closer to each other in their love. Finally they even need not whisper, they only look at each other and that's all. That is how close two people are when they love each other. So when you argue do not let your hearts get distant, Do not say words that distance each other more, Or else there will come a day when the distance is so great that you will not find the path to return.”

Every one present gave Gustad a standing ovation, much to the consternation of the Godman, . “ where has this creature come from? he can hijack this satsang completely, must do something about it” thought the Godman. He invited Gustad to the dais and sit next to him while another chela continued the sermon .

“ You seem to have a vast knowledge, who is your guru?” baapu enquired. “I don’t have a guru, never had one, and I’ve always put my  full faith in God alone.”

“Yes but today no one lives without a guru. It’s the “in” thing to flaunt one. See these thousands seated and standing here just for my ‘darshan’, they will leave lots of gifts, jewellery and cash by the time I finish off today. If you wish I can make you a ‘guru’ and a millionaire many times over. What do you do for a living, by the way and what is your name?”

Now they were speaking telepathically, no one else could hear their conversation. God had switched on the “mute” button for them.

“Gustad ,and I drive a cab”.

“Oh my, you are a taxiwallah, and a Parsi bawaji, I have many Parsi followers too all across the country and the globe. Parsi’s are very kind, generous and so gullible, if I may add. Now here’s the deal - with the gift of the gab you have you will be driving around in luxury cars. I can introduce you to big people as my old “chela”. You see people are so blinded by their faith in me they believe anything I say or want them to believe. Even the high and mighty, I have the world in my pocket. The world is full of gullible duffers waiting to be suckered.”

“Listen to me you delusional idiot”, Gustad was taken aback by this candor, then deciding these were God’s words and the assurance he had, continued. “In the near future you will be arrested for murder, land grabbing, cheating, dacoity, forgery, practicing black magic and rape. This is your time to back off. You have covered a long distance in your trail of deceit and mayhem, using the faith and trust people put in you. Just because you survived for so long don’t think you are infallible like God”. The baapu sat frozen. He could only look at Gustad and hear him telepathically.

“ But I am God , my followers are all across the globe, they worship the ground I walk on, I have over 600 such ashrams all over the world !!!” exclaimed baapu. “I can have you killed here and now, I just don’t know why I cannot speak or signal to any of my chelas to drag you out of here. I have never ever felt so helpless before.”

“ Stop your evil ways right now, there’s worse to come” warned Gustad as the words continued flowing.

“You can say what you want I will not change, I am the king of all I survey; you need to worry about yourself taxiwallah bawaji!”said Baapu scornfully.

God asked Gustad to leave the place and go straight to his cab as His message had been conveyed.

“They don’t call me Ram Ass Re Baapu for nothing” were the last words he could remember hearing as Gustad drove away in his cab. 

Just then a man dressed as a police officer walked towards Baapu onto the dais. The other security persons didn’t take much note of this as they were focused on crowd control. Baapu was already transfixed and could not scream or move his body either way.

His eyes filled with terror as he saw the man in uniform approaching. Baapu could see the gun clearly now. The assassin put the gun on Baapu’s forehead and pressed the trigger emptying all the bullets into him at point blank range. Pandemonium broke loose. Security and the police apprehended the killer on the spot , who offered no resistance at all.

“This Baapu had raped and killed my daughter right here in this ashram last year, after that he poisoned my wife and me, she could’nt survive either, the only reason I lived after that was to kill him,” said the man as he was being led away by the cops.

 He stopped suddenly and turning his head to the left, licked on his collar. He walked a few steps further and collapsed in a heap. The forensic department later confirmed his collar was laced with cyanide.

the reluctant writer.