When I was young
My mom said “Son, a Coconut every Friday,
Broken for Ganesha,
Keeps you Fit and Prosperous all day”

“Mom” I asked “Why all this fuss
When bathing in the Radiant morning Sun
Drenching in the Herbal Falls of Courtallam,
Will keep me Fit in any case, whether Ganesha or No Ganesha?”

“Son, Do as I say, otherwise,
God will Punish you One day?”
Inquisitive as I was, analysed the Poor Coconut on hand,
“Mom, why is there three eyes for the Coconut”
“That’s because Brahma, Vishnu, Sivan – The Creator,
The Protector and the Destroyer of all that you see”

“Mom, how is it that I never see any of them anywhere I go?”

“Son, but for their mercy how do you justify;
Sweet Water stored inside the shell of the Coconut,
The wonderful White Kernel to eat,
Packed amidst Fibres so immaculate, you see,
Taken all the way up 100 feet on soils so near the Salty Sea,
See, if God you pray is not at all there,
How this wonder Tree could ever bear?”

Convinced I was there must be a Creator all right,
Left my School Books in delightful disgust
To while away my time on
Birds and Beasts, Flowers and Falls,
Dwindled I on
Water, Air, Fire, Earth, and Ether,
But for these Five I know nothing ever exists!

On an unusual day I saw
A King Fisher so beautiful back on the Neem Tree
Eating its prey so Meticulously cooling its hunger
Enjoying every bit unaware of an intruder in me!
Next day too on the same Neem it came
The Time can be adjusted to the minute in your watch!
Watched in Dismay of disbelief I called my Mom
“Mom you see this beautiful Bird coming here dot on time”
“See I told you Son,
God has put brain in its head that it knows
your place more by memory that it comes to the same Neem it loves!’

And on one evening I accidentally saw Hundreds of Crows
calling all its brethren,
For the final rites of their parted friend,
This Crowd was a revelation Grand!

May be God is true;
put in some brain on these Birds, I thought.

Radiance on the morn from the Eastern Sky
Led me one day to the tiny Protozoa,
the Single Celled Creation of the unknown,
moved from darkness to Light, I thought,
That even this Tiny Brain, must be a beauty of All!
Behold that Sunflower too in Yellow
Following the Sun’s steps in style
Like an Adder and the majestic Piper!

Parrots I saw in the nearby tamarind trees
Breaking the nuts so nicely amidst the bees
The colours of their gowns amazed me beyond belief,
When it all rained on that Seaside Land,
I could see the Tango of the Dancing Peacocks,
The Rainbows painted in background to endear
Competing in the Colour Parade I could never Judge
even on this wonderful day!

I thought my exploration mustn’t stop
Ventured into the Forest lands,
With Brooks and Grass so calm and cool
Saw some Sparrows on the Trees
Building their Nests I could never believe!
With only straws we threw in waste,
Whoever thought these Architects so Great
Better than the builders of our own Flats!

“Mom I saw these things with disbelief,
I tend to think God must be there somewhere”

“Son you see our Gowri, the Cow, inside the shed
About to deliver a cute little Calf”
And what I saw
Made me feel “Yess its true God puts in grey matter
On anything you see”
As the Calf when dropping out of the Cow
Straight it strolled and sucked the Bladder of Gowri!
Who the hell I thought would tell
A minute Old Calf That walks
For its milk Only there and Nowhere else!”

I grew into School that Degrees my Stature
When on one fine day I saw my friends surrounding a hill
“Snakes You see inside these hills”
On my research I saw those Ants
So Disciplined carrying their Food
In queues so neat that we never could learn
Storing for those rainy days, its True!

I fed that dog that came on that street
Next day I saw on time it came
I fed a few grains again it came
Ever from that time it was there with me
Faithful it was till I Degreed!

Years I wandered in the deserts of Sahara
The Beautiful Blacks I lived with my daughters
Reminded me of Cactus, the deserted darling,
Gently soft and silky inside, you see
Sweeter and Kinder People we are yet to see
A headache for my Daughter the whole School was at Home
Never a day would pass in our life
except to thank those Ijebuode Friends!

Masai Marah the tribes know how to live with
The Lions we saw hunting the Zebras
The Leopards are still kind to its Cubs
The Ostrichs too stretching our Imagination
The Grass would feed the Elephants in herds
Where on earth is a better place to Live?

The Hippos in merriment in water so murky
The Flamingos in Nakuru, Shielding the Lake,
The Giraffes on our way as if owners of this Land
The Antelopes, the Deer, amazed me Dear
Let me Tent my life under this Tree!

God the Great Ganesha may be
I must see you one day I prayed sincerely!
Yes He said on a sunny day evening
My Car got bumped into that Honda Bike
Knocked down was Oh! God I saw!

The cop on the side caught hold of Him too
Charged Him for driving rash, you see, for no fault of His
He pleaded He is innocent but he said he would fine
As I drive a Benz and I can’t be wrong!
Yes He said and paid a Bribe
Of a Hundred that He borrowed from me
as He doesn’t have One on hand!

I asked Him “Friend, Where are you from”
“I am God you see your Mom did describe”
I laughed and laughed that He thought I am a nut
“How do I know the God in you that Mom would know”
“See that Sky that’s so bright
The Stars are seen and the Moon is in mood
The cool weather that surrounds all
does it sound likely to rain?”

“No” I said “Not I know of”
“Then you hear the Thunder I produce”
The Thunder I heard was mad on my ear drums
“You see the rains that come forth now”
Rains it came like Cats and Dogs whipping my veins
“Now you see the Peacocks on that Tower so tall”
Yes I saw the same Tango of my high school days
“Now you know Who Am I”
“Yes” with awe I submit a bit
Not fully convinced I called Him for Dinner
“yes” He said without a whimper!

“A mile from my Home He asked
“How is Shadow?”
“What”
“Shadow”
“What”
“Shadow, your sweet labby”
“My God you are not my Doctor for the Dog!”
I took Him with Fear as I know He is near
My wife wasn’t serious as usual and Laughed me out

“God! you believe is at our Doors!”
“True dear” but she wouldn’t stop laughing
My wife would ask “How do we know you are God?”
He pulled out His laptop and asked her too see

We saw the beauties of Black holes,
the splendours of Outer World and the Milky way
Gravity Free universe where the Astronauts strolled”
“How do you Create all these, God”
“it is my Job you see!
A Clay is a Clay and unless
I pot it; it is a Clay”
“How do you decide on what you shape?”
“All these years
I never regret on my outputs, you see
Except the one that I endeavoured differently?”
“the Apes, the Onyx, Blue Whales or the Polar Bears
Even the Turtles or Otters or the Orangutans the beauty;
Butterflies; the Toucons or the Armadillos in the Amazon;
Are all my Creations shaped in Style
Yet all but one surprises me, the Creator,
Is My unpredictable Human race!”

“Why? we do fine! We are byte by byte on an IT bingo you See!”

“Yet I know
You need to know a bit more too
To live in togetherness that I know
The Lions amidst Lions,
The Leopards amidst Leopards,
The Crows amidst Crows
The Zebras and the Bisons- They are fine indeed fine
but Human Beings amidst Human beings I know
You divide my Thinking and multiply your Hatred
subtract the Virtues and Magnify others’ Minuses!”

“Amazing I know, but what should we do?”

“Just don’t think of me whenever you quarrel
Just Don’t thank of me whenever you are slimy
Don’t ever say sorry after the crime
Lastly Don’t ever get bribed as I did for the Cop!
I know it is a bit too hard at parting
Remember always”, pointing His Fingers at Shadow, my pet,

“These Four Legged Gentlemen of all my Creations
will put all the Two Legged Animals to Shame”

He vanished in speed.
I still pray One day I might see Him on that
Honda Bike Unnumbered!