Thought, Word & Deed

Keshav considered himself a Sai devotee. He was a regular attendee at the Sai Bhajans. He sang and clapped. He even spouted Sai teachings on and off. For him, Sathya Sai Baba was God. He avoided temples. The rituals and the money grabbing priests put him off. Not to mention the tiring antics of the pious Hindus like loud and unending prayers , coconut breaking, abishekams with an assortment of materials, and so on.

But in a confused way, he still considered himself a Hindu. He chanted the Ganesha mantra every morning. And whenever he faced a problem, he had no qualms about calling on Ganesha to remove the obstacles.

He spoke pleasantly to everyone. But he despised most of them. His family members in particular. His wife’s nagging was unbearable. When he faced her, he would often wish within himself that she would just disappear from the face of the earth. But he would smile and oblige. He led a good life, materially speaking. In no small measure due to the largesse he received from his in-laws, as a sort of continuing dowry. His children irritated him. In particular his teenage daughter, who was so goody-goody. She had advice for him on practically everything. But he would lavish praise on her. “What a model child. We are so blessed”. Inside, he fumed. His colleagues, he considered such a pain. All of them earned praise from the boss. Apple polishers. To their face, he would praise them too. “How lucky I am to have such great buddies !”.

The message for the week was read by a child. She read haltingly, “Thought, word and deed. They must be in harmony”. For a moment, Keshav felt a stirring within. But got over it soon enough. He carried on as usual.

The day began as usual. Sitting at the altar for the obligatory prayer and “meditation”. More often than not, Keshav would be thinking of how to get back at that pest Sharma at the office. Or to avoid his wife’s nagging that morning. But as he got up, he had a seizure.

Keshav was bedridden. In the beginning a constant stream of visitors would come. He would curse them and scold them and tell them how much he despised them all. He would tell them what animals they were. He told wife that she was a nagging bore. And his daughter that she was an unnatural pretender. Everyone heard from him what he really thought of them. Sometimes he would grab anything he could and throw it at them. He couldn’t help it. And so the visitors stopped coming. Everyone did all they could to avoid him. He was a lonely old man. But his thoughts, words and deeds were in harmony. At last.