Rendezvous with Ishwar

Here is the situation, you have bus to catch for Hyderabad at 11:30 PM, you start well before time from Baner, Pune…because after all it’s Pune and everything sucks there.

I got an auto at 10:00 PM who agreed to come by meter (yes, you read it right!)

How little you are interested to hear about auto driver’s family when there is 8 degrees outside and sleep is just rolling over your eyes after a handsome dinner? He started rambling about it,  I kept nodding for a while and then stopped to do that, but the auto driver did not give up.

He kept on telling me about his father (who as per him, could tell the future, someone who is blessed with Brahmagyan), his brother who was in army and about his own dreams to become army man. I don’t know when but I did start listening to him and out of no-where he started to talk in English. It’s been after ages I was listening to pure English without any fake accent.

That Auto driver slowly took a track of Bhagvadgeeta, Krishna and an importance of guru in one’s life. I learnt that somehow he could not fulfill his dreams, something that his father already knew but did not tell him that.

It took me 40 minutes to reach Pune station and I still had almost 50 minutes in hand to catch my bus. He stopped the auto, charged me exactly what meter showed [not even late night half return charges] and then asked me if I got any time.

I said “Yes” J

He asked me to read Bhagvadgeeta. The next thing I thought that he might take out one copy to sell it to me, but he did not do that, for next 20-30 minutes he told me why I should read it. Strangely enough I did agree to most of his points. I have promised him that it would be my New Year resolution J

While leaving, we shook hands and I asked his name. He said: “Ishwar Patil”

The name was as striking as his speech and personality. Tomorrow I am buying my copy of ‘Bhagvadgeeta as it is’ and hoping it wont be as my any other New Year resolutions.