“Why do we pray mother?”, the 8 year old son asked. He knelt with her as she prayed,smelling the sweet scent of agarbathi which she had just lighted. “Because my parents taught me “, son raised his eyebrows , the mother continued “It’s a conversation that I have with the God.  Sometimes when I am frightened I pray to remind me that God is watching me and he will protect me. Sometimes I pray to ask for His blessings for you, for family, for world and for me. Sometimes I thank God for what he has given me. Sometimes I ask God to grant me strength to accept those things I cannot change. Bottom line young man is that I feel nice,strong after praying!”

“So are all your prayers answered,” the son asked sneaking his hand towards the ladoo. “Not so fast young man. Be patients just a few minutes more” , mother said, “God answers all prayers, but sometimes his answer is No” Son looked at her puzzled. “God does not answer all your prayers?” Mother said “Yes “. “If he doesn’t answer all you prayers then why should  continue to pray to him ” he said. “Because I have faith in him. You see this 10 rupee note that we have offered to God.” “Yes I do” he replied. “Just look at it. It’s a piece of paper with some ink on it.  Yet, you can trade that piece of paper for  food, or other goods or services.  The money has no intrinsic value” answered the mother. Son looking confused “So you are saying that money is a fiction. ” Mother smiled and said “Rupee has value because we , entire country believes that we can buy with it. It’s the same with religion.  There is no intrinsic value in religion. Believing in God requires leaps of faith,and  accepting code of conduct. Faith is universal. Some of us pray to Jesus, some of us go to Mecca, some to Haridwar. Whether you are a Christian or a Hindu or Muslin simply depends on where you were born! In the end we are all just searching for truth, that which is greater than ourselves.”

Why do we pray?

“God is bad for he does not God answer all your prayers?” son pestered. “When Papa and I don’t answer all your requests and demands do we become bad parents?” mother asked. Son was quite for sometime, “No you don’t and when you don’t you say it is for my own good.” Mother tussled his hair and with smile  “That’s the same reason that God does not answer all my prayers. When he doesn’t I believe that although he has the power to interfere and prevent my  pain, he chooses to show his love by letting me learn my own lessons?” Son said ” Pain is part of growing up. It’s how we learn.” The mother nodded. “Exactly.” He looked at the packet,Sampoorna Lakshmi Pooja Pack, kept near the temple. “What is it?” he asked

“Every ritual in Hinduism needs few things for the pooja to be successful. For example we light Agarbathiatti before every pooja. The term Agarbathi originates from the Agar or Aloes wood, the original incense which became synonymous with the word(something like Google for search or Xerox for photo-copier) and bathi means stick. Since ancient times, substances that produce fragrant smoke on burning have been deployed not only to capture the whole atmosphere with a fine fragrance but also for their curing properties and the purification of environment  and induce good or positive vibrations in the brain. This helps one to concentrate and pray to the lord with all your heart and soul.  Similarly for Diwali we need kalash, thali along with some haldi, kumkum, rice grains. Ganesha and Lakshmi Idiols. Earlier before Diwali, I had to go to the city market to get these or ask your grandparents to send it from our home town. This year we don’t need to do as Sampoorna Lakshmi Pooja Pack (worth Rs 700) is available which contains all basic materials required for the Lakhmi pooja as mentioned in the Skanda Purana. It comes with  instructional booklet(in 6 languages) & audio which have the procedure, necessary shlokas and Shree Vinayak Ashtottarashata Naamaavali for performing the Lakshmi pooja. The traditional way made easy for today’s generation!”

“But why do Hindus have so many God. Christians have one and so do Muslims, Jains and Buddhists?” the son asked. “Why don’t you ask your father about it?” Son ran off the father and asked the question. Father wrapped up the newspaper and said “33 Million Gods in Hindus. Let me give you an exmaple For a country to run properly, the government creates various departments and employs individuals within those departments such as teachers, police and military personnel, construction works, doctors, politicians, and so many more. Each of these departments employs hundreds or thousands of individuals carrying out their respective duties and each sector has an individual or multiple individuals that oversees the activities of that one unit. Each head of an area is endowed with certain privileges and powers which facilitates them in their tasks. It’s safe to say that the number of individuals working for the  government goes into the millions. This is just to keep one country working”, father said.

“In order to keep the universe running, the supreme being, has put into place individuals that oversee different parts of the material universe. These individuals are powerful beings that have been appointed and have been bestowed with the necessary powers and abilities to manage and govern their area of creation. For example, there is someone responsible for the sun and his name is Surya. The goddess Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth. The creator of the material universe is known as Brahma. The destruction of the universe is overseen by Shiva and Vishnu serves as the maintainer. There are individuals overseeing the oceans, the wind, and practically every facet of creations.” So that’s why we pray to Lakshmi on Diwali. ” Son replied. Father nodded “Yes and also to Ganesha . Lord Ganesha is one of the most important deities and in every puja besides Diwali, people perform Ganesh Puja before beginning any new or good work” “So what will you pray to ask Goddess Lakhmi and Ganesha this Diwali son?” asked the father.

“iPad,a new bicycle, a new bat, good marks, less of homework, lots of holidays, lots of travel…” replied the son. Father burst out laughing “Take a break young man.The list is long, it will be difficult for God to give all of these. “Okay so I will ask for my parents to love me always and fulfill my wishes” said the son and ran out to play with his friends.

Note: This article is for the contest organized by PurePrayer