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What Does Your God Look Like?
I thought god was light blue, wore gold ornaments, and sat on my right shoulder
It was one of those unforgiving winter mornings, when dal shrinks into a frosty glob the moment it is ladled into a bowl, a plate of white fluffy rice threatens to turn into an icy grey one. I quickly portioned steaming hot vegetables on to a brass plate and handed it to my mother-in-law.
“For God,” I said, as she doesn’t eat before serving her deities.
“No, no,” she shook her head, “This is too little, give him a bit more of the cauliflower, and where is the tomato chutney?”
After the offering was put away for the Gods, I made to serve others sitting impatiently around the dining table.
“Wait,” Mommy cautioned me, “God is still eating, let him finish.”
A few minutes later, I reached for the cooker again. Mommy advised me to stop, “He is yet to rinse his mouth.”
This personification of God, the process of turning the divine into human, of bringing down an abstract concept into a familiar form and imagining them carrying out everyday chores, is fascinating.
When talk veers to religion and spirituality, beliefs and faith, I long to ask people, what does your personal God look like?
