That I am not much of a religious person is known. But how I could feel God one day, all around me, is a story.

It all started with a pigeon laying a pair of eggs in our balcony, when we were away for a couple of days. Now this is not something that hasn’t happened before. Although it was a bit of a discomfort as the ‘nest’ was right above the water drain and we couldn’t use the washing machine for the fear of eggs getting damp and dead. This continued for a good two weeks, before we started running out of clothes. And I had no choice but to use the area.

We decided to shift the nest and eggs into a shoe box while the pigeon was away. The pigeon with its button-like eyes couldn’t so much as make out and kept searching for its eggs near the water drain. Somewhere inside, I felt bad for all the trepidation it was going through to find its eggs, but somehow I was sure that it would not give up until it found them. And voila….it did! After a few anxious moments, I came back to the window and found the pigeon back AND inside the box, cuddling its eggs. Was I moved? You bet I was.

That day, I realized that God does have a vision. It’s just that we aren’t able to gauge the boundaries of that vision and sometimes, just give up too soon. I had moved the pigeon’s eggs to a safer place, but it had to make an extra effort to keep the faith and discover it. The opportunities, sometimes even better than those we can think of or dream about, exist so closely and silently about us, but we fail to discover them.

That day I thought, “Had I played God to that pigeon, by expanding it horizons and giving it a better opportunity to be warm and safe?” I was not sure. But slowly I realized that the pigeon was very comfortable with me hanging around the box, and didn’t flutter threateningly to keep me at bay. May be I had given him Some faith. Maybe. And I felt strangely happy.

But My God had some completely different plans, and some ulterior motives as well. The maid arrived home, and she tried to shoo the pigeon away, unaware of that fact that the box had eggs inside it. In the confusion that ensued, the pigeon started fluttering and the box fell down. Both the eggs were broken. The amber-golden liquid that would have some days later translated into a quintessential (hopefully) pigeon pair, lay scattered about in an almost grotesque way. I almost cried and then thought about the pigeon. The maid, sensing my mood, cleaned up everything soon enough.

I moved about the house doing the chores, and thinking about the poor pigeon. Its eggs, subsequent kids. It must be so heartbroken. And I could not, so much as, even say a kind word or two to it. And then I remembered the whole I-played-God-to-the-pigeon thing. I just laughed at my foolishness, and tried to shoo the theory away. But my cynical self summarized that sometimes, even God can make mistakes. 😉
I did feel naive and queasy with that theory, but then, better sense prevailed.

And I concluded that may be this is the time when God wants us to keep our faith in Him, and understand that may be there was a reason as to why this happened. And I am sure, that reason is around me, very near. I just have to look for it, with full sincerity. I haven’t figured it out for the pigeon yet, but I believe it happened for good.

PS: <my cynical self surfacing again> Do you really  think God can Never make mistakes?