The moon and suspense

Many people say for themselves: "I am God’s favourite.”

That has prompted me to write this piece.

When I was a child aged eight, I always thought that God loved me so much that even the sun and the moon were traveling with me when I walked.

As a child I could not understand that this illusion appeared because of the enormity of the distance between the sun, the moon and the earth.

I was so convinced with this phenomenon that I started telling everyone about it. When I told my mother, she was amused. So she took me in her arms, kissed me and said "yes.”

Then one evening I had an argument with my sister, Maharukh, and our maid. We were on the footpath of our Bldg No. 2. I told them that I could make the moon travel with me. They said it could not happen. So I ran to Bldg No. 4, a distance of about 80 meters. I saw the moon coming with me. I ran faster, the moon traveled faster. I stopped. The moon also stopped.

Then I ran back, the moon also was now traveling back towards Bldg No. 2 with me. I was so happy. I told Maharukh and the maid, "See, I told you. The moon travels with me. See, it has come back here with me.”

"No!” they said, "The moon never went to Bldg No. 4. It was here all the time when you went there!”

"Ok, then,” I said, "I am going there once again, and you please be very attentive.”

So I ran towards Bldg No. 4 once again. The moon followed. I stopped. The moon stopped. Now, I wanted the moon to remain there only, so that I could go back to my sister and maid and show them that the moon was not with them. But this could not be done. As soon as I went towards Bldg No. 2, the moon too traveled with me. I did not want to tell the moon to stop there because I was afraid that the moon would then never travel with me again!

So I returned to Bldg No. 2. They told me that the moon had not traveled at all.

So I told Maharukh: "You come with me to Bldg No. 4 and see for yourself.”

Maharukh agreed. She came with me. Now both of us were running together. She was now convinced when she was running with me. I was feeling so happy that, at last, there was somebody who believed in me.

Then, it happened. Maharukh stopped running, but I carried on.

"See,” she said, "When I stopped, the moon also stopped. That means the moon is running with me. Not with you.”

"No,” I said, "When I walk, the moon walks with me, when I run the moon runs with me and when I stop the moon stops with me! Not with you.”

The argument went on. We needed an arbitrator. So we went back to our maid.

"You both are wrong,” she said, "The moon was not traveling with any of you. It was in fact here all the time, with me!”

Now this was too much. We both were very angry now. A servant telling us that the moon liked her more than us!

When we returned home, we told our Mom. She said, "God loves us all and that’s why the moon travels with all of us.”

My sister was convinced. My maid was convinced. But I was not!

"How can the moon stop when I stop and at the same time keep on moving with my sister or my maid or someone else?”

Then my father returned after a weekly visit to a friend who used to distill liquor in his own home. Those were the days of prohibition.

I don’t know what my father’s feelings were at that time, but his eyes were red. My mother stopped us, but we didn’t listen.

Then again, we told the same story to my father.

"Look,” he told my pretty little sister, "If you are good, the moon will travel with you.”

Then he turned to me (thin and dark and looking like a street urchin) and said: "If you are naughty or bad, the moon will not travel with you.”

Then he looked into my eyes and said: "See, you are telling lies. Your left eye is smaller than your right eye. Your left eye says that you are telling the truth but I know that it is telling lies!” Whenever my father spoke like that, I felt deeply hurt. Being dishonest was an adjective that I could never accept for myself.

I was finished. I was hurt. Nobody was prepared to believe that the moon travelled with me! But, in my heart of hearts, I knew that the moon did travel with me.

Later when I grew up, I understood the phenomenon and laughed at our argument.

However, the episode left a few things unresolved.

Why did my father always believe my sister? Just because she was pretty and good looking?

Why did my father always doubt me and my intentions? Just because I did not look good or just because my one eye involuntarily became smaller when I tried to convince people?

My father was a very respectable man. He was noble, modest, honest and obliging. But was he a good father?

But God was great. He loved me. He gave me His gifts! He made me intelligent. My teachers loved me. I won awards and scholarships. He made me a good cyclist. I won trophies and titles, and even love. I became famous. Many invited me, honored me and even strangers remembered me. I became a people’s photographer. My work won over their hearts. People gave me work, paid me money and also shared their meals with me. I am married to someone who loves me dearly and has not yet left me. I also have a son who loves me and respects me despite his knowledge of my shortcomings and weaknesses.

I am now convinced that God loves me, and the sun and the moon always travel with me.

Moral:

No matter what they tell us

No matter what they do

No matter what they teach us

What we believe is true.