What is worship?
June 1985
- I was stationed at Gorakhpur, and had come on leave to Chandigarh to pick up
my family – wife, 5 years old daughter, one month old son, and our dog,
Tootsie. During this leave I purchased my first car - the good old Ambassador.
We had planned to drive down from Chandigarh to Gorakhpur, via Delhi. The summer
was at its peak and our car had no air conditioning. So we decided to travel
early mornings. Chandigarh to Delhi was a short trip and was thus no problem.
My sister
in law joined us for the trip ex Delhi and volunteered to help us with the settling
in at Gorakhpur. We left Delhi early in the morning with our luggage loaded in
the boot, and also on the roof top carrier. The leftover flexible luggage was
adjusted in between the seats inside the car, along with the three adults, two
children and one dog. The journey in the overloaded car from Delhi to Kanpur
was uneventful. A little after leaving Kanpur, we hit a pothole and the right
leaf spring of our heavily laden car gave way. We somehow managed to reach
Lucknow, sometime in the afternoon, and stopped at the first mechanic we found
who could do the job. I requested the mechanic to please expedite the repairs
as we had a one month old baby, and wanted to reach Gorakhpur before dark. Chaitanya,
our little baby, was crying nonstop, as we were having problems with his milk,
water, and the heat, of course. The mechanic assured me that he would do his
best and help us leave at the earliest. He immediately started his work and was
straightening the leaf spring, when it came time for the afternoon namaaz. All
the neighbouring shops were promptly shut down and the people started leaving
for namaaz.
A number
of people, on seeing this gentleman still at work, would stop and tell him
'namaaz ka time ho gaya'. He would hear them, and continue with his work.
Finally one gentleman stopped and said to him, 'kya paison ke liye namaaz bhi bhool gaya' (Have you forgotten
namaaz for money). He replied, 'yeh bhi
to namaaz hi hai, inka chhota baccha roye ja raha hai aur inko Gorakhpur raat
se pehle pahunchana hai' (This is also namaaz; their little baby is crying
nonstop and they have to reach Gorakhpur before nightfall). This angered the
other gentleman and he said something which upset the mechanic. He got up and
left for namaaz. We were delayed for about half an hour, the time it took him
to come back after namaaz. He apologised and completed the job at his earliest,
to our satisfaction. On my asking him, he assured me that the car would not give
me any trouble till Gorakhpur. I paid him and left, after thanking him.
This
illiterate mechanic had understood what most of us never seem to fathom. But
look at the irony, even after having understood this final truth, he had to bow
to lesser mortals for fear of being declared an outcast by his own friends. We
finally need friends and relatives to survive in this world, unless you are
willing to renounce all.
This
incident has stayed with me ever since. Who was right? The mechanic who
understood our predicament and who could empathise with us, and knew that Allah
would also have wanted him to offer namaaz in this fashion on that day, at that
time OR the others who were the custodian of everyone else's faith? God only
knows!!!
Comments
I agree with you, as I too believe that work too is worship, if done in the right spirit.