The "Message"

Vijay and I recently visited the magnificent Akshardham Temple in Delhi. For the uninitiated (and I too was an "uninitiated" before this visit), this temple was made by the followers of the Swami-Narayan sect. We bought tickets for an amazing exhibition on the life and times of the founder of this sect - Mr. Swami Narayan (a.k.a Neelkanth). This show had life like animatronics, interesting story telling and a theatre with screen bigger than any other I had seen. The central message of Swami Narayan being conveyed all through this show is that you should serve with vigor and you should help others without fear. When you help others, you are in fact serving Swami Narayan himself. Very cliched message, I thought. The only things that made a lasting impression on me was the orderliness and disciplined crowd management, the animatronics and the big big screen.

Just as we were getting up to exit after the show was over, Vijay said that heard something fall. I too heard the clink of metal hitting the floor, but ignored it thinking that someone probably dropped his key.

After visiting the actual temple which is exquisitely carved and looks magnificent when lighted at night, we came back to the counter where I had deposited my mobile (no electronics goods allowed inside). The counter boy asked me for the token. That's when I heard another "clink" - this one coming from inside my head. I realized that the earlier "clink" in the theatre with the big big screen was from my own token falling. Had I paid more attention to the message of Swami Narayan, I would have acted on the "clink" and would have tried to search for what I had thought were someone else's keys.

The 50 bucks that I had to pay for the lost token seemed like a token charge I paid for understanding of the principles of Swami Narayan.