There are some incidents, or maybe accidents, in one's life which one can never forget. The following is such an occurrence in our family. In April 1940, we moved from our village Gill, Ludhiana, to Amritsar where my father was working. I had passed my fifth grade and my younger brother had passed his second grade when we left our village. Both of us joined the Khalsa Collegiate School there.
A tragedy occurred in December of the same year. My father, the only earning member in our family, died in a road accident. Our friends and relatives felt a lot of sincere sympathy for us. They were worried as to how we would be able to survive after that bereavement.
My uncle, a distant cousin of my father, who was very well off, was employed at Lahore. A couple of days after the death of my father, he came to Amritsar to express his condolences to the family. When he was talking to my mother, I was standing nearby. Showing his deep concern for the untimely death of my father, he said, "It was wrong for God to take away my brother at this time. The children are very young. Who will take care of them? God should not have done this to you."
My mother interrupted him to respond to his sympathy. In a few Punjabi words she said, "God does not do anything wrong. This is God's Will. We cannot protest against His Will, we have to live with it. Well, our association with him (my father) was destined only for this long. After completing his time, he has been called back by God. God is ever living. He does not die. He nursed these children when their father was with us, and He will continue to nurse them even now. No person but God can provide food and protection to any living being. If God has taken their father away from us, He must have made alternate arrangements to raise these children. We must have faith in Him."
This may be one reason why I was raised as a child with a very strong faith in God. Whenever I had a problem in my life, the words of my mother always rung in my ear, "God does not die, we should have faith in Him. He takes care of us the way He Wills."
I was happier when I was poor. I confess that I became less happy and more worried after becoming a professor in the University when I had no financial problems. God gave me sufficient money and good social status. However, instead of bringing more peace, it brought me more worries. I wish to get back my earlier faith in God who gave me peace and pleasure. I lost that Anand, bliss, probably because I started believing that whatever I had achieved was the result of my efforts. However, now, I know that it was actually the gift of God. When I think in this way, my mind starts feeling the same peace, which I enjoyed during my days of poverty. I pray that God may bless me again with the same faith and tranquility.
Prof. Gurbakhsh Singh, PhD graduate of Ohio State University, served as a Professor and Dean of Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana.
