Short Story - God Within!

A group of soldiers led by their Major were on their way to Himalayas. It was getting dark. The journey was treacherous and was to last till next evening. Cold winter and intermittent rains added to their misery.

“If someone could offer a cup of tea...”, the soldiers thought, fully aware that it would be a far-fetched possibility. They walked in silence for another hour before they came across a dilapidated structure which looked like a small shop. It was locked. The Major looked around to see if the owner was in sight. But no one was around. The Major guessed and guessed it right that the shop should be a tea shop.

The Major said “we can make tea; we have to break the lock though. If we are lucky, the shop inside could be intact and we could prepare ourselves some hot tea”. He was contemplating about the proposed action, but the thought of a steaming cup of tea was much inviting! So the lock was broken and indeed they were lucky. They had everything required to make tea besides some packets of biscuits. Tea was prepared and relished by the Major and his group. It was a welcome relief for them in the biting cold.

However, the Major thought that they had to pay for what they had as they had taken tea without the owner’s permission. He did not leave the place without doing what needed to be done. He took a currency note of Rs.1000 and kept it under the sugar container where the owner could see first thing when he would open the shop the next morning.

Days, weeks and months passed by… The same group of soldiers with the Major leading them, came that way and noticed that the shop was open. The owner was an old man and he became elated to see 15 soldiers along with their leader, at a time. He thought the day was lucky for him.

All of them had tea and when they were about to leave after paying, the owner said, “Saab, the other day when I had no money to buy medicines for my ailing son, I was feeling depressed. However, I had to take care of my business and came to open the shop. I was shattered to see the shop being forced open. But the moment I entered inside and noticed a thousand rupee note under the sugar pot, I realized that God exists. Yes Saab, God does really exist!” The old man was choking and was in tears when he spoke.

The officer discreetly ordered his soldiers in sign language to remain silent and not reveal the truth to the old man. He said, “Yes Baba, God does exist and.....thanks for the tea. It was wonderful.”

Fifteen pairs of eyes did not miss to see the moisture in the eyes of the Major – a rare sight!

The soldiers understood that anyone can be a God to somebody!