Life explained

Got this as a fwd:

On the first day, God created the dog and said:

'Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years.'

The dog said: 'That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?'

So God agreed.

On the second day, God created the monkey and said:

'Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I'll give you a twenty-year life span.'

The monkey said: 'Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the Dog did?'

And God agreed.

On the third day, God created the cow and said:

'You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years.'

The cow said: 'That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years.. How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?'

And God agreed again.

On the fourth day, God created humans and said:

'Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you twenty years.'

But the human said: 'Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?'

'Okay,' said God, 'You asked for it.'

So that is why for our first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

Trip to Shirdi and Shani Shingnapur

Shirdi:

We left from Pune around eleven in the night. The total distance to Shirdi is approx 200 km. The roads for most of the part of the journey are very good. To our surprise the traffic was also thin that night. We reached Shirdi at three a.m, which was a good one hour earlier than what we had expected.

After reaching, we checked into a hotel which was very near (walking distance) from the temple. We managed to get a triple sharing room for five hundred bucks. The room was neat and tidy with basic amenities. At around four we left for the temple and within minutes were in the long queue. At four-thirty the early morning aarti (kakad aarti) began. The aarti lasted for forty five minutes, which people in the queue were able to witness due to the live transmissions on the LCD TVs installed everywhere. After the aarti, the queue started moving at a snail’s pace.

By six, our turn finally arrived. We were ushered into the main hall and it was a serene sight. The idol of Sai baba was clad in saffron glittering clothes and the walls are covered in gold. The hall has photographs of people who were close friends and associates of Sai Baba. Before we could soak up the atmosphere, the guards on duty hurried us out. (It’s the same scene in every temple. You wait for hours in the queue but when it’s your turn, it’s over in a matter of seconds.) Once outside, we visited the other parts of the temple. There are samadhis of people who were close to Baba. There is another hall, where Baba used to stay, cook and pray.

Overall it was a pleasant experience and after having tea, we were all set to visit Shani Shingnapur.

Shani Shingnapur:

Shani Shingnapur is approximately fifty km. from Shirdi. We had breakfast (poha+tea) at a roadside dhaba on the way. Once we reached Shingnapur, we were amazed by the number of shops that were selling aarti thalis. Lord Shani is supposedly a very sensitive God and people doing business on his name make sure that the God’ fear is used to their advantage. Our shopkeeper outlined a complicated process to get the maximum blessings out of Lord Shani and to save ourselves from his fury. He ended up charging us an exorbitant sum for the pooja thali and services. We were made to wear a saffron dhoti and take bath before entering the temple (females are not allowed near the Shani idol, though they are allowed inside the temple). Once inside we religiously followed the steps outlined by our shopkeeper and the whole process was over in a matter of minutes. Though I found the temple very serene and peaceful, it was relief to be outside, away from the God of fury.

After a quick change of clothes, we started our journey back to Pune which took roughly three hours.

Godematics

From God's book of Godematics:


At any given time on earth,

The number of trees + the number of humans = constant*


*This is the theory of equilibrium. The entities mentioned above cannot survive without each other.


Like the retailers, God played a trick on mankind, when he changed the font size of the "conditions apply".

So wake up, its not too late!!