After watching the Hindi movie PK recently, my mind was back in my school days where I was taught a story about an old man. The story has a strong message which is in line with the subject of the Bollywood flick PK. Here is my version of that story:

An old Brahmin man lived alone in a small cottage in a village.He had nobody in this world to claim as his own.But he believed that everyone in the village were his own family. He always spoke about God to the villagers. He always praised God. He insisted that everyone should always remember and thank God for the beautiful life that He gave us.

During the daytime, he used to do odd jobs to fill his stomach. After finishing his job, he used to help the villagers in various ways.He knew herbs very well. He collected them in his free time and donated it to the family of the sick. He prayed for quick recovery of the sick. He fed the poor in his village with the money he saved. When people thanked him he used to sing glories of the Lord. He insisted people to thank God rather than thanking him.He was ,thus,famous for his good deeds, his good character and most importantly for his love for God.

One night, the priest's son knocked at his door to collect some herbs. The old man invited him inside his cottage. He looked around the old man's cottage and noticed that there was no sign of God in his house. There was no statue or painting of God. He was curious and asked the old man, " You are such a great devotee of God. But I cannot see any painting or statue of God in your house. How do you offer your prayers to God?"

He smiled and answered, " My child, God is everywhere. He resides in each and everyone of us. We don't have to sit and chant prayers in front of an idol or a painting to remember God. It is our good deed that count as prayers to the Almighty. Merely chanting verses from the holy books or offering pooja (prayers)to an idol or painting of God is not true bhakti (worship). True bhakti is doing your duty responsibly. True bhakti is in helping others. True bhakti is in loving each and every creation of the Lord."

The priest's son narrated the old man's story to his father. His father laughed mockingly at the old man and his theory of God. Soon, everyone in the village started criticizing him for not offering pooja to God. He was scorned for not having even a small painting of God in his house. Everyone humiliated him and told him that he wasn't a true devotee of God.

He became depressed and couldn't sleep. One night, he saw an illumination in his backyard. He stepped outside and saw a man with a book and paper in his hands. He was sitting in front of a lamp and writing down something. The old man went closer and curiously asked him," Who are you and what are you writing at this hour of the night?"

The other man said," I'm God. I am writing down the names of my true devotees."

The old man was astonished. He couldn't believe that he could see the Almighty before his eyes. He was feeling extremely happy.

He said,"Oh my Lord, I'm so lucky to see you. I'm truly blessed.Thank you God for being so kind and offering me this opportunity. But I am afraid that I do not deserve this opportunity.I do not deserve to see you. I do not offer prayers to your idol. I do not chant verses from the holy text. Everyone tells me that I'm not your true devotee."

His eyes welled up with tears. He couldn't see anything. He wiped his tears and looked around. There was no sign of anyone around. However, the book was still lying there. He opened the book and read the list of God's true devotees. He smiled after reading that and shut his eyes peacefully forever.

The first name in that list was of that old man.

We all chant prayers, read holy books , go to temple and do many such things to please God.

If we utilize the time spent on doing these activities and focus on our actions, we can help ourselves and others too. We should work hard to achieve our goals and not rely on any external force to help us. Remember the famous quote," God helps those who help themselves."

If we start donating money, food and clothes to the poor and needy rather than donating it to religious places, then there will be countless happy faces in this world.

God will be happy and will bless you only when you do your duties and help mankind.

Every religion teaches us the same. Only when we start realizing this can the world will be a better place.