Omnipotent

“Atheist! Why did I give birth to someone like you? Why didn't Lord Ganesha bless me with someone like us!” The Thukral house was a battlefield. Veeir was the despair of his family because he didn't believe in the existence of God in the same way as other members of his family. He would have heard these words a million times from his mother because he was different as day and night with her. Veeir’s mother, Aditi Thukral, an English literature lecturer of Karam Chand college (KCC) was a pious lady.

Veeir always watched his parents glorifying God for every family accomplishment and inculpate past karmas for failures. Whenever Priyanka attained academic distinction and Veeir was declared “the man of the tournament” in school and college, the credit was always given to Ganesha. The effort and laborious work had no meaning! Aditi’s view on God was that he is the creator of this universe and has assigned a specific role to every human to play and follow his rules. “Not a leaf budges without his permission” was her catchphrase.

          Though, it is typical with majority of Indian Hindu families to have earnest faith in God and dedicate their success to God and failures to bad Karmas but Veeir was different than others. He never praised God for his achievements nor criticised his karmas for failures. He neither believed in the existence nor non-existence of God. He was an agnostic.

     Veeir's father, Mr. Abhishek Thukral was a top cop of Delhi State and was as tough as nails. He was completely dedicated to his job and a very patriotic person. Veeir had a twin sister, Priyanka who was doing English literature (major) and Veeir maths (major) in KCC which was quite popular for its secular culture and free speech.

Priyanka was an ideal student and an obedient daughter. She was well carved for anything she did. Apart from being academically sound, she was conferred with extraordinary skills of writing poetry, fiction stories and web novels on several occasions. Her study room was filled with trophies and certificates of achievements. She was quite a balanced person who was a theistic in the eyes of her parents but supported the atheism of Veeir also.

Veeir was a strong and muscular boy. He was the captain of the college cricket team and an ace batsman. He aspired to be an international cricketer and always believed in creating his destiny through hard work. His argument with his parents was to trust in a power which has a base and evidence to believe.

Priyanka won a prize of one hundred thousand rupees last night in a national creative writing contest. Her mother was over the moon and offered a special feast to Lord Ganesha which was quite a normal tradition for Indian families. Ganesha was a superhero of the day and his idol was decorated with roses and glittering clothes. Incense sticks were planted around him which filled the air with sweet smelling jasmine & smoke. His make-up was no less than a celebrity. A special song in the praise of Ganesha was playing in the temple created in the north east corner of the house since morning. Aditi used to pray every day before leaving for the college by offering flowers, scent sticks and Modak (a delightful Indian sweet) to Ganesha. The day belonged to Lord Ganesha!

Aditi invited Priyanka’s friends over for dinner on the Saturday night to celebrate her big achievement. It was like a great day for Veeir’s family. The house was as clean as a hound's tooth before the guests arrived.

The spread was lavish. The favourite Punjabi meal of Tandoori Chicken, Butter Chicken, Dal Tadka, Mutton Keema, Cardamom flavoured rice along with Garlic naan and Vanilla pudding were prepared for the guests. Aditi started preparing the dinner right after late afternoon. Priyanka assisted her. She laid the table artistically. She made tiny bunches of flowers and arranged them on the table. The table looked like a piece of art in itself.

Priyanka’s friends started coming over to her place around 6.30 pm. Veeir was eagerly waiting to meet Sophia Kelly, a blogger, a writer and a cricket enthusiast whose father was posted as First Secretary in the British High Commission, New Delhi. Sophia was more of Veeir’s friend than Priyanka. She was running a bit late so called up Veeir.

Sophia said to Veeir ''Hi! Veeir, I am afraid I would be a little late. Dad is not back from the office yet. I am waiting for him to drop me at your place.”

Every passing minute in Sophia’s wait was like the evening stretching by hours. Sophia finally showed up around 7ish. She was looking resplendent in a Ruby Red Dress. Her hair was blonde, thick and wavy. She let the soft waves of her deep hair fall like flowers from Paradise. Veeir greeted Sophia with a big smile on his face. Apart from being best friend of Veeir, undoubtedly Sophia was very supportive of him in what he thought or did. Their friendship was perhaps “special”.

Priyanka was busy gossiping with her other friends, narrating the whole experience of her big win. Sophia and Veeir went up to the rooftop gazebo. It was cloudy yet pleasant. The clouds moved slowly with the wing in the evening sky. The breeze murmured softly while Veeir and Sophia absorbed gorgeous scenic beauty. Sophia always enjoyed the rooftop, the wind and her companion, Veeir.

Sophia understood Veeir. She knew his opinion about religion, idol worship, rituals and customs were just the opposite of what his mother observed.

Sophia questioned Veeir, “What makes you look so monotonous? You should be walking on air. Priyanka won the biggest national writing contest. Aren’t you glad and excited?

Veeir took out the wafers of chips and canned juices from the nearby closet. He filled the glass with ice and poured some cranberry juice for Sophia. He neatly arranged the wafers on a platter and they both made themselves snug on the cushioned wicker chairs.

Veeir shared with Sophia, “I am disconsolate because I am different from mom, dad and Priyanka. Three of them get along very well. They have similar thoughts, their ideology is alike but I am not like them so there is always confrontation in the house. Sometimes arguments take the shape of pitched battles. Though dad and Priyanka are supportive, they flip when mom is around. They advise me not to confront mom and rather agree with her beliefs and faith in God just to maintain peace and tranquillity in the house. Mom is assertive and firm.

Sophia took a swig of the sweet juice from the glass. She looked around, observing something.

She looked at Veeir and suggested, “Veeir, why don't you check the history of your family to find out why your genes are different from the rest of them? It might help you to understand them and maybe they understand you!”

Veeir sighed, “I guess! I need to really check the history of my family.”

Aditi called from downstairs, “Veeir and Sophia, come down for dinner. Everyone is waiting for you to join the gang.”

Veeir and Sophia descended the stairs and joined family and friends on the dining table. The aroma of freshly cooked cardamom rice filled the air. Everyone raised their drinks for a toast and congratulated Priyanka for her distinguished success. The dinner was so delectable and ambrosial that one of the guests, Aishwarya implored Priyanka to pack some for her kid sister as well.

Aditi was quite popular among Veeir and Priyanka’s friends for her chicken recipe and other culinary skills. The taste of the chicken was indescribable.

Everyone was in a great mood to know more of Priyanka’s future plans. One of Priyanka’s friends, Deepika asked: “Are you going to be a professional author in the future? Or an English lecturer like your mother. We are impatient to hear from you!”

Another friend Kiara asked curiously, “C'mon lassie! Why are you taking so long to open up your secretive plans?”

Sarah enthusiastically said “Spill the beans now!”

Aditi interrupted quickly, “She might finish her first novel by early next month and settle herself as a professional author if Ganesha wishes so.” On hearing this Veeir frowned. He was just about to say something when Sophia gestured. He kept quiet and cooled himself down with a glass of water.

The girls smiled jocularly. They knew Priyanka’s mom was still living against time. Her orthodox and superstitious followings were not hidden from Priyanka’s friends.

Priyanka was abashed so quickly changed the topic and beseeched Aditi, “Mom! Can we have some steaming coffee please? The girls ganged up for some private talk in Priyanka’s bedroom.”

It was close to midnight and the guests were leaving. It was always difficult for Veeir to say bye to Sophia.

Lying on his bed, Veeir was thinking about his discourse with Sophia. As in depths of many seas, his heart was drowned in memories. He turned on the TV for its sole purpose of distracting himself from his thoughts. After a while, he went into a deep sleep juggling between his own thoughts of blind faith.

“Does God exist in this universe? Are our lives controlled by Godly power? Does everyone have a pre-written destiny? Why do I think differently than mom and dad? Is Priyanka more intelligent and wittier who adjusts herself with every one and in every situation or she is just a practical person? There are times when she is completely atheist in classroom discussion yet she is fully devoted to God at home. Is it her dual personality or is she actually smarter than all of us and living with the time?”

Veeir was tossing and turning all night worrying about his difference with the family.

Four hours later………………………

Veeir was in deep slumber. He heard the sounds of temple bells, mosque adhan and church prayers echoing in his ears. People of different caste, creeds and religion gathered around him and shouted “Allah, Ishwar, Jesus (Hindu address God as Ishwar, Muslims as Allah and Christian as Jesus). Multiple objects were flying over his head. He was feeling like he was into another world. A world which has no space for free speech. Suddenly, a tall figure with a long white beard wearing a cassock and holding a misbaha in his right hand and a sacred book in his left hand appeared before him. He was looking like a saint which Veeir had seen in movies and read in books.

In his euphonious voice he said to Veeir, “Oh my child! You are the son of God and a pure soul. God has sent you on earth for a mission. It is your duty to do what he has assigned you to do. People on earth call God’s duty as the destiny of humans.”

Veeir asked, “Who are you and why are you preaching to me what I have to do? I am an agnostic and believe in myself.”

The saint replied, “I am a messenger of God. People on earth call him with different names like Jesus, Shiva, Buddha, Krishna, Ganesha, Ram, Maalik (Master) and Allah. You are no different than other humans on earth. You will realize the power of the Almighty soon. God has incarnated himself several times on earth to preach humans the gospel, honesty, fairness and equality towards all living creatures on this planet. Greed and power have overpowered the minds of this intelligent race. Humans are their own enemies. Reaching to the moon and mars does not connote you can control and create your own destiny. I have been directed by my master to bless you with a superhuman power. Now, you can read people’s minds. Your destiny will take you what he (God) wishes you to do on earth! God bless you!”

He disappeared!

In a harsh thud, Veeir suddenly opened his eyes. He blinked a few times to notice that he was on his bed. He quickly stood up. He squinted his eyes like he was trying to get a clearer understanding of where he was.

He was feeling like an altogether different person. He felt some kind of transformation in his body, mind and soul. He was much stronger, energetic and calm now.

What kind of outlandish feeling is this? Am I some kind of superhuman now actually? Veeir woke up abysmally with his mother’s voice, “Veeir, go get ready for college. You are running late.”

He settled down on the couch in the living room for a while and looked at the newspaper which his father had concluded reading.

Aditi went back to the kitchen thinking when would her son become responsible? “Could I ever get a day of tranquillity in my life?”

“Mom, I am quite responsible. I know my devoir. The first two lectures were cancelled, so I can leave later.”

He was appalled but quickly realised that he could read the minds of people.

Aditi came out of her mouth and asked “Veeir, did I say so?” She was completely unhinged. How did Veeir know about her thoughts? Could Veeir read her mind? She questioned herself but ignored it thinking it might be a coincidence?

The doorbell rang. Mr. Thukral cried from the bathroom, “Veeir if William is on the door, tell him I cannot see him right now. I need to rush for an emergency.”

William was a sub-inspector ranked police officer and posted as PA to Mr. Abhishek Thukral, joint police commissioner of crime. As expected, William was standing on the other side of the door.

Veeir greeted William, “Hello Mr. William, how are you doing today?

William politely replied, “Not too bad, I need to speak with Thukral Sir. It is quite urgent.”

Suddenly William looked anxious.

“I am afraid, Dad will meet you in the office or reach out to him over the phone in the afternoon. His day seems to be hectic today.” Veeir informed William.

William was baffled and thought standing on the door “Should the intelligence lead not be circulated to the execution team immediately he will leave the country. The police department may not get another opportunity to nab him. The failure of the task will fall on Mr. Thukral. I need to meet Mr. Thukral now by hook or by crook.”

      

Veeir was staring at William. He could simply comprehend his thoughts.

” I will tell dad to speak with you immediately. I can understand the urgency of the matter. Don’t worry! He will be caught.”

William stammered and shrugged: “ Wh…..a….t?” I know he is quite busy with innominate messages.”

William was bemused about how to communicate classified information to Mr. Thukral. He was thinking of communicating to Mr. Thakral’s junior but thought it might be a bit dangerous to share with someone who is not part of the secretive mission team.”

William left agonizingly.

Veeir read William’s mind and was thinking how to communicate to dad about William's thoughts assertively without wasting much time.

Veeir knocked the bathroom door, “Dad, I need to speak with you without even wasting a fraction of a second.”

He did not respond.

“Dad, I need to tell you something about William’s message. Please listen to me without asking any more questions. William has a lead for a criminal. If you don't act fast, he will flee out of the country and your department would be taken to task for failures. Please. speak with him quickly to nab the criminal.”

Abhishek questioned Veeir, “How do you know? Did William tell you so?”

  

Veeir insisted, “Dad, I told you not to waste any more time. Let us talk later about it.”

Mr. Thukral dashed out of the bathroom to call William.

Abhishek quickly dialled William’s phone. “You were here for something absolutely urgent. Please tell me what it is about.”

William, “Yes, I have a lead for Ajay Singh, he will be meeting with his colleagues and staff at Volga restaurant at Connaught Circus around 2 pm. He is booked on a flight for London tonight.”

“Is lead from a reliable source?” Questioned Abhishek.

William agreed.

Abhishek instructed William to meet him downstairs in the next couple of minutes.

The lead worked very well. The police raided the Volga restaurant and apprehended Ajay Singh, main culprit in the national scam of money laundering for political leaders and business tycoons. Mr. Thukral was appreciated by print and electronic media for doing a brilliant job.

Abhishek enquired William, “Did you talk about the lead to Veeir?”

William surprisingly said, “Standing on the door of your house, I was thinking about how to reach out to you. I didn't even speak a word and Veeir said that he would update you.

      William nonchalantly said, “Perhaps he read my mind or expression.”

Abhishek was bewildered how did Veeir know what William wanted to share with him.

Abhishek reached home early to talk to Veeir. Veeir had an inter-college tournament so got delayed more than the usual homecoming time. Abhishek was getting as restless as a wild beast in a cage.

The wait was over, Veeir showed up but he was dog-tired so he wanted to postpone the discussion till next day but Abhishek was in no mood to wait till next day. He took Veeir upstairs to have a secret discussion.

Abhishek asked Veeir, “Son, did William disclose the lead to you?”

“Dad, William didn't tell me anything, nevertheless I read his mind. It was a matter of utmost priority for the police department and nation. I chose not to waste time.”

“You read people’s minds?” Abhishek took a big gulp of water. More than the water he tried to digest what his son fed him.

     “Dad, I can read people’s minds. I wasn't sure how to discuss this with you.”

Veeir continued his conversation and narrated the whole episode of the night and morning after he woke up.

His perplexed father replied, “Unbelievable!”

He started thinking, “Had he not got a lead on time, Ajay would have flown out of the country and I would have repented for the biggest blunder of my career. Thanks to William for coming to me at the right time. Why did I refuse to hear out William? Veeir sensed the emergency and convinced me to speak with William without any delay. I wonder, Veeir can do so.”

Veeir read Abhishek’s mind and told him the precise words.

Abhishek yelled, “Heavens above! I still cannot believe it. My heretic boy has the superpower of reading people’s minds. Probably you seem to be the purest among all of us. God blessed you with such a phenomenal gift of reading people’s minds.

How do you want to use this power hereafter?”

Veeir entreated his dad not to make a mention of the superpower.

“Dad, let us ink it as top secret. Our nation is A victim of the cross-border terrorism. Thousands of innocent people are dying every now and then and the nation is in grief almost every day. I want to read the suspect's mind and pass on the information to the police to save thousands of lives from terrorist attacks every now and then.”

Abhishek swelled with pride on hearing Veeir’s thoughts. “It is a wonderful scheme but I doubt how it is going to work? You are not a part of the secret mission of the police or the intelligence squad.”

     

Veeir explained to Abhishek, “Dad, most terrorists have local connections to work for them and manipulate the unemployed youth in their mission as though they are pieces. One of the minority communities of our nation’s minds are colonised by them. That makes a cop's job very difficult. The terrorists’ mission was successful because our own people joined them for the gratification of money, neglecting the fact they are putting the entire nation’s security in jeopardy including their families.”

Abhishek, “It sounds quite easy but practically impossible to implement. The law does not permit us to believe in a lead which does not come from reliable sources. How are we going to justify to our seniors the source of our leads?”

Veeir elucidated further, “Dad, nation comes before any law, individual and ministers. We are in the state of a proxy war with our neighbouring country with whom we share language, culture, living style and borders and it is almost impossible to distinguish between the civilians of two nations. If citizens of two countries walk together on a street, you cannot differentiate who is a foreigner between them.”

Abhishek took a deep breath.

“Dad, I know what you are going through, I can read your mind. I know you want to know how I am going to plan it all.” Abhishek was getting caught in a web of multiplying thoughts.

“Dad, you must be having a list of suspected individuals who are connected with groups of terrorist organisations. Most of the suspects are from JMI university. You may request the vice chancellor to put an inter college cricket tournament in the university campus and may tell the selectors to pick up primarily those youth who are in the suspect list of the police and need to be thoroughly investigated. You may engage some of your skilled officers in the camp by recruiting them as coaches, umpires and technical experts of the tournament. These officers should try to promote and come close to the suspected ones. The more they get close to the suspected ones they will get an idea of their activities, though in albeit. Then I can get friendly with prime suspects and can read their minds. The reading then could be used to locate and defuse their nefarious plans.”

Abhishek implemented the idea of Veeir and took special permissions to organise cricket tournaments with the motive to defuse tension in the country. The tournament was planned on every Saturday and Sunday for about 8 weeks. The sixteen teams were selected for the tournament. The practice session was planned every Friday on the grounds of JMI campus.

Veeir used to be very friendly with suspected candidates in the pavilion, during lunch and tea break during the practice session. He used to read their minds and passed on the information through text messages directly to his dad Mr. Thukral. One of the suspects, Abdul Raheem, was a foreigner living on a fake passport and student visa in the JMI hostel. He changed his identity as a Kashmiri boy to gain sympathy from Kashmiri students in the university. He was quite popular in the university amongst students of Humanities, Law and History. He was connected very well with Kashmiri liberation leaders and was funded by them for organising multiple blasts in the country. Police cracked down on all the suspects and gathered crucial information to unearth their villainous plans.

Multiple threats of bombing and terrorist attacks were defused in time and police nabbed hundreds of suspects for heinous crimes and encountered the deadliest against humanity. The nation was much safer now.

It has been almost 3 years since Veeir has been helping the police to solve heinous crimes, terrorism, bombing threats, murder mysteries, bank robberies, kidnappings and many more cases. No major terrorist attacks have happened in the country in the last seven years. Mr. Abhishek Thukral was appreciated by the minister of internal affairs for his excellent job in handling the sensitive cases very smartly and has been honoured with several prestigious awards. His accomplishments and achievements have made headlines in many newspapers innumerable times.

He was promoted as National Security Adviser (NSA) to the central government of the country.

Aditi was promoted to the Head of English literature department and continued to believe in Ganesha as usual but she was utterly happy and proud of Veeir and his patriotism now.

Priyanka settled as an authorpreneur. She has released two best national selling novels so far.

Sophia’s father was promoted as visa counsellor and was transferred to Australia. Sophia went back to her homeland to study law. Veeir and Sophia kept in touch and continued to confide in each other.

Veeir finished his studies and joined National Investigation Agency (NIA) which functions as the Central Counter Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency in the country.

The circumstances changed Veeir’s interest and destiny. Veeir realized lately “What is allotted cannot be blotted. Destiny always takes you to your destination.”

He gave up his dream of being an international cricketer. He lived to save humans from humans.

One day, Veeir was chasing a thief in the forest. He heard a sound, “Veeir! Veeir! He took a look all around but no one was there. He was exhausted searching for the offender and now the mystery of his name was called anonymously! He sat on a nearby rock and started looking around again. He noticed a cave in which a bright light was glowing and traveling in the entire forest. He got curious to know who could be there he thought the thief might have hidden. He went inside the cave but there was no one inside. It looked very peculiar to him. Someone again called him, “Veeir! Veeir!”

He was getting frustrated now. He sat down again on the rock and lost in his thoughts. Suddenly the same saint appeared before him who called himself a messenger of God in his dreams three years ago and blessed him with the ability to read other’s minds. The saint said, “Oh, my dearest child! You have completed your mission.”

     

Veeir asked the saint, “So, the service to the nation was my mission?”

The saint replied, “Yes, your mission was that only. You had faith and belief in yourself which was unstoppable. God helps those who believe in themselves. I will meet you again. Goodbye for now!”

Veeir clamoured, “No, please listen to me! You have said that God has many forms and takes incarnation time and again. What is his real form?” The saint replied, “The true form of God you ask? His true form is how you see him with your eyes. I am Ganesha for your mother, patriotism for you. For some God is abstract and for some he is a beautifully carved idol.”

Veeir bowed lower as a mark of respect, while the messenger blessed him. He waved at him and vanished.

Veeir replied, “Bye!” Then he eventually realized that the saint was God himself and not his messenger.”

Veeir understood the message of God. He is a theist now. However, he is still puzzled as to why some prayers to God are accepted and some are not. How do miracles happen? Do karmas reward you in the shape of destiny or punish you in the form of failures. God left basic questions unanswered for him to use his intelligence.

Atlast, the battle between Almighty and All mighty came to an end!

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