I am a Hindu. But, I don’t believe in a personal God, prayer or rituals. So, on our monthly trips to the Hindu Temple in Livermore, I spend my time napping in the car waiting for my wife and daughter to return back with some prasadam.
Last month, as we were getting ready for the trip, I threw on a t-shirt that had some funny quote involving beer. Answering my wife’s disapproving ‘Are you wearing that?’ with a curt ‘Yes’, I made the 45 minute trip from our home to Livermore.
Usually, I park the car in the shade, roll down the windows, push back the seat and settle down for a quick nap. But, this time, the weather was hot and parking was hard to find. So, I ended up parking in the sun, switching on the A/C, turning on some music and watching some guy treating his new Toyota Camry to a car puja.
When my wife returned back, I mockingly pointed the car puja guy to her, who was now walking around his car with bowed head and folded hands following the priest’s orders. As he concluded the puja driving his car over four lemons placed under each of his car’s tires, I remarked how the lemons would have been better served as lemonade for the hot weather and how the moron and his car ritual has provided some humorous material for my next blog post!
We settled down in our seats and got ready to leave, only to realize that the battery having powered my A/C and radio for 30 minutes didn’t have enough juice left to turn our engine on! After calling AAA, who said they would be there in 30 minutes, only to call back 45 minutes later to convey that they won’t be there for another hour, searching for and finding a jump-start kit at the temple’s office, fumbling with the kit and managing to start the engine, we were finally on our way back home after a 90 minute delay.
As my laughing wife whispered ‘karma’, ‘No, this is not God’s vengeance for my blasphemous behavior’, I said, realizing that I have gotten myself into a no win situation, ‘This is just….me being stupid’.
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