The Man Who Sold Ether!!

Today as I hurriedly jumped into a slow local at Thane.. searching for a seat in the overly crowded train.. a hope that Mumbaikars always have no matter how crowded the train is.. my eyes stuck at the most desired seat -The Window seat..which was vacant. Not to my surprise, I knew why it had been kept vacant. Thanks to the rains..they had done their part.. I went towards the seat struggling amongst women and cleaned the seat with my umbrella. Works every time!! ;-) As I sat, I took out my earphones and turned on my playlist to fully awaken my partially asleep self. The train started moving at a slow pace and finally left the platform. A few minutes into the journey, the song stopped playing due to lack of network coverage, something that I had become accustomed to. I looked outside the window and saw the blue plastic laden chawls pass by. Moments later, an unfamiliar voice broke the silence in my ears. The voice was trembling and intimidating one. I looked at the source of the sound and there he appeared.. A man in his 80's, wearing a white dhoti and sadra.. a Gandhi cap on his head.. and in his trembling hands a basket full of mogras and chafas. As he was making his way amongst the crowd slowly, the fragrance from the flowers didn't take much time to spread in all directions of the compartment.. 3 for 10...3 for 10 he shouted with all energy he had in his fragile body.. a thought ran through my mind.. who wears flowers in their hair nowadays?? I looked around and saw no one responding to his calls.. They say the speed of thoughts alighting in a human mind is greater than anything in the world.. True..A second thought ran across my mind almost immediately reminding me of how much money I waste on crappy things I buy at malls or online. Without wasting a second I called out to the gentleman and asked him to give me chafas for Rs.10. To this he said Tai please take chafas of Rs.20. I will give you an extra one. Offer it to the God and God will return back to you in abundance. I smiled at his statement. Smiled thinking this person might not even have enough money to eat a proper meal and still his faith in the Formless is so adamant. Although I believe..God doesn't need any materialistic offerings and only considers the purity of the heart.. this person somehow stood true to the statement.. Jaisi bhi ho paristithi..ek si rahe manastithi.. I wondered.. what experience he might have had to confidently speak such a statement? His statement made me realize that, like humans, The Supreme doesn't discriminate on the basis of religion or age or status or for that matter anything that's materialistic rather this Formless only considers the spiritual self.. The metrics of the extent to which it's creation has truly imbibed the values of it's creator!! To be broadminded like the sky.. to have a depth for emotions deeper than the ocean.. to be humble and creative like the earth.. to be flexible enough to adapt and go with the flow like air and water.. to burn negativity in the surroundings like fire.. and lastly to have compassion and love for other living beings like the Formless Supreme God itself!! Who knew the seller had more than those flowers, something which was priceless.. like A Realization!!