Aarti

 It was early evening time in late December , sun was setting down and Kaushik was attending a meeting on Teams. As the clock hits 5:30pm,he dropped up from the meeting, changed his formal attire into a more traditional dhoti that gives him a perfect poojari look.He gave a shout "Radhikaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!". A beautiful girl in her early twenties came out rushing from her room, " What happened Kaushik? why are you yelling? Its 5:30pm , pooja time, let's do aarti. Radhika smiled and told " the world may go upside down, but you never miss sandhya aarti of Bhagwan ji", you know the reason better than anyone else ,Radhika, Kaushik replied. Both exchanged looks, smiled at each other and offered their prayers to Lord Vasudev. " Dipam Jyoti Param brahma, Dipam Jyoti Janardhana, Dipam Jyoti Haret Paapa, Sandhya Deepa Namastutey. Radhika looked at Kaushik doing aarti and said " Maa would be so proud of you dear".

Its all matter of moments, life sometimes teaches us the lessons which we are not ready to learn, Kaushik's devotion is one such story. It all started in Bhubaneswar, the temple city of India. " Babuna uth, 7ta helani, school pai late hauchi( wake up son,its already 7 ,you are going to get late for school), Kaushik's mother wakes him up wiping his face with water. Kaushik wakes up , yawning and got shocked " Maa , 5:10 heichi , tu sabu bele emti karuchu"(Maa, its only 5:10am , you always do this to me) . Maa replied " jaa gadheibu,  mangal aarati pare tate khaibaku miliba (Go and take bath and then you will get your breakfast). Irritated Kaushik always had to wake up early just for aarti of god, he never really liked aarti, his sleep always got distorted and this aarti has two versions morning aarti or mangal aarti and sandhya aarti ( the one we do at evening) and Kaushik's mother made sure her son to be present at the time of both the aartis because she always wanted her son to keep up with their culture and traditions.

Years passed, waking up early was not a big deal anymore for Kaushik and he didnt get irritated for attending the aartis which her mother asked her to perform now. Being a big boy studying in 11th standard , he was mature enough to carry forward his family's tradition so his mother asked kaushik to perform all the aartis both morning and evening time . She taught him all the hymns needed to perform the aarti and a chronological method of performing a puja. This may seem some old fashioned, non-scientific kinda stuff, but this is as important as having a degree and getting a job. Kaushik thought this illogical and questioned his mother and got a answer, " God is the supreme power , if you worship him with complete devotion, he will definitely fulfil all your wishes". Kaushik no longer questioned his mother, apart from his studies, he worshipped god as well as performed aarti as a rotine.

One fine day, Kaushik's mother and father were going out on some urgent work, so his mother told him " Babuna , ame sandhya re asibi, late heipare tu aarati karidabu"( son, I will return by evening , we may get late so you please do the aarati today). They left in the forenoon , Kaushik was all home alone, he studied, he played games on his PC all day but obeying his mamma's order he did the aarati and waited for his parents until a call came , it was a call from his father "Babuna, amara accident heijaichi, mora besi kichi heini, mamma ra tk injuries achi, treatment chalichi ( son , we had an accident, I have some minor cuts but mamma have some injuries and she is under treatment), kaushik was worried as any son would be, for the next few days he constantly asked about his mother and everyone else in his family told she is fine and will be home soon, nobody took him to the hospital and 7 days after the accident kaushik's mother breathed her last. Kaushik's world changed, all thus time he rooted for his mother to comeback but she never came back. 

Everyone tried to calm kaushik down, and someone just told "Your mom is god's favorite being that's why god called her up sooner" quite intellectual but a worst explanation to a 15 years old when he is dealing with the hardest truth of his life , his mamma is no more with him. It was at thus moment, kaushik left everything especially praying to god and doing aarati. He started living his life in his own terms, it affected his academics and even his relationship with his father and other family members but above all he was turning into an atheist and blamed god , ridiculed the rituals especially "aarti".

Years passed , kaushik had a roller coaster ride in his career, during his pre-final year in college he was attending a seminar where he learnt about a course which he thought if be persuaded will change the course of his life and that's the moment when kaushik realised the goal of his life and to begun with he resorted to meditation and his father suggested him to worship god and perform "aarati" to  attain peace of mind and  it helps in enhancing concentration towards acheiving his goal. In his twenties, Kaushik understood the true meaning of worshipping god and doing aarti, this is something spiritual his mother always wanted him to do. And Kaushik never looked back, he achieved everything he seemed but one thing he made it a point he never missed "aarati", especially the sandhya aarati which his mother told him to do before she left , forever .