It was a generic day with no real distinctly standing out features of the weather or the happenings of the world. Two men sat at a coffee house across the table from each other. One dressed in a fine light blue suit with a light green shirt and dark blue bottoms, and the other man was dressed... let’s just say less formally. He wore a plain white t-shirt which had a line of text at the centre which read,” Believe?” and blue jeans. They were having a conversation over a cup of coffee. But this was no ordinary conversation, for one of them was a troubled soul and the other was the god himself, here to answer all the questions of one of his subordinates. The people were named Murali, the asker and Madhava, the answerer.

“Why do humans exist? What is their purpose?” asked Murali taking a sip of his coffee.

“Purpose. Weird thing that is. So subjective that it cannot be confined into a definition and yet so objective that everyone needs it to keep going. Purpose is whatever a man wakes up for. It is the driving force behind a man’s every decision and action. Even a man forced to do something against his will, would have a purpose. A purpose to break free from the shackles of the thing that is holding him down and preventing his flight. Every man has such a constraint, such a limitation which greatly alters their otherwise remarkable abilities, and setting themselves free from these constraints and achieving greatness and reaching God is the purpose of every human.” Answered Madhava, sitting upright with his hands folded like he means business.

“Why then is there so much suffering in this world if all we are meant to do is please the lord and achieve greatness, why is it so difficult to do what a man is supposed to do?” asked Murali.

“No one likes a straightforward story, there has to be ups and downs, Vishnu should know that his subordinate is willing to go above and beyond to reach him. If a man gives up at the first hurdle thrown at him, how can he be trusted with finishing the race? There has to be complications so that the endurance and adaptability of the human can be tested, to know that he really wants to achieve what he is truly capable of” answered

Madhava with a smile on his face almost as if he had enjoyed answering that question. “Why am I expected to keep going why do we have to do anything why is this eternal damnation even brought upon us?” asked Murali demandingly.

“My friend, this wasn’t supposed to be an eternal damnation, humans only have themselves to blame for whatever suffering and disharmony exists. The world was perfect even when humans didn’t exist, it could have been perfect, even better once humans came into being, but humans took it in a wrong direction altogether. A direction in which there is superficial advancements in the society and the world as a whole is developing but the individual human isn’t happy with his life, always desiring more than what he already has.” Said Madhava defensively.

“A man with no family, barely any friends’ only acquaintances, no source of love or compassion, no hope of finding someone loving, how is such a man expected to keep striving for some form of greatness when literally nothing is stopping him from ending it all because his death might have more of an impact than his existence ever did?” asked Murali looking Madhava right in the eye and smiling.

Madhava stopped for a while, took a sip of his coffee and looked at Murali, who was still smiling. “Every man who has been trodden by the passing of time and crushed in the unforgiving rampage of life has one motive to keep going, and that motive is Hope. Hope is what drives every man, be he rich or poor, he hopes. Hope for a better future, hope for financial freedom, hope of making it big in their field of choice, hope of making something of their own, hope of leaving behind a legacy which will be remembered for generations to come or even something as simple as the hope for getting food for the night. Every man hopes. Hope is probably what humans do best, hope is what differentiates a man from an ape. Hope is the reason to keep going for even the most heart-broken of men, because everyone hopes they have something better in store, waiting, so they wait too.” Answered Madhava with a proud smile on his face.

“What if a man can’t take it anymore?” asked Murali with a smile on his face, leaned back and his hands crossed.

“He will have to persist. A man can’t get tired of the testaments that life throws at him, he must deal with them with proportionate force and get stronger for the next trial because life is fast, it will hit you with a tribunal when you least expect it, so it is best for a man to stay alert at all times. There is no sense of permanency in human life everything is temporary, and everything moves fast a man has to keep up or get swept away by the overwhelming tide of the unfair ocean of fate. Nothing he does can ensure him that he will have his way. Fate will find a way to screw his plan up and there is nothing he can do to prevent that. No, a man can’t be tired of life because he must always be on the lookout and make sure that fate doesn’t come behind his back to stab him and take away his most precious treasures.” Said Madhava tearing up.

“Do you have all of your answers now?” asked Murali.

“Yes” replied Madhava.

“Well, I am off then, got a lot of work back in heaven, can’t be late because Sudha is waiting and you know, we got to keep the missus happy.” Said Murali as he vanished from the opposite side of the table. It was just Madhava and his cup of coffee as he was dragged back into the reality of the world. He had just had a conversation with God, and he was the one answering all the questions. He felt weird but also happy. He had found all his answers by himself. He knew the answers all along, he just had to be guided to them. He was a troubled man, working a grinding 9-5 with no intent of going on, no friends to keep him company, no family to give him strength and no incentive to have hope. But that conversation changed him. Murali, Krishna, Vishnu, Shiva what eve you want to call him had changed his perspective. He knew that out right telling him the answers to his questions won’t do him any good, so he led Madhava to the answers so he himself has the satisfaction of knowing that he had found the answers himself. Even though it was all in his head, he did have a conversation with God, and he was grateful for it. He got up and wiped his suit off and walked off with a newfound sense of appreciation and hope for his life. He was on his way for an interview at a university for the job of a professor, the one job Madhava was actually passionate about. The waiter at the coffee house came over to the table at which Madhava was sitting and took away 2 half-empty cups of coffee. 

.    .    .