1

"Repay your debt in a week or shut down your dispensary." Mr. Mehta ordered.

"Please sir, give me some more time. Do you think I am a fraud?" Dr. Lal replied.

"Certainly you are, Jackass! I missed out the enlightenment course of Holy Siddeshwar Maharaj. I couldn't even visit his Ashram and you are responsible for it. Remember, this is the last warning. One more delay in payment and the underworld will be after you!" he said with red hot eyes.

"Sorry Sir, please..."

"Enough!" he said, clenching his fist and left Dr. Lal's clinic in anger.

Dr. Lal, the 'doctoring' genius had graduated from a donation college. Living in a country where one could buy anything but life, educational degrees were bought like chocolate cookies. Too ecstatic at being a doctor, he had purchased a new dispensary in heart of the city. His financier, Mr. Mehta had planned to claim his dispensary because of his long pending debts. Dr. Lal was having sleepless nights until a new patient made his way in his dispensary.

"What are these marks on his forehead?" the mother of a newborn asked him.

"I will have to do some research on it. You can come back after a while," he replied. The same day he saw another patient with such marks. As he was treating both the mothers for over half a year, he realized that there was a problem in his treatment.

He spent his whole Sunday doing research on his laptop. He came to a conclusion that due to overdose of a medicine, every child born under his care would carry such signs. 'Already a debt to repay, treatment going wrong, God I am gonna land up in jail soon!' he thought.


2

"So how is your channel going?" he asked his friend Jay.

"It is crashing everyday. Can you imagine, a year ago it was the most popular news channel. And today the producers are asking us to shut it down." As Jay was talking, lightning struck in Lal's mind.

"Bravo! Do you want your channel to be the most sought out one?"

"Of course."

"Then get ready. We have to meet the managing director of your company," he said and slammed his telephone.


SOMETIME LATER

"Are these news channels crazy?" Mrs. Mehta proclaimed.

"What happened?" her husband enquired.

"Just come and have a look at the T.V." As he watched the 'Breaking News' his heart was in his mouth.

'Ladies and Gentleman, a doctor, has announced that he can foresee the future of a child born under his care,' the news channel broadcast.

They were showing two of his patients, with a unique birthmark and Dr. Lal claimed that such marks could alter the future of these children.

Soon Dr. Lal became a hot property for news channels. He was invited for various events. Debates were held. Polls were taken. Experts were called and after a while he became the most famous doctor in his area.

3

That night his telephone rang.

"Hello. Who's this?" he asked.

"Your destiny," a voice replied.

'Destiny? Is this a threat call? Oh no. I guess Mr. Mehta called the underworld!' he thought.

"Sss... Sorry. I didn't get you," he said with a lump in his throat.

"So when are you going to stop this nonsense?"

"What? It's none of your business. And please tell me who is this?"

"I am the creator, the operator and the generator of mankind. I am God."

"So you are going to sue me for violating your copyright, isn't it?"

"This isn't a prank call. Remember, I am watching you. This is the last warning."

"What? Listen..." before he could say anything the phone was disconnected.

'Wow, that prank was even better than mine,' he thought and went to bed.

His telephone rang early morning. He picked up the phone to hear the same voice again. It was God again. Refusing to believe him, Dr. Lal openly challenged him.

"I don't know who you are, but remember, I have the support of local MLA. In India, a politician is bigger than God! So don't mess with me," he said and slammed the phone.

'You are going on wrong path son,' God said to himself.

4

Given no choice, God decided to take charge of the situation.

He was all set to expose Dr. Lal's true image. In an avatar of a man he arrived on earth. Since millions of years, he hadn't come over here. His concept of Earth was just like his own paradise. Woody forests, peaceful animals, towering scenery was all he could think, while shifting from Heaven. Little did he know what was coming his way.

After arriving on Earth, he thought of taking a morning walk, before meeting Dr. Lal. While on his way, he came across a building, which was surrounded by a bunch of people. Curiously, he went there to see a couple throwing their young kid on the ground from a fourth floor apartment.

"Stop it!" he ordered. The mob looked at him outrageously. After taking a deep breath and swallowing a lump in his throat, he changed his tone and asked one of them, "What are they doing?"

"Sshh. Don't disturb. It is an ACT OF GOD. Whenever a young child is born in our society, in order to please God, the parents throw their infant from their house to the ground. If the aunt, who is standing below, catches it, we get the signal whether God wants the kid to live."

"This is absurd. Have they lost their minds?"

"Enough!" said one of the relatives, "Let's call the police."

"For what?" God looked confused.

"For hurting religious sentiments," a voice replied and soon a dozen men armed with bamboo sticks started chasing the Lord. Since he had abandoned his powers while arriving on Earth, he had no option but to run for 'his life'.

5

"Crazy men," he said, as he gasped out his breath in shock, while hiding behind a tree. Beside the tree he saw the deluxe Ashram of Siddeshwar Maharaj. A high profile God-man, with a perfect background of being a college dropout and a serial rapist, he was an inspirational figure in the city. People worshiped him, while the politicians payed him handsomely for their 'good luck'.

'What's wrong with these men?' he asked himself. He made another lame attempt to confront the God-man.

"Hey this is wrong! He is a criminal." God shouted. He met with the same response. The only difference was that, this time the men who attacked him were armed with guns instead of bamboo sticks. Within an interval of 20 minutes he had seen two horrific instances. But what really hurt him, was the fact, that people had accepted it under the name of religion.

Soon he realised that there were millions of Dr. Lals roaming scot-free around the globe where they were worshiped, saluted and treated as VIPs. Realising that it was impossible to stop this plague in a country where Ashrams got more respect than a school, he walked away with wet eyes without confronting Dr. Lal.

Years went by, and people started realising that Dr. Lal had a 'divine power'. Soon they started worshiping him, built his temples and elected him as a representative. Today Mr. Lal teaches his followers the importance of 'honesty and moral values'.