I am reading a John Grisham novel (The Testament) and that’s making me think about religion! Weird, isn’t it? :-) The reason is Rachel Lane – a missionary who works in the remote Indian villages of Pantanal in Brazil and who gets a visit from Nate, a lawyer from a law firm because she has been left a fortune of 11 Billion US$ by her billionaire dad who fathered her out of wedlock and preferred her over his 6 legitimate wayward children. I must admit that my jaw did drop at the mention of the vast sum. But that changed when Nate finally locates Rachel in a remote tribal settlement and manages to sit down with her for a chat one night.

Rachel tells Nate that she doubts if her father ever bothered about God when he was alive and hence believes that there is every possibility of his roasting in hell as they speak. ‘The hell is a very real place’ she mentions matter-of-factly. Born and brought up as a Hindu, the concept of Hell is not alien to me. But I am a bit fuzzy about how it all works. Hinduism does talk about “as you sow, so shall you reap” – in your next life. That’s what they call your Karma. Over the years I have come to believe that in this jet age you don’t have to wait till your next birth for your sins to catch up with you. It’s all cash-and-carry – pay it now before you leave for the day. But I guess if you have a bad credit history then you will have to carry it with you on your next trip to earth. So you see - I am beginning to wonder what exactly lands you in Hell. I guess it’s clearer for Christanity because they don’t believe in rebirths and multiple lives.

Then Rachel talks about a tribal teenager who was converted to Christanity years ago. “When he has a problem he takes it to God and leaves it there” that’s what she tells Nate. This disturbed me. What’s the point of putting us on this earth if we were to drop all our problems right in God’s lap? I believe in the teaching from the Bhagwad Gita – “Karmanyevadhikaraste Ma Faleshu Kadachan” - do your duties but don’t fret about their outcome. Then there is a saying “God helps only those who help themselves”. So clearly, you are supposed to do all that you can to solve your problems and then leave the rest to Him.

Because though God is powerful, I suspect that He too will be overwhelmed if all of us were to leave all our problems at His doorstep :-)