A Question of childhood !

Baba says:
We must always respect what people think
and try to understand
what they believe.
And acknowledge
with grace
the personal differences
no matter how wisely we think
or how foolishly they act!.


He draws my attention to logic and reasoning
and my right to question.
He says:
One should never stop trying to understand
other person point of view.
He continues:
ignorance is a dark tunnel- my son!
a tunnel without end.
To overcome ignorance
one must explore to know, in order
to embrace the truth.
Enquiry is a soft knock
at our minds doors
for reasoning
and the secret to truth
in the darkness of the tunnel!


I look into his eyes to ask a question:expecting
appreciation with the innocence of my childhood
as though he will acknowledge my journey to truth
on the road of knowledge.

I ask:
Baba!Who created the clouds
the sky
the moon
the stars
the mountain
the rivers
you and me
the houses
the roads
the trains
and the cars
the sour grapes
the mulberry tree
the sweet mangoes.
The animals.
The birds that can fly
and those
that can’t.
And the fish in the river and in the seas
some big as big boats
others small as little butterflies.
The ants
the worms
and the insect bees
some
that bite us
some
that give us honey.
And the things that we see
and those that we can’t see.
Who created them all?
Baba smiles
“How wise questions to ask, my child! my prince!God created everything”.
I ask Baba
and who created God?
Mum angrily shouts
from the edge of the kitchen
with a burnt chapatti in her hand
“How dare you ask
such a stupid question, my stupid son!”?


Farid Gul, London, May 7Th, 2010