Kya Bhagwan Offline Gaye Hai? - Part 2

The next few days were unsettling, but not in a frightening way. It was the kind of unsettled feeling you get when a familiar place starts looking different, even though nothing has really changed. Ved was seeing the same world, but something inside him had tilted just a little.

Small things began to happen.

At the local chai stall, the radio played an old bhajan Ved had not heard in years. It was not one of those loud, overplayed temple chants. This was a soft, almost forgotten tune. His grandmother used to hum it while oiling his hair on lazy Sunday afternoons. The moment he heard it, he froze with the kulhad in his hand.

"Jo tu mera hai, toh sab kuch mera hai..."

The lyrics wrapped around him like a warm, unexpected memory. He did not sing along, but they echoed inside him for the rest of the day.

Later that evening, as he walked home, Ved stopped without thinking.

His feet had paused in front of a small roadside mandir. It was the kind of place he had passed a hundred times without noticing. Sandwiched between a chemist shop and a tire repair stall, the mandir was old and unimpressive. A single diya flickered. The orange murti of Hanumanji sat under a cracked cement dome, faded by sun and time.

Inside, a lone pandit was humming to himself. He looked more like a retired clerk than a priest. His eyes were half closed. The air smelled of agarbatti, rusted bells, and something else Ved could not place.

Stillness.

Ved joined his hands. Not because he was suddenly religious. It just felt… natural. Like a nod of acknowledgment.

The pandit opened his eyes slowly and looked at him.

He smiled and said in a voice that was barely above a whisper, "Langoor ke roop mein jo Ram mila, woh milta hai har usko jo thoda ruk jaata hai."

Ved frowned. "I am sorry, what?"

The pandit smiled again. It was not the smile of a teacher explaining something. It was the smile of someone who had no need to explain at all.

"Hanuman met Ram only after he paused. The world is running fast. But pause… and even silence begins to speak."

Ved stood there, not knowing what to say. The words felt like they were not meant to be understood with the mind, but absorbed by something deeper.

He nodded politely, dropped a coin into the donation box, and walked away.

But the words stayed.

That night, instead of mindlessly scrolling on his phone, Ved pulled out the diary again. He stared at the old pages for a while, then began to write.

Not a prayer. Not a request. Just… honesty.

"I do not know if you are real. I do not even know if I am. But maybe, just maybe, that is why we might still meet."

He closed the diary gently.

At that exact moment, his phone buzzed.

A message from Aarav, a college friend he had not spoken to in nearly a year.

“Hey, bro. This might sound random, but I am planning a weekend trip to Haridwar. Two days, nothing fancy. Just a break. You want to come?”

Ved stared at the message.

He typed back without much thought. “Why do you feel like I need Haridwar?”

Aarav replied instantly.

“Because you literally posted a story of a temple last night with the caption ‘vibe.’ You are halfway to becoming a bhakt already.”

Ved laughed out loud. He had posted that without thinking. Just a quick photo of the small Hanuman mandir, taken as he walked away. The diya had looked strangely beautiful in the evening light.

Haridwar. The name sounded heavy, but also clean, like river water. He was not sure if he believed in holy dips or morning aartis, but something inside him, that small part that had quietly woken up, whispered, "Just go."

Not for enlightenment. Not for peace.

Just to keep listening.

To be continued...

#shortstories #flashfiction #suspense #life #spirituality