Nov 16, 2014. After what felt like an eternity, I finally met Vyom again. I inquired about his absence, to which he casually replied, "Glad to be back."
"So, what brings you here today?" I pressed.
"I was searching for answers, and to find them, I needed to ask the right questions of the right person."
"Did you find the right person?"
"Yes, I did. My quest was a success."
"What were your questions?"
"There was one in particular: How can we continue to have faith in a world that increasingly challenges the belief in a God who created it?"
"And the answer..."
"'You must still keep faith,'" Vyom said. I expected him to elaborate, but he didn't.
"Tell me everything," I urged.
"That's all there is," he replied.
"I don't understand. I'm missing the connection here," I said, growing impatient.
He stood up and began walking. I followed, puzzled. We walked in silence for a mile or two before coming across an elderly vendor selling plastic items. He was leaning on a metal bar for support. Vyom stopped and turned to face the old man, whom he had initially ignored. As he approached him, I stood back and observed.
Vyom picked up two combs and asked for the price.
The old man, unable to speak, gestured twice with his hands to indicate ten.
Vyom handed him a five hundred bill. The man's trembling hands grasped it, and he began waving it toward Vyom for change.
"Keep it," Vyom told him.
As Vyom walked back to me, the old man stood still, staring up at the sky in disbelief. I was speechless.
"Faith," Vyom said as he approached me. "That's how it works."
