I watched this little girl (in the foreground) for a very long time.
She didn't understand the significance of what the elders around her were doing.
They were lighting candles to the Almighty seeking favors or thanking Him for the blessings received. Some believed in lighting candles because that is what "you are supposed to do" (my friend) "it is a good thing" (another friend who was unable to explain why it was a good thing) "my parents used to do it", so on and so forth.
The kid watched them all. Holding a couple of candles in her own hand (which was thrust into her hands by some elder in her family), not knowing what to do with it or what the ritual of lighting the candles signified.
She was just watching them, observing them, without judging - and then following the adults around her.
And enjoying every bit of it. Curious about it all. Happy to be doing something new and different from what she usually did in her life. And reveling in the smells, sounds, voices and vibrations around her.
I am sure, not for a moment, did God, religion, good, bad, sin, bribery, receiving favors or blessings, different gods blah, blah, blah, cross her mind. Not for a moment. Instead, she was just soaking it all up, appreciating the new experience and enjoying it to the core. And that beat all devotions and forms of worship and surrender to the Creator usually exhibited by adults.
We were all children once upon a time? What happened to us?
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