WHY GOD? WHY ME?

In the early stages of my career, sometime in 1988. One pleasant morning, I was sent by Mr.D Suresh Kumar my then Manager in Bhoruka Steel Ltd to Graphite India.  Graphite India had a large factory complex I started on a long walk towards the laboratory at the other end of this factory. Suddenly, I felt something sting my face. I started running.  But the faster I ran, the more I  got stung on my face. Before I realized my face and my hands  were completely covered with bees and I could not open my eyes. I could not even breathe as  my nostrils were covered  with bees. I opened my mouth by mistake and a bee  whizzed in. I bit it … it  was so  nauseating  . Within no time I had collapsed.      

 When I partially opened my eyes, I saw  people were  holding  fire torches over my head  to ward  off the bees. My face had swollen beyond recognition. The smell was so disgusting I felt like vomiting every now and then. The pain was so excruciating that I felt   I was going to die. Lying on the hospital bed, I got to know from people  in  the factory that a few mischief mongers had thrown a stone at the beehive . The bees attacked me as I was in the direction of their flight.

I started asking, “ Why God? Why me?” I was not the one who threw the stones at the hive. The bees should have  attacked the mischief makers.

The question kept  stinging my mind for  days, months and years to come,  but the answer remained elusive.

Many years later,  when I was walking on an abandoned river dam near Mysuru along with my friends one day, I suddenly got a whiff of  the same  nauseating smell. In an instant. I sensed danger. Wasting no time I  screamed  at my friends to lie down. They  saw the panic on my face and followed my command immediately.  Within seconds, a swarm of bees flew over our heads. I   looked up after the buzzing sound had stopped. As I saw the bees flying away from  us, a voice inside me said, now my question “Why God, why me?” is answered.  Not only did it save me from a much more severe sting as this was a huge swarm of bees, but also saved 10 of my friends from unbearable torture and terrifying ordeal. My friends rallied around me and profusely started thanking me. I responded, we actually need to thank those mischief makers who threw the stones and disturbed that hive. We need to thank those bees that stung me many years ago by which I could recognise the  nauseating smell that seemed to have forever registered and embedded in my brain. 

After this incident, many times, when things go wrong or not going the way I want it to happen and my head reels with this puzzling question "Why God, why me?", the experiences with the bees springs me back to action with a redefining thought, 'That question will be answered definitely someday in future, but right now, it is all about - what best can be done'.