2. An Engineer called God

Meeting a friend after a long gap is always a pleasure. Meeting him at an unexpected place will add a surprise element to that pleasure. I experienced this feeling when I met Ilango in a temple. Ilango had been my classmate in the school. But we parted ways after completing the schooling. He went on to study Engineering. I chose to study accounting and became a chartered accountant.

During our school days, Ilango was a non-believer. In fact, he was a rabid atheist. He would often enter into fierce arguments with us, the believers, over the existence of God. Ironically, both his parents were pious people with a deep and abiding faith in God. Perhaps, the obsessive devoutness of his parents made him move in the opposite direction!

Encountering him in a temple was, therefore an unexpected event. We saw each other while being inside the temple, recognized each other and silently exchanged greetings through inconspicuous gestures. We didn’t want to talk while we were inside the temple.

When I came out of the temple, I saw Ilango waiting for me near the entrance. Even before asking about his career and family, I couldn’t resist the curiosity to ask him how he became a believer.

“Studying Engineering has been a revelation to me,” explained Ilango. "Scientists and Engineers have invented a number of machines, devices and systems using the power of electricity, hydraulics and other sources of energy. I was amazed at the intricate and thoughtful design of systems.

"This made me wonder about Nature. How many wonders we have in nature! Look at the earth, oceans, trees, mountains, rivers and other elements of our ecosystems. What an excellent system a plant has to draw in water and nutritional elements needed for its growth! Then we have various living things ranging from the tiny bacteria to the mighty human beings.

“Consider the human body. What an amazing structure we have in our physique! There is a pump that works non-stop (with no electricity to power it!) pumping in and pumping out blood from our heart. Air is sucked in as if by vacuum, oxygen in the air is used up by the blood and the waste air is pushed out. 

"We have an incredibly amazing network -our nervous system - comprising millions of nerves, each wired to to the brain and with each nerve assigned a specific function. There are innumerable blood vessels supplying blood needed for the functioning of the body parts. We have a digestive system, immune system, purification system, decontamination system, draining system and what not!

“I began to wonder how such an amazing system could have come into being without someone designing and structuring it. The person who has accomplished this should be a Master Engineer and a Craftsman par excellence, with skills surpassing the combined skills of all the engineers and scientists in the world.

"So, how can I fail to recognize the existence of such a Great Engineer and accepting Him as God? Call Him by whatever name you want but you are not being rational if you refuse to accept that there is a cause behind all these creations.”

I realized that my friend Ilango, the rational thinker he is,  had made use of his rationality to think logically and perceive the existence of a Superior Being as the cause of all creations.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'KadavuL ennum poRiyaaLar' by the author)

Thirukkural

Virtue

Chapter 1

In Praise of God

Verse 2:

kaRRathanaalaaya payan en kol vaalaRivan

naRRaaL thozhaarenin?

Meaning: 
What is the use of education if it doesn’t make us bow to the Supreme Being?

Verse 3 

Verse 1