The Brightest Star

“Twinkle twinkle little star,
How I wonder what you are,
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.”

The stars in the night sky have always mesmerized me by their twinkling light. In my childhood, on clear summer nights, I would lie in the garden and stare at them for hours. Their mystery and beauty always overwhelmed me.

The other day, I narrated the story of ‘Dhruv’ to my seven year old son. It’s a story from Hindu mythology in which a little boy called Dhruv, chanted the name of the Lord as ‘Om Namo Bhagvate Vasudevaya.’ The Lord granted him darshan and blessed him. He grew up to be a great king of India. Years later when he died, he was granted a position in the sky by the Lord Himself and is said to be the brightest star in the sky. We call him ‘Dhruv Tara’ or ‘Pole Star’.

That day, soon after dinner, my son tugged at my sleeve and said, “Mama, can you show me the Dhruv Tara?” So, I took him outside and sure enough, we saw the bright pole star twinkling merrily in the sky.

My son asked innocently, “Mama do all people who die, become stars?” “Son, I think only people whom God loves very much, get this exalted position in the sky. For that, you have to be a very very good person, only then God will be pleased with you.”

“Mama, then I’m sure you will become a star one day, because you are sooooo good!” That, coming from my little boy, left me speechless. I just hugged him close and said, “You just think that, because I am your mother, and you love me a lot.” But, I went on to think, “I love God a lot, and I’m sure He loves me even more.” The words put in my autograph book by my school teacher, Mrs Roy, came back to me, “If you cannot be a star in the sky, be a lamp in the house.”
I wished I could meet my teacher and say to her, “I do not know anything about being a lamp or becoming a star, but I do know one thing and that is – God loves me and I love him!”