Why I Believe in Jesus Christ (Part-3)

Psalm 118: 17-18: ‘I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD. The LORD has chastened me severely, but He has not given me over to death.’

January 2004 – December 2013, Mumbai

In the first week of January 2004, I left home for Mumbai with Rs. 10,000 in hand that I received from mortgaging our agricultural land. A friend from my locality who already had lived in Mumbai at that time took me there. I took the same trunk that I used in SABC with me to Mumbai. And I carried the Bible also with me.

We, four — all from Manipur – rented a room in a Transit camp in Telli Galli,in Andheri East. I enrolled for a one-year computer hardware and networking course at Jetking Infotrain which was located in Irla, Vile Parle. I discontinued the course abruptly after three months, because I could not pay the fees.

In Mumbai, every breath that you take costs money. And if you don’t have money, you can’t survive in Mumbai.

Looking back, as long as the Bible was with me, I was not utterly forsaken. But I gradually stopped reading the Bible – the Word of God by this time. I was focused more on money and survival than God and the Bible. Very important lesson I learned: You don’t love God more than His Word. If you don’t read and hear His Word – the Bible – regularly, sooner than later you will forget God. And very soon, you will forget yourself.

Though the name of Jesus never departed from my tongue, I soon forgot God, and slowly and gradually, I forgot myself.

After coming to Mumbai, the first job I did was as a courier boy for a courier company. I used to deliver letters, parcels in Andheri East areas riding on a bicycle. The first salary I got as a courier boy was Rs. 1500 a month. And I worked in that job for three months.

And then I worked in a Pizza Hut restaurant in Andheri East as a dough maker. And I worked there for four months.

When you drift away from God and the Bible, you do all kinds of things. And God hates hypocrites, and I was one of them.

And then in mid-December 2004, I joined Giltedge Infotech which was located then in Saki Naka, Andheri East as a business transcriptionist. My life of working in the night shift began from there. And I had no time for God and the Bible. Indeed I got stuck in this wheel of work rut. And I worked at Giltedge Infotech for 5 months.

And then in April 2005, I joined RealTeam Systems (or DNC Data Systems, back then) located in Belapur (Navi Mumbai) as Trainee Editor. I used to travel from Andheri to Belapur (Navi Mumbai) by local train. And I worked night shift, and it took a huge toll on my health. And I never bothered myself to pause and think over my health, because I was running after money.

And I was running after money, because if I could get hold of it, I would be happy ever after, and I was going to be saved. And I will never be worried thereafter. That’s the promise the world offers. I was believing in that sweet-sounding promise. And unfortunately the whole world is running after this sweet-sounding lie.

I have learned this the hard way: Money can buy only temporary happiness. Money cannot save you. Happiness and peace only come from God. And money can never replace the place of God in the universe. Put God first in all your dealings.

I left RealTeam Systems in early 2009. And I joined again Giltedge Infotech, and relocated to Mira Road in December 2009.

While working at RealTeam Systems, I used to stay in the company’s rented room in Kharghar (Navi Mumbai). When I left RTS, I also left the mid-sized trunk that I used while at SABC (Bangalore), and in which was the Bible which was gifted to me by one Brother Simeon P of Madurai during my first year BTH. And in the same trunk, the diaries addressed to God as ‘Dear Dad’. In those days, I used to write on weekends (Saturdays & Sundays) those ‘Dear Dad’ diaries.

When I relocated to Mira Road, I left the trunk which was marked in red with 332, (my admission number at JNV Khumbong, Imphal West), in which was my most prized gift – the Bible, the ‘Dear Dad’ diaries, and many other books in that Kharghar house. Just as a note: I continued to write the ‘Dear Dad’ diaries until about 2015.