Gods of the loud speakers

In the morning, the loud speakers, while trying in vain to wake up the Gods, blaring out devotional music & chants woke up Titty in his small apartment. 

Titty was not his real name. A misadventure  in school had earned Thampy the name Thampy Thief which soon got abbreviated to TT and then to Titty. He was an adventurous child.
His parents were busy making money in the Middle East, his grand parents in Kerala - GOC,  raised him from the age of two.He was intelligent but not keen on studies. Music and Magic were his favorite pastimes. He mastered quite a few tricks at a very young age. At the age of ten an empty match box in his hand became full in front of his class mates. He could tell which one of the ten stones, arranged to form a question mark, you touched while he was away. Soon he could read the thoughts of his friends written on paper and kept in sealed envelopes with him. He was good at key board and Guitar.

Affluence separated his parents and left young Titty  with a lot to enjoy life with. When he was done with most of the things that could be done with money, including a few years in an engineering college in a beautiful city, he decided to marry. An expensive degree from a foreign university and a high position in his father's company attracted beautiful software engineers from the Garden city and their parents. After much looking around, a retired professor of Medicine won Titty for his daughter. The  marriage however soon broke up when she discovered his lifestyle. He too was ready to part. But the process, court, lawyers & alimony, reduced his wealth to a great extend. Friends took care of the rest.So here he was, in his tiny apartment on the 4th floor, taking it one day at a time.

His eyes fell on the Guitar hanging on the wall. He was wondering how to sell it when he saw his bar mate Guruswamy at the door. Guru-swamy ( loosely translated to respected teacher) had long hair and an overgrown beard. That or the ganja (marijuana) that he regularly smoked earned him the name. Guruswamy had with him, a full page advertisement of 'First time in the city - Miracle cure and worship by H.H.Dr. Khan' from the newspaper 4M .

Guru, how much will it fetch?', Titty pointed to the guitar.

'Why sell it?, attend a meeting and make money' Guruswamy passed the news paper to Titty.

Titty knew what it contained. He had been watching the 4minute trailer  on Miracle cure and worship  on the 4M channel in the bar many times in the week.

'You get 500 for attending' Guru announced.

At the meeting Titty and Guru were given seats along with Dr Khan's close aides, away from the view of the main congregation. Titty was impressed by the skill  with which Dr Khan conducted his conjurer's tricks. He readily agreed to meet Dr Khan after the meeting, though his aids appeared to be much tougher than his bar mates & this unnerved Titty a bit.

After a brief discussion Titty was hired as a lame, who walked with the help of crutches, to be cured in the next day's worship. The reward offered was good and the arrangement of crutches and rehearsal was taken care of by Dr Khan's team. Titty knew his friends and acquaintances were not likely to attend prayer meetings, even if they did get to know, they could only appreciate his good intentions.

Next day the congregation was larger and a number of people to be cured were present. The music, prayers and preaching of Dr. khan impressed many and they were glad that they had finally found their savior. In the healing sessions, the deaf regained hearing and the blind, sight. When their turn came, Guru explained his friend was possessed by two demons. One made him drink too much and the other made him lame.  Dr. Khan prayed with all his skill and requested God to grand him the power to defeat and drive away the demons. He then ordered the demon of drinking to leave Titty.

Titty hesitated for a moment. He was not prepared to part with that demon. But Dr Khan knew his trade well, he forced down the lame with a single movement of his right hand which was on the head of the possessed.There was a great commotion, congregation cried out loud praises for God and his servant  Dr Khan.The fall of the possessed was a definite sign of the demon leaving the body.

Titty got up with difficulty and by that time the other demon of lameness was ordered out and Titty fell again. Guru helped him get up with out crutches and a louder ovation followed.The demon had left him, he could walk home with out crutches..

Titty met Dr Khan after the meet. He expected a larger compensation for he loss of his favorite demon. He got nothing more than promised. The 'No' from the doctor and the look of his aids told him the second demon may return if he pressed for more, so he went back home meekly. For the first time in life he felt his loss. His gift of music, knowledge of old Hindi movie tunes, magic.... all gave him the courage to win him back.

The early morning TV channels  sponsored by various god-men proved  a good source of  topics to talk on and funny stories to attract attention of the gathering. For Titty Magic tricks and songs to enhance the excitement of gathering was not difficult at all. The song 'My God........' in tune to the old Bollywood hit, 'Mere dill... ' became so popular that many participants in 'Mango Moon Singer contest, on the 4M channel sang it several times.

Titty named his congregation 'Worshippers Heaven (All religions)' and the meeting place Santhy Bhavan. Soon  'Santhy' was attached to his name. It took no time for Titty to become Santhy Babu, he had at long last found his true calling

One more loud speaker, blaring out the songs by H H Dr.Sri Santhy Babu, joined the morning chorus trying to wake up the Gods.