I, The Convert

This was sent to my mailbox by Roy Joseph, one of our boys in Coimbatore.

*My conversion was not a change of religion; it was a change of heart*
Anand Mahadevan

I was born a Brahmin and am the grandson of a
priest whom I dearly loved.
I am educated and my current professional standing
indicates that I am reasonably intelligent.
I am also affluent and my income would put me
distinctly in the upper middle class bracket.
I guess that would make me high-caste, rich and smart.
In other words, I am not a tribal, or poor or
dim-witted.
And yet, I chose to become a follower of Jesus Christ.

The world would call me a convert to Christianity.
I have no problems with that, though I see my faith
more as a relationship with God through Jesus
Christ than as a religion. And for the record,
I can truthfully claim that no one financially
induced or threatened or deceived me into converting to
Christianity.

I am fiercely proud of my national identity as an
Indian and I am completely at peace with my cultural
identity as a Hindu.
I retain the name my parents gave me.
My wife, who also shares my faith, continues
to go by her Hindu name.
We have two children and we have given both
distinctly Hindu names.
In fact, many of my colleagues and acquaintances
who may happen to read this column are likely
to be surprised. They have no inkling about my faith, for
I generally don't go about announcing it.
But if someone does ask me the reason behind the joy
and hope that is everpresent in my life, I am always
delighted to share it with them.

I write this piece to make one point—that my conversion
was not a change of religion but a change of heart.
To explain this, I need to go back to my childhood in Chennai,
similar to that of so many other Tamil Brahmin boys
like me. My grandfather, every bit the virtuous priest,
had enormous influence over me.
I absolutely adored him and as a toddler, always clung to
him. He too loved me to a fault.
There was no wish of mine that he would not
rush to fulfil. But even in my early, formative years
I was unable to relateto the religion he fervently practiced.
Later, in my school days, I once
spent my summer holidays with him in Trichy.
Memories of dawn walks with him, for the ritualistic
dip in the Cauvery river, cow in tow, are still
fresh in my memory. I learnt many shlokas, some of
which I still remember.
But I never understood any of it and none of it
helped me connect with God.

When I was 19, a Christian friend with whom I
used to play cricket invitedme to his house for prayer.
If he had invited me to a pub, or party, I would
have gone too. At his home, he and his sister prayed for me.
It was a simple yet delightful conversation with God that
lasted all of five minutes. Idon't remember it verbatim,
but they articulated a prayer of blessing on my
life, future, career and family.
It was a simple affair—no miracles, no angels visiting.
All they did was utter a deep human cry out to the creator
God and His only son Jesus Christ.
When they said Amen, I felt in my heart a desire to follow Jesus.

It was a faith encounter with God that I shall
not even attempt to understand, rationalise or explain.
I simply accept it. It is my faith.
It is what I choose to believe.
That evening I did not change my religion, for
in reality I had none.
Hinduism was my identity, not my religion.
It still is.

The Christianity I acquired that evening is not a religion.
On the contrary, it is an intensely intimate relationship
with Jesus. Over the past fifteen years,
I have come to know this Jesus even closer.
I know Him as the pure and sinless Son of a Holy God.
And I know Him as a dear friend to whom I
pray and talk to every day—about my career, my dreams,
successes, failures, finances and even my sexuality.

If I read a good book, watch a good movie
(*Rock On* is terrific, mate), or eat a good meal
at a new restaurant, I would naturally tell my
friends about it.
In Jesus, I have discovered a truly amazing friend,
guide, leader,saviour and God.
How can I not tell all my friends about Him?
And if anyone does listen and he too comes to
believe in Jesus, I am delighted. The world
would call it a conversion;
I call it a change of heart, like mine.

But I would never force anyone to listen to me,
leave alone financially induce, coerce or con him into believing.
That to me is pointless and against the very grain of my faith.
But I do have a constitutional right to
practice my faith and to preach it without deception,
force or bribery. It pains to see such basic rights of
mankind being cruelly violated every day
in this great Hindu nation.

God bless India.

*(Anand Mahadevan is the editor of Outlook Business.)*

It only goes to confirm what Thondup said when he said that he himself wanted once to convert to Christianity.
We all agree that Christianity does preach love, faith, hope and charity.
It has produced saints like Mother Teresa and Father Damien, who worked tirelessly among the lepers in Hawaii until he himself contacted the disease.
I agree with Mr. Mahadevan, every person should be allowed to practice his faith without being persecuted by others.
Young children are very impressionable as Thondup had said earlier.
They are like clay which can be moulded as you desire.
This was one of the reasons why the missionaries started with so many schools for children. I and all who have studied in these schools thank them for the education.
When I was in school I used to see the catholic boys going to church.
I loved the atmosphere in the church, with the fragrance of essence and the silence . Of course I did not convert and the thought never occurred to me but if anybody had given me a slight push as Mahadevan was given, I too may have followed him.
Even after passing school and college, I used to praise the catholic system in front of my mother as I knew nothing of Hinduism.I was critical of the aarti and bhajjan with all the noise they used to make and all the rituals.I used to like the subdued hymns sung in churches.Mother used to call me "angrez ka baccha"
It was only in 1998 when I became 50 and I was fortunate in coming in contact with my Guruji that I came to know the universality of our religion.It was only then that I understood the importance of the Ramayan, Mahabharat and the Bhagavad Gita.
See, after 50 years I came to know the beauty of my faith and I would not change it for all the wealth in the world.
That is one of the beauties of our faith.
We do not force anything on anyone.
We allow that faith to develop gradually for we know it will.
Shakespeare in "As You Like it" described the seven stages of man thus"
Infant,Schoolboy,Lover,Soldier,Justice,
Lean and slippered pantaloon
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his* sound,
And last scene of all,, Second childishness
We call the different stages of growth as Ashrams. Thus we have Brahmacharya (upto 18), Grihastha,(19 - 40), Banprasth(41-55) and Sanyas(after 55).
We know a person will gradully find his way to God when he starts reaching the banprasth stage.Before that, he has to perform the duties towards the world which God has planned for him.
If not 50, at least a person should be an adult, is educated and is well off when he decides to change his faith , then I would not call it conversion.
But if the person is not an adult, uneducated and poor and change of faith is used as a bait to give him educational, economic gain.
IT IS CONVERSION

Now, Mr. Mahadevan can tell us whether it was conversion

Radheshyam