I lost my grandmother 2 years ago. I was very close to her. There is a special bond that every child shares with their grandparents and so did I.

She was my friend, my advisor, and my strength.

My grandmother did not live with us in New Delhi. After my grandfather's death, she wanted to stay in Vrindavan (Mathura), as she was an ardent Krishna devotee. Respecting her desire, my father purchased an apartment for her in Vrindavan.

Most of our weekends were spent in Vrindavan with my beloved grandmother. I would often ask her if she felt lonely in the house.

She would always smile and say, “My Krishna lives with me, so how can I ever be lonely?”

Since childhood, I’d seen my grandmother worship Lord Krishna. When she worshipped him, she lost herself in the Lord. She would say, “I am in Him and He is in me.” Despite her old age, she would take care of the Radha Krishna idol placed in our home temple and do their seva.

From giving the idols a bath to decorating them with beautiful clothes and offering them every meal, she performed every duty with joy.

Whenever I would face a problem, she’d console me by saying, "My Krishna will show you the path." I never questioned her faith.

However, whenever she asked me to do seva, I always denied it as I never felt any attachment to those idols.

In her last days, my grandmother forced me to visit the Bankey Bihari temple and Nidhivan. I did not want to go but I couldn’t disappoint her. I visited the Bankey Bihari temple first. It was overflowing with people who were eager to get just one look at Bankey Bihari ji.

I joined the queue of the devotees and waited for my turn to get darshan. As I waited, I couldn’t help but wonder why my grandmother wanted me to come here. The priest's voice jolted me out of my thoughts. He directed me to move forward and take darshan.

I stood in front of Bankey Bihari's idol and was spellbound by its beauty.

The big beautiful eyes of my grandmother's Krishna took my breath away. I stood still; I couldn’t move. It was the crowd that pushed me ahead. To my own surprise, I went back and joined the queue again to get one more look at the idol.

I returned home and decided to visit Nidhivan the next day. After the darshan at Nidhivan, I started talking to the priest at the temple. He told me how he would prepare the bed, keep the sweets, sari, bangles, beetle leaves and other things after the aarti every evening.

When I asked him why he did it, he replied that Lord Krishna and Radha would visit the temple every night and perform Raas Leela.

I burst into laughter. This drew angry looks from the priest and the other devotees. Somehow, I controlled my emotions. As I waited for the evening aarti, I observed the priest performing the duties that he had mentioned. I even checked with the local people living near the temple and they confirmed that the Raas Leela story was true.

The next morning, I visited the temple at the crack of dawn. When the priest opened the temple, I noticed that everything that was prepared last night had been scattered like somebody had used it. I had goosebumps.

The priest handed me the prasad and asked me to have faith in Krishna just like my grandmother.

I nodded and started walking out of the temple. Suddenly, I had a shocking realization. How did the priest know that I was the same person who had been pressurized by my grandmother to visit Nidhivan? I ran back to get answers to my questions but that priest was nowhere to be found.

When I asked the other priest, he said that he was the only priest in the temple.

I was speechless; my hands were shaking. I didn't tell anyone about this incident and returned to New Delhi.

I’m thankful to my grandmother for forcing me to go to the Land of Miracles - Vrindavan.

From that day, I decided to spend my life in His feet and serve needy people. Now, I do seva of the Radha Krishna idols in my house. I visit the Bankey Bihari temple regularly and each time I feel He is in me and I am in Him.

My experience taught me that faith has no face; it's a belief.

And if you have faith in God, he will hold your hand and will never leave you.

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