Divine Intervention

There are many questions that Google cannot answer and for these, one has no other choice but to turn to God. The book, To Replace God, does not answer these questions that bewilder the human mind but highlights the way in which one must seek the answers.

Preetam Oswal, 21, the author of the book, found the way to seek answers for his questions quite early in life. "When I was a child, I used to my Guru ji every night after dinner. He would tell me stories from the Kalpasutra, the Jain text that contains the biographies of Jain Tirthankaras that can only be read by monks. I was also inspired by the stories from Mahavira's Nirvana . All of these stories had morals that I was taught to follow during my life. The stories of the heroes and mighty warriors also taught me how to be humble and human," says Oswal, who is currently pursuing his final year in Electronics and Telecommunications at MIT college of Engineering.

"I always wanted to write these stories down with my own interpretation, but whenever I sat down to do so, I was inspired to think about life, death and the journey that lies in between," he adds.

The book revolves around the seven deadly sins — lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, anger, pride and envy — which are represented in the seven main characters. All the characters are in a constant struggle to replace God in their lives. The story is based in a fictional town of Bakrota, and the protagonist is a doctor who is cursed by a witch to meet his friends in every birth and carry on the task of replacing the epitome of power — God.

"Everyone has to die at one point of time, hence our knowledge about this earth is limited. I believe that God has made humans powerful but it is the earthly politics that limits this power and does not allow us to replace him," says Oswal, who touches on the subject of meditation and how it can be used to find inner peace.

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