Karmic breaks:

When I woke up this morning, I thought I had died and come to heaven, but no, I was in Princeton, New Jersey.

Snowflakes over cherry blossoms, long winding roads with houses spaced out evenly at every curve, a palatial house with rooms much bigger than my Manhattan apartment, good food cooked and served for every meal, and conversations that took me on spiritual trips. It was just the beginning of my Spring break with a family friend and I could already see my “Stairway to heaven.”

This was just the fluff, there was more depth to my stay here than anyone had ever predicted. It was a rude shock when I realized what had come over me -- an epiphany. You knew that you had encountered an epiphany when every random experience in your life fit beautifully like a jigsaw puzzle.

I had understood how Karma worked. In simple words, do good to accrue good Karma, and do bad to accrue bad Karma.

Let us consider in this case, Karma equalled money.

Do good = Good Karma = Lot of money = Go on a vacation = Heaven

Do evil = Bad Karma = Lot of debts = Go to prison = Hell

And yes, neither did we burn in hell all our after lives, nor did we strut in heaven forever. We served times – just like we couldn’t spend entire lives in Cancun, or lives after lives in prison.

Life à Good/Bad Karma à Death à Heaven/Hell à Leftover decided next life

If there was excess good Karma, the person could be reborn as a connoisseur of good food, who worked as a food critic for an amazing lifestyle magazine, or could be reborn as someone who never gained weight even after excessive cheese eating and beer drinking. On the other hand, if there was excess bad Karma, the person could be reborn as a short-tempered man in Harlem, or could be a New Yorker – who spent a lot of time on subways – and couldn’t read on route (like yours truly!).

And, about transfers of Karma, transfers were not possible.

Parent Karma ! = Child Karma

This misconception could have been aided by two possibilities.

Case 1: When children felt blessed.

a)    Children’s good Karma = Children’s happiness

b)   Parents’ good Karma = Children’s happiness = Parents’ happiness

Case 2: When children felt cursed.

a)    Children’s bad Karma = Children’s unhappiness

b)   Parents’ bad Karma = Children’s unhappiness = Parents’ unhappiness

So next time a parent said, “You benefit only from my good deeds,” the immediate response must be, “No no no. It happens only because it makes you happy. Thank me because I am the reason for your happiness!”

All these years, mysteries loomed over my head, but now most of my questions were answered – that too rationally. Fate was the name, but Karma was the game!

Though I sounded like an asinine cliché, inside my head I thought, “Oh boy! Finally, my life makes sense. My existence is valid. My good luck is justified. My failures are rational. I had definitely done some good and probably some bad!”