Such a conclusion might appear strange to Kapil, 13, and his brother Parveen, 10, of Dehra Dun, when they are told that their parents and brother, also returning from a darshan of the same goddess, perished in the crash. And so also to hundreds of others similarly bereaved. Why did their kin have to die? Why did the Mata ordain the accident at all?

How can one ever figure out God? How does one reconcile the idea of an omniscient, compassionate and almighty being with the misery innocent people are subjected to? Why did He, for example, rain rocks on people who only wanted to get closer to him in Mansarovar? Why does He allow Haj pilgrims to die in stampedes?''

The explanation that actually all that is unsavoury in this world has something to do with our`previous births', or Karma, only leads us to a polemical cul de sac. One would rather get all answers here and now.

But, the devotees are convinced that God exists, even if His ways be inscrutable. For them there is no other explanation of a whole range of events, from the origin of the universe to `miracles' in everyday life.I suppose nobody has an answer to this one. But, in a way, it does tell us what God is. He is simply a collective noun for all the answers we do not have. As and when we get an answer to any unexplained phenomenon, Godhood gets reduced to that extent.

Take deification of planetary bodies, for example. For ages they were considered manifestations of the ultimate divinity. But now we know that they are nothing more than masses of rocks, gases and coagulated lava. Should we still hold them in reverence? Should women still pray to the moon while breaking their Karva Chauth fast? Why should one drop coins in cannisters held aloft by rogues at traffic crossings every Saturday morning,when we know what Shani (Saturn) and its swirling rings consist of?

In Gurgaon where I live the largest temple in town is dedicated to Sheetla Mata. The deity's principal claim to fame is that she keeps smallpox at bay. According to the temple priest Satish Shastri: ``The pox is so called because it comes from the mother's womb. It is a disease of the heat. Its antidote has to be sheetal (cold). Hence the name Sheetla Mata.''

Fortunately scientists, instead of praying at the temple, preferred to locate the virus, study it, and finally destroy it. Sheetla Mata still has devotees, but she is now, more or less, a goddess without portfolio.But, there is a widespread belief that the Lord is in a position to dole out all manner of favours or forgiveness. Every religion prescribes rituals to appease Him. Indian mythology is replete with instances where incredible boons came the supplicant's way, not because of his character or credentials, but as a reward for performing some weird ritual, like worshipping whilestanding on one leg for eons.

That is why I could not understand the fuss over Arun Shourie's Worshipping False Gods. Have we not always worshipped false gods? Our epics show that the leading lights of our pantheon such as Ram and Krishna had their share of flaws. They were not above using deceit and subterfuge to achieve their ends, as Ram did to kill Bali. Krishna made a habit of it during the Mahabharata war. And they could be very unjust, as in Ram's post-Lanka treatment of Sita.

Acceptance of each other's flaws is a part of the cosy arrangement between the deities and their worshippers. Perfect gods would demand perfect conduct. Creating man in his own image was one of God's masterstrokes.