I was coming back from the Central Business District, and waiting for a friend to pickme up at the junction of Richmond Road, where Brigage Road starts calling itself Hosur Road. Right next to Thom’s Hotel, I looked in the cool greenery of All Saints’ Church, and on an impulse, walked inside.

What an oasis of peace it is! True, the roar of the traffic is unrelenting…but the beautiful, low-set church, and the huge trees (there is one huge Millingtonia, or Sausage Tree, in full bloom and fruit just now) and the birds in them give the effect of stepping into the past, and into a time of ease and peace.

There is a school where the mentally challenged are trained in professional vocations, called Arpana; the school seems well-run, and has a couple of vans, also, that were on their way to unknown destinations. I looked the quarters for the priests, and insensibly, my sense of rush lightened and passed away, and I was able to enjoy the minutes that I spent in the churchyard.

Surely, this is the highest religion..where, beyond one’s beliefs or the gods one bows to, Nature prevails over a visitor, and calms her heart and mind, and sends her back to the busy world with peace and quiet in her soul!

There are many such churches in Bangalore, where one’s "batteries" get re-charged, and all they ask of you is to spend some time in the area, with an open heart….

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