Once upon a time, in the far away land of Kasol, India, there lived a young Hindu boy named Vinay.

Vinay was raised by loving Hindu parents, but for some reason, he rejected his faith and turned to a life of mischief.

Vinay's mother always warned him that if he did not change his ways his karma would be ruined and one day Shiva the destroyer God would punish him. Despite this, Vinay did not listen.

One night, Vinay was visited by the elephant-headed God Ganesha, the remover of obstacles. He warned Vinay that Shiva is the one who cut off his head and replaced it with an elephant's. This scared Vinay and he begged Ganesha for the path to redemption.

Ganesha accepted Vinay's plea but only if he was allowed to teach Vinay about Hinduism with a journey through time. Vinay anxiously agreed and then they disapeared.

Their first stop was a quiet and calm forest somewhere in India. Ganesha explained that this is where he would teach Vinay the four paths of liberation which help discipline his body, mind, and spirit.

Ganesha explained the first path: the path of action or karma yoga. He said that it was a selfless service to others for the sake of Brahma. The second path was the path of knowledge or jnana yoga. The spiritual knowledge of the relationship between the soul and God.

The third path was the path of devotion or bhakti yoga which is the process of choosing a particular God or Goddess and worshiping them throughout your life through words, actions, or deeds. Ganesha then concluded with the final path.

The path of meditation or raja yoga is the crown of all yogas. You must always try to concentrate so you can reach your real self within you and become one with Brahman, the ultimate reality.

With this newfound knowledge, Vinay gained a better understanding of his faith and felt enlightened. This helped him to find his real self ever so slightly.

He then shared his personal opinion on the yogas and said that they are a peaceful and admirable form of disciplining people and encouraging the right actions and behavior. He then vowed to meditate every day and live his life following these four paths.

The pair disapeared again and arrived at their next destination. When Vinay realized that he was back home, he was confused and asked Ganesha why he was here. Ganesha explained that they were in the past and it was autumn, the season when the ritual Divali is practiced.

Vinay did not know what Divali was so Ganesha explained that it was the celebration of the return of Avatar Rama from a 14 year exile.

Normally Vinay would skip any sort of festival or ritual his family partook in but this time, with Ganesha's help, he joined in. He started decorating the house with candles since the light symbolized the piercing of darkness and life's miseries.

When his mother got home, she was shocked and very excited to see Vinay participating in Divali with her. The rest of the family was there too and they all started to burn a picture of the horse demon Ravana as it is the tradition.

Vinay had lots of fun and regretted skipping the festivals all these years. He then claimed that he agrees with the discouragement of evil through burning pictures of Ravana and he was also appalled by the effectiveness of these festivals bringing people together.

Then, all of a sudden, Ganesha reappeared and took Vinay to another destination.

The two arrived at Vinay's village yet again in the past, during spring. Just in time for the spring festival of Holi. Ganesha explained that this festival commemorates the love between Avatar Krishna and Radha.

Ganesha continued explaining and said that the division of castes was suspended during this festival but Vinay was confused. He asked what a caste was and Ganesha promised to show him that next.

Then, the villagers started to come out and celebrate so Vinay unhesitatingly joined in. Everyone started playing pranks, throwing coloured powder and squirting coloured water which is the tradition.

Vinay had successfully learned about and participated in two main Hindu festivals and so Ganesha was pleased. Vinay anxiously awaited to learn what the caste system was so the two then disappeared to the next stop.

Vinay appeared in a strange unfamiliar land and became uneasy so Ganesha explained that they were in India in the distant past. It was the time before the abolishment of the caste system in 1950.

Ganesha then said that the caste system was an old grouping and categorization system for people in India. From highest ranked to lowest, there were the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Sudras, and Harijans.

The Brahmins were the most important people and the priestly caste. They kept the rules of the caste system, never interacted with other castes and were the middle men between Gods and men.

The kshatriyas were the warriors and administrators. They protected the people and were responsible for upholding justice.

The vaishyas consisted of the farmers, merchants, teachers, and other workers. They provided for Indian society through alms giving and the construction of temples, hospitals, and other public facilities.

The final level of the caste system was the sudras: the servants and unskilled workers. Their only duty was to serve the other castes and they were forbidden from studying the oldest Hindu scripture: the vedas. They also could not eat with members of other castes.

Lastly, the harijans or the "untouchables" were so low that they were considered below the caste system all together. They did the dirtiest jobs such as cleaning human waste and no one from other castes would affiliate themselves with them.

Vinay was shocked and strongly disapproved of this ranking system. He thought it was horrible that so many people were poorly treated while others were living the life and believed that this was not right.

Ganesha then reminded him that luckily this was no longer legal in modern society so Vinay calmed down. He was impressed with Vinay's humility and said that he reminded him of a great man named Mahatma Gandhi.

Ganesha explained that Gandhi was a man of non-violence who fought strongly for the rights of the untouchables. He even gave them the name harijans which means children of God. Vinay admired the sound of Gandhi and then they went to the next destination.

Ganesha brought Vinay to a Hindu temple, one out of the three sacred places in Hinduism. Ganesha explained that this temple was dedicated to the God of the arts: Saraswati and that every temple was usually dedicated to one God.