After being served an official notice asking why he had only been present at work 16 times in the last 8 months, an engineer from the Indian state of Gujarat replied that he was the 10th incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, and had been too busy with divine work to focus on his job.

Rameshchandra Fefar, an engineer at Gujarat government’s Sardar Sarovar Punarvasvat Agency (SSPA), claims he first got an indication of his “divine greatness” in August of 1999, from the newspaper horoscope. He felt his body being detached from his being and getting filled with ‘divya anand’ (divine happiness), but didn’t know exactly what had happened until his wife read the daily horoscope. It mentioned that he would become a leader of men and be supremely intelligent.

Photo: video screengrab

But despite this divine revelation, the engineer continued going to work as usual, and even experienced another connection with the gods at the office.

“On March 6, 2010, I was at work when I felt the rush of powers of Vishnu,” Rameshchandra said in an interview. “I have direct connection with God and follow his diktat. My aatma (soul) has become one with parmatma (the supreme soul).”

But it wasn’t until 2014 that the absent engineer built up the courage to let his family know that he was the 10th avatar of Vishnu, a Hindu god usually depicted as having four arms and blue skin. Even today, people doubt his claims, but promises to offer irrefutable proof of his divinity in the near future.

Rameshchandra Fefar made news headlines all over the world earlier this month, when he used his divine nature as an excuse for showing up at his office only 16 times in the last 8 months.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

“You have remained highly erratic ever since you joined duty on September 22, 2017,” SSPA’s management wrote in a notice. “You have remained absent without any authorisation. This kind of conduct is not befitting a government official. Your absence from duty has adversely impacted the working of rehabilitation which is in its final stages as you are not available for providing guidance to the subordinates.”

To say Rameshchandra’s written reply was shocking would be an understatement:

“I am Lord Vishnu’s 10th incarnation as Kalki,” the engineer wrote to his bosses. “I am doing penance at home by entering into the fifth dimension to change the global conscience. This work I cannot do in the office. Thus I don’t remain physically present in the office.”

As you can imagine, the man was ridiculed in the media for his unusual excuse, but he lashed out at neysayers, claiming that he had played an instrumental role in ending India’s severe droughts, and letting them know that more proof of his divinity would follow in the near future.

“Even if you don’t believe, I am indeed the tenth incarnation of Lord Vishnu and I will prove it in coming days,” he told reporters. “I realised that I am Kalki avatar when I was in my office in March 2010. Since then, I am having divine powers. Just like everybody laughed at me at the time of Mahabharata, you guys are doing the same because you’re unable to see God in me.”

Asked if he was worried about losing his job, Rameshchandra Fefar said it was all up to the gods.

“If Goddess Jagdamba wants, I can take VRS (Voluntary Retirement Scheme),” the engineer said. “Else, I will put down my resignation this very instant if she directs thus. The job is not important, this role of mine is.”

The engineer’s employers said that his case is currently being reviewed by the administrative department.