Yet another incident of religious intolerance in the newspaper catapulted my thoughts to a memory in the good old days where long train journeys were the norm for travelling long distance. I was going home after drawing the final curtain on my life at the "Garden City".
There was a lady travelling in my compartment. She was travelling back to Kolkata after meeting her daughter. She struck a chord with me after knowing that I was "Bangali". An animated conversation followed about her daughter and her life away from her. I participated enthusiastically by sharing details about my family and my years away from family. The banter continued. Then she asked my name. After hearing my name she stuttered a little. You see, my name revealed that I was a Muslim and not a Hindu as concluded by her, after my acknowledgement of being a "Bangali". Though genuinely taken aback by her shocked expression, I was patient and polite. I explained that in Bengal there are "Bangali Muslims" as well as "Bangali Christians". After that revelation she took time to recover. However, soon she realized that I was a "good" girl or possibly 36 long hours of journey makes it difficult to ignore somebody and warmed up to me again. The journey ended with us exchanging numbers. The fact that I lost the number and she did not contact me either is another story about the times of "short attention span" that we live in. Coming back to my story, getting that shocked look was not new for me. For some reasons Muslims are expected to be Urdu speaking (the knowledge of Arabic being a given!). However getting it from a person of my own state was new for me! I was appalled to realize that people around whom I have grown up did not know about the diversity around them, leave aside knowing about the melange in the country.
Mind you, by people around me I mean the entire mosaic population. Most are ignorant about the other groups’ lives, cultures and beliefs. Most live in their own islands of some "Hindu pada" and some "Musolman Pada". Most form opinions from half baked information or from vacuous depictions. Away from home, the jarring contrast of the memories of revelry and the surrounding silence on the days of festivities aggravate the pain of solitude for people who need to live in the other “pada”. The most depressing part is that this phlegm is prevalent in the entire country.
One might argue that there’s no problem with living in isolation. All concerned parties are happy. Well, no problem at all. However, the pandemonium starts when one steps on the other's tail. We have allowed ourselves to be tied down by the shackles of religion, caste, status and innumerable other differences. Miscreants in various forms have been taking advantage of this apathy and inflicting wounds on one community or the other time and again. Generations carry the grudge and pass it on like some valued inheritance. Even after crossing the half century mark after independence years ago, we are limping towards a future which appears to be bleak due to the recent spate of events.
In our families we have siblings who are of the opposite poles. During disagreements we do not kill one another. Our parents teach us that we are different individuals and that we should respect the differences and love one another, come what may! If reconciliation is possible in families, then why not in our societies?!
I understand the oft-repeated phrase of childhood- "you are the future of the country" fully only now. I am proud and fortunate to have parents who never tied me down with religious dogmas. I was lucky to be schooled at an institution where the amalgamation of minds was encouraged. I am blessed to have like-minded friends among whom we have shared not only moments of tears and laughter but also the joys of festivities. The knowledge, that there are many others like me or even better than me across the length and breadth of our country, makes me hopeful. The generation who is bringing up the new generation is "US", the "PRESENT". We have the power to change the fate of our country by letting go of the past, embracing each other with new knowledge and not letting it slip into gory darkness. We are at crossroads where the pledge to pull out and bury the stained and tainted hatchet from the attics of each of our memories will give us a united front to ward off other social evils and take us to a brighter and safer tomorrow.
India’s diversity is a gift of history. Let us preserve it by celebrating our differences and stand united just like white light with all its beautiful colours hidden within it.
