CHILDREN OF THE EARTH, NOT SONS OF RELIGION

From dust is our birth

To dust, our destination

We are children of the earth

Not sons of religion.

The infamous face of communal violence has found a new home; our world, where it thrives and slaughters the same people who found him this home. Daily reports send shivers down my spine leaving me disturbed for most part of the day.

One such day, as I was strolling down towards Saraswati Mandir, I witnessed a sight that gave me new hope and a reason to write. I can vividly recall where my mind was then, as I was thinking that despite all its shortcomings, there are some especially remarkable things about IIT-R. Things that in the everyday confusion of our lives we choose to omit. One such beautiful thing is that the Saraswati Mandir and the Muslim Dargah are located across the road, perfectly opposite to each other.

It was about six in the evening, and the time for Namaz. A Muslim man, senior in age and rather devout in appearance, gently and reverentially stepped out of the Dargah. Dressed in a white salwaar kameez and wearing a Taqiyah, he seemed to murmur a last minute prayer in Arabic just as he turned towards the road. On the other side of the road, and at about the same time, the temple pujari, draped in an orange shawl and wearing a dhoti, stepped out of the temple gate. His lips muttering a silent prayer as his fingers played with the prayer beads. The pujari, as if noticing the presence of a friend, crossed over to the other side. The two men looked warmly and embraced each other.

“Jai Shree Ram, …. Ji! “, said the Pujari.

“ Jai Shree Ram, Panditji!”

“Aur …. Ji, kaise haal chal?”

“Allah ki dua se, koi musibat nahi!”

To this, the pujari joined his hands in reverential prayer and bowed his head facing the Dargah.

“Bhagwan ki kripa se, jo kuch bhi hoga, sab hamare bhala ke liye hi hoga”, Said the pujari.

“Aapki duaye hamare saath rahe, yeh hi hamari iccha hai”, said the man and smiled gratefully at the pujari

“To phir chale?” asked the Pujari

“Pehle Mandir chalthe hai”, replied the man.

Sometimes, the commonest of sightings, those that we take for granted, can contain the most significant and relevant of lessons for humanity; lessons that have the potential to save humanity from the poisonous influence of communal violence. Lessons that remind you, we are children of the earth, not sons of religion, God, after all, knows no religion.