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I grew up in a small town in the foothills of the
Western Ghats, were people of different faiths lived in harmony for many years.
Having grown up in a secular household, I had friends from different faiths.
Like every other child I was fascinated and intrigued by their customs and
religious practices. When I first visited the local church with my Christian
friend, I was in awe with the statue of Mary carrying Baby Jesus. I was equally
enthralled to see my Muslim friends reading their holy book Koran in a musical
chant. Our ways of life were different; nevertheless we remained good friends.
Our idyllic small town life remained peaceful. Most of the businesses were run
by Muslims and the Hindus were predominantly land owners. Good number of
Christians and Hindus were employed as teachers. Educated youth from all walks
of life were taking up jobs in government offices, banks and LIC. As a teenager
I was not aware of the conflicts underlying our peaceful existence.
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The bazaar right in front of
the historical Hindu temple was lined by various shops run mainly by
Muslims. As was the norm, these merchants used to gather for Namaz everyday
in one of the shops. All of a sudden, a Ganesha idol appeared in the middle
of the market square and this sparked a disagreement between the
communities. Alas! Simmering tensions erupted into violence! The following
days witnessed police action. Community leaders tried to restore harmony and
religious heads attempted to soothe the frayed tempers. Over time, the
community slowly limped back to normalcy, though minor transgressions had
the potential to flare up the situation. |
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One of those days, I went to the bazaar with a Hindu
friend to buy some stationary items. While we were gaily examining the new
fragrant, multi-colored erasers with great enthusiasm in the stationary shop, a
violent mob carrying sticks and sickles came charging down the bazaar. We saw
people running helter shelter and shop owners downing shutters. Paralyzed with
fear we did not know what to do. The shop owner, a septuagenarian Muslim
gentleman, asked us to get into the shop and closed the shutter behind us. |
As we sat in a dazed stupor, we
heard the mob pelting stones, shouting slogans and chasing people. The shop
owner was on his knees praying all through. Once it became quiet, he opened
shutter only to find mayhem outside. Calm after the storm! With great care, he
sent us home with an escort. That day, a perfect stranger taught me the most
profound spiritual lesson on humanity. A lesson that stays with me to this
date!!!
Contributed By:
Rathika Lakshminarayanan
lrathika63@yahoo.co.in India
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