Who are we? Are we the real patriots...well i am talking about the Hindu community, or any other community which is not a minority in India. Are we holding the right to call ourselves the "Deshbhakt" and thus has the right to point finger towards any other community. just because we have Pakistan attacking us or making strategies against us does not give us the right to hurt the sentiments of all the muslims living in India. Whenever anything bad happens, we start looking for islamic hands in the event, a bomb attack, a murder, a train accident, anything barbaric is associated with muslims. And the anger has gone a little too far now because even if India are to loose a cricket match to Pakistan because of rain, then we start saying that their Allah might have done this. I again ask this question: WHO ARE WE?
We thought of watching a film, which does not take much of thought from our side as we tend to watch every second film that gets released. Watching some highly paid individuals is our favorite pastime. Thats why Shahrukh Khan and Aamir Khan are our favorite actors, or should I say that these two are the biggest icons of India, apart from Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar and Lata Mangeshkar. So, with the blessings of PVRs, FUN Cinemas, Satyams, and many other great organizations which ensures that whenever one wants to see a movie, the ticket is available, we got the tickets and we went to Fun Cinemas to watch a Shahrukh Khan movie. Wow, Shahrukh is coming after a long time and this one should be something special. And as Shahrukh says for all his films, this is claimed (once again) to be the best performance of his life and audience might not have seen such a movie in the past. FUN Cinemas has some traditions and those are followed relentlessly every time, every day. One of those traditions is to show the "Vicco" products advertisements. Now the characters in that ad are so old that their grandchildren might be coming to the age of death...well if its a tradition, it has to be followed and we as audience has less choice but to watch it...other tradition is to play the National Anthem before the start of the movie.
Education, not allegation is what we should be having in our minds. Ever since a living being enters in a school, by the age of 3-4 years, the life start educating by itself that Hindus and Muslims are not aliens to each other. Unsurprisingly, we both have a head on the shoulders, a nose to smell, pair of ears to listen, pair of eyes to see, a mouth to eat and other important organs to live a life on this earth....but despite this self education and despite continuous efforts of our teachers, professors, ideals, heros...we maintain a sense of differentiation in our minds regarding each other....we go to school, find muslim friends, we sit with them, eat with them, play with them....and then we start growing older...and as our minds become mature, our thinking gets narrow...we ourselves are responsible for this along with our parents....this is a problem from both sides...if hindus like to keep a gap with muslims, so do muslims....
As the National Anthem started, I stood up, along with almost all the audience sitting in the theatre. ALMOST. I was with Rehan and Sandeep, as always, partners in crime as the saying goes. Rehan was standing to my right and Sandeep, to his right. A man, with a thick mustache, fat belly, semi bald, was standing on my left side. He must be some 35-40 years old and looked to be decently educated. The message flashed on the screen "Please stand up for the National Anthem" and everyone acknowledged. Right in front of me, I saw 4 children and a lady sitting. I just pushed one of the boys and asked him to stand up for the National Anthem. He must be 7-8 years old. He reluctantly stood up, but his friends/brothers didnt. the anthem started and midway to the anthem, the boy sat back on his seat. Childhood, its a funny phase of life. Since i am an adolescent, i can see the funny side of childhood...a boy in childhood is very shy...probably the shyness is at its peak in childhood...you tend to see at others, specially your near and dear ones and then you start to follow them. As you grow old, you start taking your own decisions, you start backing up your instincts, but not in childhood...the shyness of standing alone out of the gang of 4 made the boy sit back. He wasnt wrong anywhere. He, despite being a school boy, where you have to stand to the National Anthem daily during the morning prayers, would not understand the exact meaning and importance of the anthem. For people like us, he is doing wrong, and so are the other boys of his gang, but look at this from a boy's prospective, or consider yourself as a 8 year boy, you would understand that he was too young to commit a crime. But the crime was committed in the eyes of the man standing next to me. And the parameters of the crime was the society and the community the boy belonged to. The boy was a muslim and that was concluded by looking at their mother who was wearing burqa.
Why after so much of education we step back? Even if we are liberal in terms of thinking, the liberation is limited to having more fun than others, not telling parents where we are, having cigarette and alcohol with elders....this is the definition of liberalization of a man. Are we thinking seriously about the place we are living in? Are we accepting the challenges which life is throwing at us on daily basis? Are we strong enough to accept the fact that Hindus and Muslims are one and should live like brothers? No, we are not. Even the most educated of the people have different notions when it comes to communalism. People are happy to stuck with their communities, be it Hindu, Muslim, Sikhs, Parsi.....Why arent we thinking broadly? If you are a Hindu, you might have Muslim friends, but you always have a difference of opinion when it comes about that friend...you cant eat there, you cant pray with him....This is all because of the hypocrisy...its high time we need to accept this that we all are Indians rather than Hindus and Muslims.....we need to educate, our surroundings, our parents. Our elders might have a bitter taste with other communities when it comes to have a relationship...but we are the present and the future of the nation, and we are responsible for whatever happens to our nation. The time of the elders are gone and the baton has been passed to you....you need to decide what is right and what is wrong. Just listen to your elders and accepting their bitterness and living with it is not acceptable from an educated person like you....i hereby request each and everyone reading this blog to take a vow that he or she will try his/her level best to educate people and stop others making loose comment...we need to live together, isolation from individuals, or communities would not bring peace....this has to be done by us, not by the ministers, not be the politicians, not by the bureaucrats and not be any filmy hero or heroine....
That man gave the statement at the end of the National Anthem. I then spoke to him. "Sir, its not about Hindu or Muslim, its about education and upbringing. This boy is very young, today he might not be understanding the importance of National Anthem, but tomorrow he will. And he will start respecting it. It is out responsibility to educate them and bring them to a level where they can also contribute, rather than making a direct attack to their community". The man replied "aap kuch nahi jante, ye log aaise hi hote hai.....". To this, Rehan said "Sir, I am also a Muslim and I love this country more than anyone else, surely more than you. I want to solve the problem rather than making a hue about it. I am sorry to stand here with people like you who does not want to do anything good for anyone, but wants everything to be in perfect shape."
We left the place immediately. Shahrukh Khan had to wait for some days before we could go and see him. I am proud to have Rehan with me and I am proud to have a thinking which is not like that man. I am truly liberalized. I am the man of India, and so is Rehan.
Lets make friends, not enemies. Lets try to solve the issues, rather than cribbing on them. Lets be honest to ourselves before showing mirror to others. Lets be Indian, rather than a Hindu or a Muslim. Lets make a better tomorrow. Lets do something that in future our children would not ask this same question from us or to themselves : WHO ARE WE?
Amen...
"Main na Hindu na Mussalman, mujhe jeene do.......dosti hai mera emaan, mujhe jeene do........."
