I was travelling in the Mumbai Metro last week, just a day
prior to Eid. Such a refreshing change it was from the dirty, jam-packed Mumbai
locals! Here people waited in a queue to get in, and the metro stations were
impeccably clean! That kind of Mumbai I always wished for! Except the view from
the metro!! With no place to sit(during the rush hour), I stood in a corner. I happened to overhear
this random conversation two ladies were having, right beside me. One lady was dressed
in a sari, the other in a burqa. They were engaged in this animated
conversation, where they were discussing their respective cultures. The lady in
sari belonged to a Marwari Hindu community while the other was a Muslim. What
really fascinated me was these were two women coming from different backgrounds,
talking, giggling without any prejudice. The lady in sari was fascinated by the
Muslim culture, their festival of Eid, who did not flinch at the mention of goat -slaughter during Bakra-Eid while the other still couldn’t
comprehend how the lady in sari could be a pure vegetarian!! In those fifteen
minutes, I saw them chat away, about life,womanhood,customs and background under the sun
(figuratively).
Those fifteen minutes made a big difference for me personally! How often do we
forget the ‘Muslim’ tag and interact with them just as a human being regardless
of their caste/creed? I was ashamed of myself, for flinching every time I
encountered a Muslim. Here I was a “twenty-first century’’ girl and still
riddled with the religious differences...
We call ourselves modern, educated yet are so regressive
when it comes to religion, brotherhood... it is so saddening that we easily
generalize people based on their religions. We were all humans until race disconnected
us, religion separated us, politics divided us and wealth classified us...
