It was a chilly winter night…
Ensconced in that cozy room of his, he lay on his back staring blankly at the roof above. There was little that his eyes could see in the darkness, but then it was not what his eyes saw, that mattered. It was what his mind saw that did…
A pretty girl, with a cute smile forming a dimple in the right cheek flashed across his mind’s eye…
Her big expressive eyes complimented her characteristic gay laughter, perfectly. That laughter was something he would never forget. It filled everyone around with a certain warmth and joy.
2 years, it had been…
“Saaya”, the name ringed softly in his mind.
A name that was lost in the torrent of changes in his life, but one that something he saw that day, reminded him of. Then, it all came back to him like a flood from an overflowing dam, suddenly opened…
He was lost in trance for quite some time and then suddenly his hands found his phone. Without thought, he dialed a ten digit number. He hesitated for a second and then clicked on call…
A few seconds of ringing later, the ringing stopped and there was silence…
“Hi”, he whispered…
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A small sleepy town on the eastern coast of the country, nestled between the Chinnar River on one side and the Bay of Bengal on the other, was Visugram. A small trading hub, with fishing being the major occupation of people here. The town was unique in a certain sense in that, three religious shrines of renown were present in this town.
The town had an almost equal mix of Hindu, Muslim and Christian families living together in perfect harmony. It had been a long standing tradition in the village that every major festival of all three faiths were celebrated as a village festival and everyone partook in the festivities. In a sense, people were of no single faith, but had a multi religious upbringing.
For an outsider, this was almost a Utopian experiment.
The current system though was not something that had come up without strife. A century ago, the village had undergone intense divisions on religious lines and the bloodshed was unending. The vicious cycle of hatred was broken, when the leaders of all three sides, got together and decided to make peace, rather than continue on this path of madness.
The system took some time to be cemented, but after one generation things straightened and was put in place. It has continued successfully for almost a hundred years.
Outsiders were often confounded by the system, but if they were settling down in the village, they were soon indoctrinated into this school of thought, by the village elders.
Many of the children born in the village leave home for higher education and the trend has been that, they usually returned home to settle down. Most of them were unable to adapt to the outside world and found it extremely unpleasant.
Anwar was the son of the town headman and was born a Muslim. Then again, in Visugram all children were taught about all the different faiths. It was not limited to the three prevalent faiths only. Religion as a subject was part of their school curriculum.
Anwar left home, when he was 18 year old to the capital of his state. A coastal metropolis, often touted as the cultural hub of the country. He had gotten admission to the state university and was going to pursue his graduation in Mechanical Engineering.
It was his first time outside Visugram and the cultural maelstrom that accosted him, was at the start difficult. He was bit different from the other children from Visugram who had left home. He learnt, adapted and before long was well settled to the tune of the new place.
All thoughts of Visugram, all but forgotten. Only those daily calls back home, reminded him of the small hamlet in the coast.
It was here during his time in college, that he met her…
Ms. Saaya Iyer
“Saaya” was what mattered to him, surnames had never meant much to him. Then again, this was not Visugram…
just a small teaser, the full piece will take some time…
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The background behind this piece is an online article I read of one, Mr. Mujib Ansari offering his kidneys to Ms. Sushma Swaraj. Sometimes the smallest of things that I read or see, tear me up and this one surely did. This happens not because of the action alone, I guess, but because of the subtler emotions and feelings associated with an act.
We live in a world of hatred, fear, envy, greed and what not. The smallest acts of kindness, love, selflessness and altruistic actions pull our heart strings. How nice it would be if only we could forget our trivial differences and realize that at the end of the day all that truly matters is each other’s happiness. Living for everyone and the planet as a whole, not for ourselves alone is a dream worth living for.
This is from someone who is determined to understand what different religions, truly want to say. A long journey indeed, but one that has begun.
To a friend who I fought with on the merits of science vs religion. I say this, it is never a tussle, and it is just two sides of the same coin. Science I believe, is that side of the coin that will drive human existence beyond the stars, but religion for me is that piece of the puzzle that can explain the very reason for human existence.
We shall talk on this soon enough!!!
My Discovery of India 