Just read a recent post by one of my friends at WB and it brought back a very recent memory to me.....the post was RACISTS...RACISTS STILL EXISTS........
I was boarding a train from Mumbai to Indore. The summer air had almost drained off energy from my body. We were waiting for the train and at last the the train came. We took our seats as fast as possible in the AC compartments. There was an unusual silence and then suddenly many people started boarding the train with lots of chattering and noises.
What got my attention that all seemed to be Muslims. Looking at them in my surroundings I felt sudden sense of alertness, don't no why??...but I felt...I had never been in touch with a Muslim community person and there has always been those curious and inquisitive looks from people around them. There has always been a very uncomfortable feeling around them, not because of their presence but by the way people behave around them like they are not some fellow passengers but someone different.
And I had been no indifferent to this baseless prejudice. I still remember that near my house there is a Muslim colony and how my dad never allowed to go there alone.
(back in train) Then I got to know that they were 45 of them travelling together, 29 in this compartment and the rest in the other. The men were dressed in jeans and T-shirts like any other person on the earth and the women were draped in Bhurkhas..and actually they were very pretty- the women and their Bhurkhas!!
And they behaved just normal like anyone else would do. Then I wonder why this odd feeling?? why this alertness?? why am I staring and noting their every move like a spy???....And then I realized it is because of prejudice.....a prejudice which makes me and many others curious around the Muslims...
Suddenly I remember that when I was very young, I once asked
my grandfather regarding which is the sweetest language in the world???....And he surprised me with his answer and that was - Urdu. My grandfather is well-versed with the language and he adores it. I popped the question that why he thought so and he explained me by saying," For example, Urdu language respects very relation that a person can have and have special forms of addressing each and very relation and most importantly it gives a sense of respect to the listener and its words are a delight to the ears."
Most interestingly what got my attention was a Muslim man who was travelling with me. He had a wife and three daughters. And I must admire him with what respect and love he treated them. He was strict but in the right way and manner. He chatted with me and mother with such politeness and laughed with carefree smiles. He took care of the rest of their family, as their were 45 with mostly children. He made sure everything was alright.In my travelling experience, he is one of the finest person I have met. And he even assured that my mother and I were comfortable.
This was a small and casual incidence but it made me feel guilty for all those years where I had this prejudice against the Muslims.How could I think of somebody without even knowing them???...how can I improve my mistake??...was the question that was left.
I offered them and every Muslim a silent apology and I wished the TRAIN FAMILY a happy and safe journey as they headed to visit my village- Kashmir.......
