My college lies in the outskirts of the city where it's rare to find even an autorickshaw.In my last 3 years of engineering,i was most pissed when i had to travel all the way from college to home boarding the public transport.But gradually,though a bit late i realised that the true essence of my country,my city and its people does not confine itself within the 5 star hotels,luxurious cars,or huge museums.But its true beauty lies on the streets,among the most simple people,magic vans and mini buses,the almost shattered tea stalls and much more.
So the other day i boarded one of the public buses outside the college and my journey began with the least possible enthusiasm.But this journey knew its destiny of teaching my mind the most valuable ethic of my life.On my way i saw the roads were confided on both sides by the huge pandals and colourful lights and amidst them the magnificent and colourful idols of lord ganesha.When my bus halted for sometime,i looked outside the window with the most dumb expressions on my face,when i saw a little girl in her school uniform enthusiastically entering one of the pandals to offer her prayers.At the same time an old beggar with tattered clothes entered the same pandal.A few minutes later a well dressed man got out of his shining black luxury car to visit the pandal.At a distance i could see them with folded hands, sharing the same pedestal to offer their prayers.
Though the site may appear normal but somewhere it struck my mind.The site in its most naive form signified one thing that"god does not discriminate between the young and the old,the rich and the poor,the low and the high caste but it accepts the prayers offered to him with true hearts and pure souls.
The supreme power unbounds all the boundaries of religions, castes,kings and the slaves created by man and give regards to only one religion "the religion of being human and humanity".
Then why do we fight over temples or mosques?Why religion is ample enough for dividing the people ?Why our country doesnt live upto its honour of being one of the largest secular nation?Why the most dreadful riots in our country are communal?
The answers to all these questions lie deep within each one of us.And a minute of introspection would reveal the instances of joy and togetherness i share,you share,and above all we share irrespective of the religion we belong to.
The impeccable example of this was the sight on the day when "ganesh chaturthi" and "eid" fell on the same day.It was an awesome sight in the local markets to see on one hand the colourful idols of lord ganesha and on the other hand the aroma of sivaiyans and kheer engulfing the whole view.
I ,YOU AND WE ALL relish eating biryani,sheer korma and kheer on eid the same way as we all enjoy bursting crackers and carving rangolis on diwali,dancing happily on lohri while waiting eagerly for our beloved santa claus and christmas.
This panoramic view of varied culture,festivals,people,traditions,food,clothes etc can only be seen and felt here in "INDIA".The most important aspect we witness along with the diversity
are our ethical values of love ,respect for each other and harmony that are comman irrespective of the borders of caste,creed,sex or religion.
"So it is our solemn duty to breathe the diversity,to grow with the comman ethics and adopt HUMANITY as our religion.
AS it is rightly said....
"mazhab nhi sikhata aapas mey bair karna....
hindi hai hum,hindi hai hum
HINDUSTAN HUMARA"JAI HIND!
