Terror attacks are a part
of living these days. Whether it is Pathankot or Paris, no place whatsoever
have been spared of the poisonous fangs in the name of religion, liberation and
what not. With this exponential increase of terrorisation of normal human life,
there is an exponential increase of hatred too. A boiling pool of wrath to
avenge for the deceased, the lost lives, the broken families is existent in the
very heart of my Nation or the World as a whole. Frankly I am a firm believer
of the singularity of the existence of the divine power. I don’t believe in distinguishing
between Rama, Allah or Jesus. Given to this inherent inculcation in the deepest
of me, it pains to see this growing loath in the name of Religious beliefs. I
have always compelled myself to believe that terrorism is an insatiable extremism
preached by people who have been brought up with a sense of alienation and
jeopardy. It is anything but a religion. But unfortunately each time the name
of a dreaded face of terrorism surfaces new-channels, papers or magazines, that
seem to associate with Islam. But I personally have many Muslim friends and
generalisation will be the last thing I would do, poisoning my liberated
thought process with conjectures infused by a bunch of morons. However, some
unwanted surmise happen to nest within us, through our unguarded subconscious.
I don’t know how I did not
write about this earlier. Or maybe my deeply embedded emotions were waiting for
the apt trigger to show. And probably this call to spread the vibe, created
that desired vent for preserved emotions to let out and spread. Last year
during the famous rains of Mumbai, though it rained desperately less in 2015,
there was one not so fine day when the sky had enfolded a menacing grey and the
rains refused to stop. And unfortunately I had to step out of my house for
reasons irrelevant to this post. Before I was part of this maddening yet
intriguing city of dreams, Mumbai, I had always craved to see the beauty of the
marine drive when the rains came rumbling down. The googled images were always
so romantic. But they never explained of the never ending jams, the chaos and
lack of commuting means that impair the city during rains.
My husband was out of
country and I needed something desperately and hence decided to step out in the
downpour, carefully selecting a time in the afternoon when the rains had
mellowed a bit. But to my utter horror, when I completed my work and decided to
get back home the rain was violent to be precise. I don’t drive and hence there
I was standing around 4 kms from my home, waiting for an auto, cab or anything
under the sky that could take me back and safely.
The Sky was as if pouring
incessantly to quench the never dying thirst of the greedy. City life was
crippled completely. The so called life line of Mumbai, Locals had come to a
grinding halt due to water on the tracks. The roads were jammed and water logging
everywhere. I stood with a poker face drenched even with an umbrella, trying to
get a means to commute. Cabs, Autos fled by, none would stop just like the
rains. Suddenly the otherwise friendly city, turned insensitive. I stood for
hours and it was nearing darkness. I thought I would walk, but seeing the water
logging and road conditions I dreaded to start off.
Suddenly an auto stopped in
front. By then my hands were tired gesturing them to stop. I evidently looked
in despair. “Where do you want to go?” asked a man in his late twenties. When I
told him my address, he hesitated for a minute or two but eventually said yes.
When I got in, I saw a Burkha clad girl already seated inside. My unknown
conjecture suddenly surfaced and my heart faced a sudden attack of fear “Oh God”
I shuddered internally, “I hope these are good people”. Her face was bare, she
smiled at me to my relief. The guy sped past the water clogged city and the
girl talked to me. They were actually a couple, going to visit the guy’s
mother. On seeing my sad state they decided to give me a lift. But my house was
not in their way, yet they decided not to leave me alone in the heart of the
drenching city. “This city has seen floods madam, it is not safe to be outside
at this hour” said the girl. I paid them more than the normal fare, which they
took with lot of hesitation.
They sped past leaving me
with an answer. With the growing intolerance of one Religion for the other, at
times I wondered whether goodness and compassion has anything to do with that.
But now I know Compassion
knows no religion. And
in this terror stricken world, that young couple inspired me to hold on to my
thoughts and let no external turbulence impact. They inspired me to spread the
vibe of humanity and love.
Looking to get inspired click on the following link to indulge : YOUTH KI AWAAZ
Let us preach Religious Harmony
our little ways and make this society
better. Let terrorism not infect our
thoughts
Aritra Chakrabarty Sengupta
