Monday 7 December 2020

The Unusual Conversation

 Through the aisle's of the beautiful heaven, passing through the garden's stretching farther ends of the world, with its withered fountains a slim, tall man passed through the pathway to reach a huge mansion situated in the clouds.

The door opened, a thin man with spectacles opened the door.

"Namaste! Jai Shree Krishna" the spectacled man greeted his guest with a grim smile.

"Come in Jinnah" he said with his feeble voice, As he walked past his huge corridor in heaven, leading the way for his guest.

"Kem Cho!!?", the host asked his guest, while going back to spinning his khaadi charkha.

Jinnah sat down on the swinging chair close to Gandhi, removed his A. Craven cigarette, while moving on his chair.

"So, your country does another Barbaric Act!! it gave the Babri Masjid land to the Hindus, when will the fundamentalist mindset of your country stop?" he questioned his host in his sauve british accent.

"First your country repealed the Article 370 in Kashmir and now this", he continued.

"You know this is the reason, I supported the two-nation theory, we would've never survived together!!", he exclaimed while breathing out the smoke in his lungs.

"I remember my friend Justice Abdur Rehman had once told me,The Hindus and Muslims are not two religious sects like the Protestants and Catholics of England, but form two distinct communities of peoples, and so they regard themselves. Their respective attitude towards life, distinctive culture, civilization and social habits, their traditions and history, no less than their religion, divide them so completely that the fact that they have lived in the same country for nearly 1,000 years has contributed hardly anything to their fusion into a nation... Any of us Subcontinent Muslims travelling for instance in Afghanistan, Persia, and Central Asia, among Chinese Muslims, Arabs, and Turks, would at once be made at home and would not find anything to which we are not accustomed. On the contrary in India, we find ourselves in all social matters total aliens when we cross the street and enter that part of the town where our Hindu fellow townsmen live", he spoke with a sense of despair in his tone and a sense of pride in his concept of brotherhood.

Gandhi heard him patiently while spinning his charkha", I would've agreed with you if Bangladesh had not been created", he answered in his humble tone.

"You see, the world has'nt changed much since we left it, no matter how much i tried, i could not make religion a personal matter to the 175 Crore people who call the subcontinent their home" he continued while looking at Jinnah through his Charkha.

"Universal Brotherhood is useless if it is confined to a certain religion, it creates the You vs Us belief. Spirituality binds people beyond the barriers of the society, religion unknowing to people sometimes creates unseen barriers. I see more inter-mingling of thought and religion in India than in Pakistan and that for me is the biggest win for my values" he uttered with a sense of unconditional pride in his tone. 

India despite its varied demographics, traditions and the 560+ princely states around 1947 had kept its Father of the nation by keeping its fabric united. The diversity is so unique that a Ladhaki from Zanskar, would be completely distinguishiable from a native of the coast of Kanyakumari who in turn would not understand a word of Kutchi spoken by a native, who would not relate at all to the culture of Arunachal Pradesh all because of its outlook and the fabric of unity.

Jinnah who was both angry and restless by now, wanted to get back at Gandhi on his jibe of spirituality. "So if that was the case, why do you have so many insurgents in your society? Why are there such ethnic religious tensions in your society?", he questioned Gandhi with a grim on his face.

"Because that is human nature, we look at the differences first instead of similarities. We categroize and create labels, stereotypes and think we ourselves are superior to those labels, certain muslim's relate to the Arab culture more than the Indian culture who in turn treat them as "Mawalis", people have similar prejudices against other communities and cultures" Gandhi spoke with a sense of resent in his tone signifying how uncontrollable things can be sometimes.

"And does your human nature characteristic also justify razing down a mosque?" he questioned Gandhi with his gazing eyes.

"Masjido tamara desama pan todi padavamam avi che Jinnah!!, Lal Masjid was demolished in your country aswell, highly unfortunate but atleast the mosque was'nt active and the values i've imbibed in my children compensated a larger bargain" he replied with a unconditionally unapologetic tone.

Number of followers or adherents do not make a religion big, if they did football and cricket would be a larger cult than religions.

"I've always admired your oratorship skills Bapu, but all this Gyan and you still got killed by your own children!!, What have you really achieved in life?, atleast I am revered by own children" he questioned Gandhi.

"The shots were fired at Mohandas Gandhi, not my Values, i tried my level best to persuade Hindus to stand along side their Muslim brethern during Khilafat movement, a cause that had nothing to do with the Hindus, the Moopla riot followed, i even called for muslim scriptures being read in hindu temples, maybe while trying to bring two individuals under roof i created demons while trying to please one at the stake of the other and those demons keep revitalizing till date" Gandhi answered while looking through his window at the beautiful sunset over heaven with birds of tranquility flying over the horizon.