Happiness at Eid or any other time

I was just talking to someone online when another friend popped up to say Eid Mubarak to me. It was not the first Eid greeting I have received in the last couple of days. I then started to think about all the posts about Eid I had been noticing on social media. From posts which said Happy Eid to everyone but especially to Nafisa, Firoza etc, making it a point to indicate which friends were Muslim leaving me wondering whether they only wished their Christian friends a Happy Christmas, to an artist friend's incredibly beautiful simple graphic message left for all to appreciate, they have come in many forms.

Some have been pretentious and forced, likening the call of songbirds to the sounds of the muezzin or even to the greeting Eid Mubarak. That almost sounds like a politician or a mediocrity churning out a crowd pleaser. Others have been natural, inclusive and embracing.

I have to admit, I have wished everyone a happy Eid on purpose. I think in the light of the constant riling and inflaming that our politicians seem to indulge in, the least we can do is to be inclusive and rejoice in all happiness, no matter who is responsible for sending it to us.

One of the most beautiful Eid messages I read came from a friend who recalled how the actress Meena Kumari, a devout Muslim could not keep Roja, the day long fast when she became very ill. Her friend the poet and film director Gulzar, an equally devout Hindu then offered to keep the fast for her as long as she remained ill. He ended up doing this for three years, until Meena Kumari passed away!

By Rochishnu Sanyal

I remembered  seeing another friend around the 15th of August telling his friends who were getting excited over a photograph of two people from another religious group posing with a national flag draped with shoes, to calm down and realise that it was perhaps a much older photo, that was being re-circulated to excite the wrong kind of emotions. He was valiantly trying to convince them that inflammatory posts and angry reactions are exactly what the enemies of all Indians want. Not all the responses to him were particularly complimentary either, but he kept on stating his point!

This is what we need to tell our people, both adults and children. Instead of dividing the world  along narrow religious and language lines, we have to realise we are all the same. No one group has a monopoly on idiots or on good people. It is up to us to recognise each and give them their rightful place.

I was reminded this weekend away at camp once again, of what I tell my students when they ask me whether I believe in Ganesha or not. This is usually the older age groups and thus they are also able to appreciate what I mean when I say, 'I am spiritual but not religious,' without wanting me to clarify it. Perhaps it is not such a bad thing after all, a little less religion and a lot more spirituality might do us all some good.

The artwork is by Rochishnu Sanyal.