Footprints

I just got back from the funeral of a little girl named Kavya in the neighbourhood today. She was only 10 years old. She died in a car accident the day before. Her parents and her little brother who were with her in the car never got to say goodbye to her. They were in hospital with compound fractures to different parts of their bodies, injuries that will require surgery and a long recuperation.

It seemed so unreal. I used to see Kavya occasionally when I passed by their house. Theirs was a happy family and Kavya and her little brother were the light of their parents' eyes. As I set eyes on Kavya, at rest in the coffin, I felt cold and numb. I kept thinking - would Kavya's parents ever come to terms with this loss ?

How do parents make peace with the reality that their family is now without their child. A child who lit up their days with joy. The grandmother who was beside herself with grief kept stroking Kavya's still cheek asking her to wake up so she could hug her.

Life can change so cruelly in one instant. I realised how precious every moment is with ones we love, how precious each moment is that we spend on this earth. Each one of us has only so much time in which to leave a footprint that tells others we were here. A footprint that tells its own story of love, of anger, of happiness, of pain, of hope, of despair.........

Hate, revenge, jealousy, negativity become so inconsequential when gauged in this context of time. Today, more than ever before, I acknowledge how important it is for me to say my goodbyes with love in my heart because it could be the last time I do so.

Anna Maria Braga puts it beautifully - If People Convinced Themselves that Today is the Most Important of Days, They Would Have a Greater Chance of Being Happy.

God Forsaken

A boy belonging to a Christian family married a Hindu girl recently. His family is well-educated, well-to-do and considered to be broad-minded. It was later known that the bride-to-be had been asked to convert to Christianity before the wedding took place.

I wondered what the Reverend Father's words to the bride-to-be would have been ? "Forsake your God for ours, my child ?'

I know of  instances where Hindu girls and even boys have had to convert to Christianity in order to marry someone from that religion. One Christian lady I know had the audacity to announce, "My son married a Hindu girl. We got her converted. It was no big deal." How casual can one get about something as deep-rooted as religion ?

Religion is something we begin imbibing from the moment we are born. It is something that gives us our identity, a direction and purpose in life.

Imagine asking / perusading / forcing (whichever you may choose to use) a girl or a boy to give up their identity, their prayers, their perception of themselves just because the religion they are marrying into cannot accept them for what they are. How strong a foundation is that for a relationship to grow on ?

On the positive side, I do have Hindu friends whose non-Hindu husbands have accepted them without religious prejudice. Marriages like these, by all means, are quite rare to come by. My friends are strong-willed and haven't bent under family pressure to convert. They have ensured that their right to religious freedom remains intact and their supportive husbands have stood by them right through.

Deserting religion is unacceptable and unpardonable to Christianity & Islam. Why then are they insistent that others convert when social issues like inter-religious marriages come up ?

The irony is that no one is willing to discuss issues like these in the open. Pleasantries are exchanged in public and small talk made, yet no one has the courage to take a stand. Anything unpleasant is conveniently brushed under the carpet and the smiles are out again.

I am proud to be born a Hindu and have been brought up to respect all religions & faiths. My grandmother used to say, "Live & let live and see how peaceful the world will be."

My children are at an age where they understand the underlying threat that religious intolerance has brought to their world. It upsets them. They ask me, "Is there nothing we can do to stop this ? Why do some people force others to convert ?" I can think of only one answer, "Because we let them."