Beyond boundaries..

I went shopping, few days ago, since my favorite sale season is here! I love to shop during sales which give me immense satisfaction knowing that I managed to save quite a few nickels. Not to mention that in that process of saving a few nickels I lost many a dimes. But never mind that. I am just basking in the glory of grabbing the best deals of the season out there. Retail therapy works wonders on my worked up mind, you see.

So, while shopping and browsing through the aisles of a famous mall in my city, I saw a little girl of about 7 or 8 years watching me fascinated. I don’t know what it was that struck her the most about me that she was quietly observing me and noticing my every move. Had it been an adult, it obviously would have sent a panic alarm but since she was a little kid I didn’t pay much heed and was just amused by her fascination. Slowly, she began to approach me, came in front of me and suddenly asked “Aunty, are you a Muslim?” I stood there stunned and shocked at her unusual question. I could only stare back at her and couldn’t think of what to say to her. I couldn’t even reply in a yes or no. So, I just politely smiled at her.  In that moment, her mother called for her and she went away bouncing.

I breathed a sigh of relief, to my amazement. Amazed because it was just an innocent question from an innocent kid who was probably just curious if I belonged to her religion or not. Yes, she was a muslim. Million of thoughts ran through my mind after that episode and in that instant I realized how prejudiced we have become towards this community which comprises a large part of our country.  Being brought up in a country where Hindu-Muslim riots are a usual occurrence and we are often led to believe that it’s the ‘minority’ community that is at fault. There are always two sides of a coin but we are so used to looking at only the side we think is right. We fail to see their niceness which gets lost in all those layers of distrust and doubts we have conjured up ourselves. We always doubt their intentions, however good they are, and be suspicious of their activities. Probably they think the same of us. I don’t know but there could be many speculations of why we are distant with each other and fail to sustain a cordial and amiable attitude towards each other. 

And then came Bajrangi Bhaijaan. What a movie! The plot and execution of the movie is simply outstanding. The way it has shown the love-hate relationship between the two countries and religion is something that is never shown before on Indian celluloid. Or at least I haven’t seen it. The little Pakistani girl in the movie is mesmerizing and my heart cried inconsolably for her through out the movie. I felt the same excruciating pain her mother felt on her disappearance. And I prayed as fervently as the mother to get her united with her lost daughter. I felt the same seething anger when the little girl was tried to sell off to the prostitutes.  And I felt the same jubilation, triumph and elation when she was re-united with her family. I realized that despite being from different religions and countries, our emotions were the same! Feelings and emotions are not bound by any borders or boundaries. The climax where the whole of Pakistan showed up to rescue an innocent Indian is just heart touching and you begin to wish that it was for real. If only it were. Atleast we can hope. And bajrangi bhaijaan has showed us the way and has instilled the hope that it can be possible. Now it’s up to us, people of both the religions, to follow suit or not.