religion in the 21st century

8/9/2019 Religion in the 21st Century

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Religion in the 21st CenturyI Live with a Belief… You take my Belief, you take my Life…

I was on a trip to New Delhi at that time. It was March 2013. Agra is near to

Delhi. Many tourism agencies in New Delhi provide a one-tour to Agra andMathura with some charge per head. e !oo"ed three seats #our ourselves-

me and my parents. $here were %ourney-cards in each seat. As per the

%ourney plan and our contract& we were to !e shown $he Agra 'ort& $he $a%

Mahal& Mathura and (rindavan respectively. e were very e)cited at the

start o# the %ourney. *oon& my e)pectations were #ading away and +nally

something une)pected happened which reshaped my ideas a!out this world.

A man can never !e classi+ed !y his religion. ,e can only !e classi+ed !y his

nature. eligions are nothing !ut man-made divisions that tend to !rea" the

unity o# the society and create a sense o# in#eriority amongst people. eligion

was started #or a good purpose& #or the purpose o# realiing the /od in onesown soul !y good deeds& good words and good service& !ut it is

misunderstood !y some mediocre and wea" minds as a classi+cation o#

worship. A good man is the greatest creation o# society and a !ad man is its

!iggest #ailure. n#ortunately& we live in a society which mostly #ails and

rarely succeeds. ut& even though rarely& it still does succeed. I am a "ind o#

person who !elieves in such rare success stories and I have a vision not %ust

to !e a good person mysel#& !ut to help the society create more and more

good souls. ver since I was a little& Ive told tales o# honesty& modesty&

%ustice and the victory o# truth and %ust. ven Ive incorporated many virtuesin me 4I wont mention.5. ut when you see& that whatever youve !een

taught in your whole li#e& all the virtues youve aspired #or& all the values

youve learnt& they are !eing !ro"en& raped and humiliated !y some cruel

monsters6 youd #eel only shoc" and grie#. 7ou !elieve in !eing honest& and

you see people are dishonest with you. 7ou !elieve in !eing true to your

word& you see people changing colors. $hats the worst #eeling ever. hen

you respect or love something and that something is humiliated& you #eel li"e

that it is you whos !een humiliated. A similar thing happened to me on that

day.

e started our %ourney at 8930am in the morning. My parents sat on two

ad%acent seats and I sat on the window-seat ahead o# my parents seats. A

Muslim gentleman came and sat !eside me. It was +ne and alright as usual.

:ur !us had three ,indu #amilies including us and the rest were Muslims. e

travelled si) hours to Agra. During this time& I !rowsed internet #rom my

mo!ile or listened to songs. :ur +rst stop was at Agra 'ort. e saw the



ma%estic #ort and also went inside it and ;uite en%oyed. $hen we had lunch

and our ne)t stop was the $a% Mahal. :h let me say& the $a% Mahal is the !est

thing Ive ever seen in my li#e. $here were so many people who came to see

it and it was really worth seeing. A#ter seeing the $a% Mahal& the ne)t stop

was supposed to !e Mathura& as per the plan. ut& little did I "now at that

time that& Mathura and (rindavan was not in my luc".

*ome o# the Muslim travellers insisted the driver to drive the !us to 'atehpur

*hi"ri& though it was not in the plan. $hey o<ered the driver e)tra-money and

the driver agreed. I was glad that Id !e a!le to see the 'atehpur *hi"ri as

well. e reached 'atehpur *hi"ri a#ter it was closed #or visitors. $here was an

insider who said that hed open the gate #or a payment o# s. 20 per person.

$he other two ,indu #amilies were not interested in seeing 'atehpur *hi"ri&

so they stayed !ac" in the !us. e got inside the 'atehpur *hi"ri through the

uland Darwaa. It was a huge and ma%estic entrance. e got in and we

were seeing the place& and then the time o# reading the Namaa came. e

didnt enter the Darghah inside the 'atehpur *hi"ri. $he Muslim #amilies went

there to o<er Namaa. It was ta"ing a lot o# time& and we were getting !ored.

*o I too" my camera out& !ut didnt clic" any photo. I was viewing the

previous photos ta"en in the Agra 'ort and the $a% Mahal.

*uddenly& the insider& who helped us to get inside& came to us and started

tal"ing to my #ather. $he conversation was li"e this-

Insider9 *ir %i& please ma"e the payment now.

'ather9 7eah& sure. Its =0 rupees& right>

Insider9 ell& thats only #or Muslims. 'or ,indus li"e you& its =00.

By this time, some other youths came to gather around us.

'ather9 ut you said !ac" there that its s. 20 per person& !ut you didnt

speci#y any religion. *o I will not pay anything a!ove =0 rupees #or three o#

us.

The Youths started shouting9 No& its #or Muslims. ,indus are not allowedhere. *o you have to pay what he says.

'ather9 *how me where it is written #or Muslims only. Moreover& we had a

deal o# =0 rupees. *o Ill pay only =0 rupees. I# you told me earlier that you

#ollowed such procedure& then Id have had not entered.



Insider9 ut& youve entered. $hat too& a#ter the visiting hours. Do you "now

that we can give you to the police> $hen& youll !e in trou!le. Its a no

trespassing area a#ter the speci+ed hours.

My father had 6 ru!ees in his hands. The !icked them in that fellow"s hand

and started walking with us. The youths and that fellow walked #ehind us tothe gate. The gate was closed.

Insider9 7ou cant get out& mister. 7ou have to pay the money. ere not

leaving you.

My father estimated the trou#le we"re falling into this distant and decided to

!ay. $e took his !urse out and there was a thousand%ru!ee note. $e gave it

to that fellow and asked him to return the #alance.

That fellow started walking away, without returning the #alance. My father

sto!!ed and asked again for the #alance.

Insider9 hat !alance> 7ouve !rought camera with you. ?amera charge is

s. @00.

'ather9 here is that written> 7ou cant do this.

Insider9 ut we are doing this. $his is our place. e can do whatever we want

to. 7ou are luc"y we are not snatching all your !elongings. Now& i# youll

e)cuse me& I have a lot o# other things to do. I cant waste time on

arguments li"e you people.

The insider walked away, signaling his accom!lice to o!en the gate. $e

o!ened the gate and guided us out.

I was #eeling li"e su<ocating inside the 'atehpur *hi"ri even though it was an

open area. As soon as I got out& I #elt relieved #rom a strange #ear o#

oppression. I was !reathing rapidly !ecause o# anger. Angry #rom inside and

disappointed #rom outside& we went to our !us and told a!out the incident to

the two #amilies that stayed !ac" in the !us.

hat happened to us was li"e a ro!!ery. e were #orced to pay those people!ecause we had no other choice. e told what happened to us inside the

'atehpur *hi"ri. :ne sympathied& another suggested to go !ac" inside the

*hi"ri and as" them to return the money. My #ather said that whats over is

over. *o much money is spent on so many things. ets %ust #orget that I ever

had that money.



A#ter more than hal# an hour& the Muslim #amilies returned and the !us

started again. e were returning !ac" as Mathura and (rindavan is in the

mid-way. y hal# an hour more& all the passengers in the !us came to "now

a!out the incident. *ome didnt care& some were discussing amongst and

loo"ing at us with !ig eyes and some with mouth open.

Now& something happened which I had never imagined. Never imagined that

man can !e so cruel and sel+sh. :ne o# the Muslim gentleman 4Im not sure

i# hes a gentleman or not5& suddenly as"ed the us-driver& Bhere are going

now>C

us driver9 ere going to Mathura.

/entleman 4Im still re#erring him as a gentleman& even hes not one59 Dont

ta"e us to Mathura. e are all tired and we want to go !ac" to Delhi as soon

as possi!le. $a"e us directly to Delhi.

us driver9 I have no pro!lem& i# the all the passengers agree to this.

/entleman9 e dont want to go to Mathura. e are not ,indus. e dont

worship those na"ed idols. Most o# us Muslims here& and we dont want to go

there.

us driver9 ut there are also ,indu passengers in the !us.

Another gentleman9 Arrange a separate !us #or them. e dont want to go to

Mathura. I# I go there& !lood will clot in the veins o# my !rain. Do youunderstand>

/entleman9 $he ma%ority says that they dont want to go to Mathura. $a"e

the !us straight to Delhi.

us driver9 :

A ,indu gentleman9 e were promised that wed !e ta"en to Mathura& and

we paid you #or that. Now i# you dont ta"e us there& return our money now.

/entleman9 ut you were all ta"en to 'atehpur *hi"ri. $hat was out o#promise& !ut didnt you en%oy that> 7ou paid and you got to see *hi"ri.

$hird Muslim gentleman9 e dont want to go to Mathura& driver. I# you ta"e

us there& then theres going to !e a mess !etween us. Do you get it>

,indu gentleman9 I# you dont want to go there& thats your pro!lem& not

ours. Moreover& youve already delayed us #or Mathura. eve tolerated



pro!lem #or you& now youve to tolerate pro!lems #or us& i# there is any. ut I

dont thin" that theres any pro!lem e)cept your cheap mentality.

/entleman9 It was your cheap mentality not to enter the 'atehpur *hi"ri and

staying !ac" in the !us. Now the !us wont go to Mathura. I hate ,indu

religious worships and all that. In #act e)cept you three #amilies& we all do.hy gentleman& dont we>

esponse #rom the !ac"9 7essssssssssssssssssssssss. e dont want to go.

$he !us driver didnt say any word. ,e "new that this would cut his cost o#

petrol and save his time and la!or. Moreover& the so-called gentleman has

already paid him handsomely #or ta"ing the !us to 'atehpur *hi"ri. *o he did

as he said and too" the !us directly to New Delhi.

$he %ourney was around a little more than si) hours !ac" to New Delhi. $hose

si) hours would have !een too diEcult #or me to stay alive i# I hadnt #allen

asleep. I wo"e up when the !us reached the destination only. ut !e#ore I #ell

asleep& I was crying. $ears rolled down my chee"s& and I couldnt stop them.

$he more I tried to stop& the more they came out. 'or mental support& I

loo"ed towards my parents. My #ather had his eyes closed& so that tears

dont come out& and my mother tried to do the same too& !ut her tears were

strong enough to Fow out. In my whole li#e& since !irth& this is the +rst time I

saw my mother crying and the worst part it& I cant do anything a!out it.

hat could !e more pain#ul to a son than to see his mother cry in #ront o#

him and he cant stop it> I turned towards her #or support& and I #ound thatshe needs support more than I do. I loo"ed outside the window. In the

highway& cool !reee was !lowing and I was #eeling cold. My nose %ammed

with cold-Fuids. I #elt it very heavy to !reathe in and started !reathing #rom

mouth. ut every time I !reathe in& I #elt li"e Im !reathing poison. $heres

poison in the surroundings. I turned !ac" and loo"ed towards the two other

,indu #amilies. $hey were no !etter& as well. My mouth turned sour. I dran" a

little water and closed my eyes. I could #eel that the tears are drying up in

my chee" and as they were staining& it was hurting me. $his little physical

pain was li"e adrenalin to me& it made me #orget the huge mental pain #or a

moment& and I dont recall& in the midst o# !attle !etween physical pain and

mental pain to gain control over my !ody and mind& my !ody gave up and I

#ell asleep.

$he !attle is over now. ut the scars in the !attle+eld still remainsG

religion in the 21st century

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