HELP DOESN'T HAVE A COLOUR OR A RELIGION

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

‘HELP’ DOESN’T HAVE A COLOUR OR A RELIGION

    Just as terrorism—Help, too, doesn’t have a religion. It can come from any corner. But unlike terrorism, that kills. Timely help sustains life. I had once gone to a hospital in Delhi. To meet parents of some poor young children who were suffering from cancer. The drill was to provide them with direct financial support, for treatment.

    In all we had met about ten children and their parents in the hospital. Our NGO decided to support three out of them based on certain illness criticalities, doctor’s recommendation and the budget available with us. And out of the three. One child was from Sopore in J&K. His name was Abdul, and his father’s name was Fareed. Who, happened to be a small-time shopkeeper with a paltry livelihood. Abdul was suffering from cancer for the last one year. And, during that period Fareed had exhausted all his savings. He had also received timely aid from the government, but that too had been spent. Slowly the resources were receding, while the treatment was still in full flow.   

    When I met this bright child Abdul, I found him in an animated mood, as he was talking to his mother in Sopore over phone. He had come to Delhi for treatment without her. I spent some time understanding the challenges of Fareed, and decided to give him the good news of our supporting his son’s treatment up to a certain level. But he didn’t sound enthused about it.

    First, I thought he hasn’t understood me. So, I repeated what I had told him earlier. And this time I spoke in Hindi. But still his reaction was not at all cheerful. I specifically enquired if he had understood what I had said. To which he gave me this shocking reply, ‘Janab, I have understood what you said. You want to pay for my son’s treatment. But yours is a Hindu NGO. So, how can I accept money from your Trust, for my son’s treatment? It might not cure him and Allah won’t spare me.’

    For a moment I was shocked. I didn’t know how to react. Does religion lay down crude boundaries at such junctures? I thought to myself. But without being deterred, I opened my bag and wrote a cheque, and handed it over to him.

    He held the cheque and looked at it morosely. I patted his back a couple of times, when his eyes went moist. Perhaps, he was at a break point. Where, on one end was the health of his son and the mounting expenses because of that, and on the other, were his own self created radical diktats. Which, he was trying to blame it upon his religion.

    I said, ‘Fareed Bhai this cheque is neither Hindu nor Muslim. It’s only a piece of paper from Upparwala, for your son. So utilize it.’ And then I moved out.

    After the episode a couple of months had passed. But that cheque never came to our account for debit. And, it was only when the cheque was about to expire. I received a text message from the bank debiting it to our account.

    And upon reading the text message I felt nice. Not because Hindu money had helped a Muslim. But, because Abdul had realized that help has no religion or face. It is infinite and can come from any corner of the world. And it is absolutely divine to take help. But the source has to be right.

   The story is true but the names are fictitious.

*****

Story: An insight into religious conversion

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

    One wonders at times, if individuals are in the habit of peeping into their family history and more importantly their family tree as a giveaway to their posterity. Well if they are, they would surely know the names of their ancestors beyond their Grandfather; that is grandfather’s father and even his father and also his father’s father.

    It is widely believed many Muslims in India have converted from Hinduism. And that makes me wonder how the present generation of Muslims deal with their forefathers and ancestors who were Hindus; with love or hate? This is an emotional topic that is often thought of by inquisitive individuals but never spoken about, even in the serene and quiet corners of their homes. Also the society in general doesn’t want to dig into this tabooed adventure, and so be it. Yet there is an undying inquisition at times to know more about such happenings.

    Let us as a hypothesis think about a person named Brij Singh, son of Prakriti Singh, who some two hundred years ago converted into Islam and named himself as Shamsher Khan. If we were to take sixty years to be as one ‘generation’ that would mean this would be Shamsher Khan’s fifth generation as a Muslim, flaunting their surname as Khan. Let me further suppose that one out of the current descendant of Prakriti Singh is Amjad Khan, who knows about Prakriti Singh as part of his ancestry.

    Then my inquisition would run wild as I would like to fathom from Amjad Khan as to how he deals and feels about his ancestry and does he have any feelings for Prakriti Singh and Brij Singh, the last Hindu mark in his long lineage. Also, if he is proud and fond of his Hindu forefathers and his lineage or has he grown up hating them or revering them or thinking it is a zone where he should not enter. And, last but not the least if it is a stalemate issue beyond Amjad Khan’s comprehension.

    Often the friction point is the religion of a person. But can religion wash away the truism off an individual’s lineage is the big question; answer of which is only to be felt by the individual and never to be spoken about.

    Perhaps, this remains the weakness of mankind where, when one is bulldozed by religion he gives up on his lineage. While one may cosmetically try and overlook his lineage over his religion, but it is difficult to wash away the truism of life.

    And if the theory of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (the world is one family) is not a myth we reach a point, that the world is but one family even if people may have converted into various religions and your lineage is a bliss and not a curse.

***