My Brother's Keeper

Religion has never been a very big deal for me. And that probably is the reason why controversies, strife and aggression in the name of religion almost always confound me. More often than not, the differences between warring factions seem so insignificant that I wonder why people can't look past them, respect spaces and live together in harmony. And inevitably, my mind races back in time, to my childhood which was spent in the Middle East, where Allah's prayer calls resounded around us at regular intervals several times a day.

We lived in an apartment block inhabited by people from all over - staunch Catholics from Goa, conservative Muslims from Pakistan, Jews from no particular country and Protestant Christians from Europe. It was a very diverse group, which made for a very interesting childhood. I have the fondest memories of my life back then - the wonderful games of make-believe...The stories of life & customs in far off lands...sampling new flavours every time someone returned from a visit to their homeland. But the memories I still cherish in my heart are those of the festivals we celebrated. Be it Christmas, Eid, Diwali, Onam or Hanukkah, we kids participated in all with gusto and enthusiasm... well, largely because of the gastronomic delights which came our way.

I still remember the whirl of culinary activities in Auntie Irene's kitchen in the weeks preceding Christmas..The stirring of the Christmas pudding..The baking and sampling of cookies and logs..Wolfing down plates of the fragrant, delicately spiced Eid biriyani which was laden with tender succulent meat. I remember my brother and me badgering our parents into buying us a Christmas tree and keeping alive the Santa myth with a glittering tree stacked with presents beneath and white stockings bursting at the seams with sweets and gifts. I even remember in vivid detail, my friend Bilal gulping down several large mouthfuls of the holy Lourdes water from a receptacle shaped like the Holy Virgin and declaring to us, that he Superman had drunk deeply of the Elixir of Youth and would now never succumb to the evil kryptonite. As far as I knew, religion, culture and nationalities never came in the way of our childish pleasure.

Not that things were very different when we came to India. I studied in a quaint little convent school watched over by kindly nuns with friends from diverse backgrounds and religions. My best friends hailed from all walks of life and worshiped different Gods. And so, I grew up learning to cross myself in the presence of the Trinity, uttering a fervent Insha Allah after a voiced desire, wish or planned act and praying to Jesus as fervently as I did to Lord Ganesha when I knew I hadn't given my best in an exam!!!

Distance, antagonism and hostility based on religious differences were something that I read of only in history books. I could not conceive of a world where a Hindu could fight a Muslim or Christian or Sikh and even worse, kill one another. But come adulthood and things changed all too subtly. I was privy to adult conversations where at times, people spoke indignantly about religious conversions, diets which propagate cruelty to animals, bigotedness, exclusion...And so many such perceived transgressions committed by other religions, most of which I know are figments of one or the other's imagination.

I still hear such conversations... In restaurants, at stations and airports, at gatherings, houses, offices...And it never ceases to amaze me just how much religion has wedged itself between people, nipping love in the bud and shackling their minds with fear and moral self-righteousness. I am sure that this is not what the pantheon of Hindu Gods or the wise old founders wanted their religion to be. Or Jesus or Allah for that matter. The more I hear, the more I feel that the man-made barriers are rooted in more in fear than in faith.

Fear one may ask in surprise?. Well, yes indeed. I suspect people especially the self appointed guardians of any religion fear very many things - Change, Loss of Self Worth, Loss of Control, Loss of Stature in the eyes of others- and blindly cling to dogmas in a bid to protect themselves in their mind's eye. Religion merely provides them with a convenient guise.

Those of the true faith realise that God speaks to us in the uncanniest of places and often without attendant ceremonies. They are the ones who have great compassion and acceptance for all the creatures that inhabit their world, regardless of their colour, caste, creed, culture or religious beliefs. And they are the people who can live and let live without succumbing to the compelling urge to impose their will and principles on the people around them.

For me, it matters little which God rules in heaven. My most intense conversations with the Powers Above have been in dark, near-empty churches, ancient Buddhist temples, in wilderness and in the confines of my own home. And almost always in solitude. In my moments of aloneness, I often think that we all need to tear down the walls of fear and intolerance which separate us. We are no different from the man or woman who lives across the street. It is only in reaching out with open minds that this world has any chance of peace in it. And if, any of us, are tempted to bend another to his will, the question we need to ask ourselves is "Am I my Brother's Keeper?"