Musings

FIRE

I grew up believing, courtesy of my parents, that all Muslims are criminals and you should say as far away from them as possible.

This was until I met Sabreen on my first day of class six.

I was just like any other newcomer that day; scared, excited, and feeling a little bit lost in that six storeyed hulk of a building they called school.

My worst fear at that time was, not finding a friend in that strange, new place.

But as soon as I reached my classroom, Sabreen was right there, like my knight in shining armour.

We bonded instantly inspite of the cryptic thoughts the society had stuffed in our heads.

I still remember my mother's comment when she learnt about my friendship with Sabreen.

"Couldn't you find anyone better to make friends with?", she asked "Why her?"

I didn't know how to answer her back then. But today I do. I chose her because that little Muslim girl was a much better human beings than the Hindus who advised their children to stay away from her.

I didn't answer back but I never thought of breaking my friendship with Sabreen. I felt I've found a life long friend; someone who'll never leave me.

Then the riot broke out. We lived in an area far away from the Muslim belts. It didn't affect us directly. I got to hear about the dozens of people who were dying every day. When I expressed my concern one day at school, she said, "Don't you worry about us. We're perfectly safe."

And that's the only lie she ever said to me in our nine months of friendship.

Her neighbourhood was attacked the next day. Not a single person survived.

The Hindus and Muslims in India are like the two banks of a river. Always moving tiger but never meeting.

After that riot  ended, the whole of our state weeped. The Hindus cried for the Hindus and the Muslims for the Muslims.

And in that massive crowd of separation, I was a little girl, sitting in the middle of that unerasable boundary, weeping for my lost friend.

Now I've lived a long life. The memory of those days still seems fresh.

I've prayed to the almighty, every day since, to terminate the recurrence of those events. But I guess my voice wasn't loud enough.

Today our country stands on a haystack all over again.

I can only hope, that this time, no one will set fire to it.