Through My Eyes

Humanity Knows No Religion

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Based on a true story
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25 years ago :
"How much?", he asked the taxi driver who had driven him to the station. "100", the driver answered. He took out his wallet but he had no change, so instead he gave a note of Rs.500 to the driver. The driver took the money, gave him the change and left. While keeping the change, Aahil's eyes landed on her pic which he always keeps in his wallet. She looked beautiful, just as she had always been. It had been months since he last saw her. He had kept all her letters securely. As he thought about the letters he realized that how even in the letters her unconditional love and  care was visible. She would ask him about his health, his career even whether he was having his food properly or not. Her concerns for him were sometimes childlike. Afterall, for a mother, her child is always a small kid, for whom she needs to look after.

Some ten months back, he had come to Jamshedpur,the 'steel city' of India, from Lucknow, with a promise to his mother that he would work hard, make a good living, and give her all the comforts which she deserved. He left no stone unturned to fulfill his promise. The boy who was once so poor that he had to buy the train's ticket with borrowed money, was now transformed into a man who lived life on his own terms without depending on anybody. Though he had not achieved much success yet, but he was financially independent.

The announcement distracted him from his thoughts. The train he had to board on was two hours late!

He went to the platform where the train was scheduled to arrive and sat on a bench. His throat was burning with thirst, so he got up to buy water from a shop which was at some distance. On the way, he heard a child's cry. He looked around but couldn't spot any child crying. He continued walking in the direction from which the wailing noise was coming. In a desolate corner of the platform, under an old rusty metal bench, wrapped up in a red shawl, was an infant crying. It was probably three or four months old. Aahil tried to calm the baby by taking it in his arms. Then, he called out to the passer-bys, asking them if they knew anything about that baby. But didn't get any satisfactory reply from anybody.

How could someone be so cruel as to leave this little life alone here? Didn't they have any heart that they let this child die here? What kind of people are these that they don't even care about their child? - As he was having these thoughts the child continued to cry. In a futile attempt, he again called out for his parents but as expected no one seemed to bother. With the baby still in his arms, he went around over all the platforms on the station to search for the child's family but it was of no use. He went to the station master and told the entire scenario. The station master said that they could try to help and find out the baby's family but it would be a lengthy process. It was a railway station, there were thousands and thousands of people who came and went each day, among them it would be nearly impossible to find the child's family, and if they didn't succeed in finding its family, then they would have to give it to an orphanage. With that, the station master went to some other man who had some problems in his seat reservation.

In the distance, Aahil could hear the announcement, that his train was about to arrive on the destined platform in fifteen minutes. Now it was up to him to decide- whether to leave the child with the station master or to take it along with him and adopt it. The latter was not even an option, because while lifting the child in his arms he had seen a red thread around its arms, the raksha sutra, the sacred thread of the Hindus, which only meant that the child belonged to a Hindu family. He, being a Muslim, could not take a Hindu child to his home! Moreover, he was unmarried. What would people think of him if he brought an infant home! That too a Hindu!

The train had arrived on the platform, he had to make a decision now. He was torn up between the care he had developed for that child, and the fear that what would people say if he took it with himself. Just then, he remembered the words said by his ammi, his mother, when he was a small kid, "Do you know why did I name you 'Aahil' ?  Aahil means a prince, you are a prince for me, a prince who brought hope and happiness in my desolate life and I know you will always bring hope and happiness in everyone's life." With these words echoing in his mind, he made his decision.

Present:
The lighting of the house had been properly done, even the flower arrangement was no less than marvellous. The house had never looked so beautiful as it looked today. A few of the guests had already arrived and some were even hovering over the snacks.

He made sure everyone was at comfort and then headed upstairs. He opened the door on the left, and discreetly watched her. She was so happy that happiness was radiating from her. Though she seemed troubled by the heavy jewellery and her heavy embroidered sharara, yet it was just making her look more graceful. She was smiling and chattering with her friends. Indeed, she was looking angelic, he thought. From the corner of her eyes, she noticed him, walked up to him and without saying a word hugged him.

As she broke the hug, there were tears in her eyes, "I love you abba, I am going to miss you and ammi a lot!" He gently stroked her hair and said,"Me and your ammi both love you a lot my child. You are our universe. You are  everything to us, Nazma. Today, you will get married and start a new life. My blessings and love are always with you."

"You supported me in my dream to become a teacher even though the rest of our family didn't want me to do a job. Noorie's father locked her up in the house when she told that she wanted to do a job but you always supported me in every phase of life. Love marriages are a taboo in our society, and a marriage outside our community is an ever greater taboo, yet when I told you that I love Daniel and want to marry him, you stood against the entire family, even after knowing that he is a Christian, only for my happiness. Abbu, you are the best father in this world, no, not just in this world but in the entire universe. I am so lucky to have you in my life.", said Nazma wiping tears from her eyes. Truly, it was an emotional moment for her, for today was the day when she would be separated from her family. The family that gave her so much love and affection that she could never forget. Yes, she was getting married to the guy she loved, but can anybody really take place of her father? NO. NEVER. Her father was the one whom she loved the most.

"Aahil, where are you? Some guests are looking for you.", yelled Aahil's mother as she entered the room where she saw Nazma. Nazma, the Hindu girl, whom Aahil had found on the railway station. Nazma, the girl whom he adopted even after knowing that she wasn't a Muslim. Nazma, the girl whom he adopted even though he was not married at that time. Nazma, the girl whom he always treated like his own daughter, whose happiness mattered to him more than anything else in this world, whom he loved with all his heart and soul.

She looked at her son, Aahil and his daughter, Nazma and smiled. Against all evils, he had adopted her. He had to face an enormous amount of opposition not only from his family and relatives but from other people of his community too. His neighbours started hating him. But, he never lost his determination and took the responsibility of that child with utmost care. He named her, "Nazma", which means "gift" in Urdu. She was a gift given to him by God. A few months after bringing the Nazma home, he got married. After some years, he was blessed with two sons but that didn't lessen his love for his daughter, Nazma. Her dreams were his dreams, and many a times he opposed his family members as stood with her in her dreams. He was the perfect father.

Humanity knows no religion. God created every human being alike. It was man who drew boundaries and propagated hatred against one another. But no matter how many barriers does a man create he would never be able to wipe out love and  humanity from the hearts of individuals.
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Author's Note:
Hi! As I have mentioned above, this story is based on a true story though names are changed to maintain privacy. I really enjoyed a lot writing this story and I hope that you too must have enjoyed reading it. If you like this story, then please vote/comment/share this story.
Thank you,
Neha Chandra