Amar Akbar Anthony

 

This Independence Day made me especially sad.  Every year I make sure I wish people, ‘Happy Independence’ This year, it just wasn’t happy. Everybody’s so full of hatred in our country. Hindus attack Muslims in Delhi, Muslims attack Hindus in Bangalore. 

All we’ve done with our independence is tried to slit each others’ throats open. And whenever young people want to talk about this and try to change it, we’re told that we don’t know how the world works, that people are different and not everybody thinks the way we think. So I’ll talk less about what I think this time, and more about what I’ve experienced.

The very first friend I ever made in Mumbai was a Christian, My very first roommate ever was a Muslim. I’m a Hindu. And I have never consciously thought about all this until this very moment. As somebody who has spent the major part of their life in town with 80% Hindu population, I did not have a lot of friends who were from other religious backgrounds, beliefs and values maybe, but not different religions.

Since I was a little kid, I’ve been told that somebody who is from a different religion, will automatically be very different from me. What I experienced was the exact opposite of this.

 My very first friend in Mumbai, Anjali is the sweetest person I’ve ever met, all my first college experiences in Mumbai were with her, from looking for places to stay to shifting from one place to another, from shopping for cups and bowls to volunteering for social work. And every time I felt like I was on the edge, she brought me back to normalcy, she was like a guide even though I’m pretty sure she felt just as lost too. When she prays, with all other people she prays for, she prays for me too, she wishes me on days of Hindu festivals and sometimes I accompany her to the church. I’m sure Christ doesn’t reject her prayers because she’s praying for a Hindu. Some people just feel like you’ve always known them. I would’ve turned into a bitter person had I not known her, because Mumbai can make you cruel.

My roommate Shimayala is my second lucky find in Mumbai, the only time we’ve ever been silent together in a room is the first day she shifted in, after that it felt like we always had something to talk about. We cracked so many jokes, and they always reminded me of home, it was like she’d been at home all these years with me even though we didn’t even know we existed. When I started living in Mumbai, I missed home more than I thought I would and before she had shifted in, my mornings used to start with a big dull room in which nothing felt familiar and nobody cared if I woke up or had breakfast. After she came, we actively helped each other adjust and set a routine and made sure we weren’t skipping meals and college too much. We went to the Gurudwara on Gurupurab together and to Haji Ali Dargah for her birthday, which was one of the most peaceful days I’ve spent in the City. She prayed and I stood with her. She used to bring me back ‘prasad’ from the Gurudwara and it used instantly make my day better.

Toh puchhna yeh hai, ki koi agar tumse itna hi alag hai,

Toh unke saath reh kar begaana shahar, Ghar jaisa kaise lag sakta hai?

Aur agar lagta hai 

Toh voh alag nahi,

Ghar ke hi hain na.