VIBGYOR

I am a secular child! I'm a rainbow with hints of green and saffron. (Didn't like to use the cliché of green and saffron). I'm influenced with philosophies of compassion, equality and sensitivity. My mother is a Hindu and my father is a Muslim. Life for me has been a continuous celebration. Starting with the new year, all the festivals wait in a row. Vibrant Holi, Crowded Ganpati, Eid, Bakri Eid and the Colourful Diwali. Celebration in my life signifies a mouthwatering feast. I enjoy Biryani as well as Puran poli, Laadu, Sheerkhurma and they all come from the same kitchen. 

I have an enriched language. A first-hand acquaintance of Marathi and Konkani. I use words like Dastarkhawn, Bismillah. The voices of secularism entered my life at a very young age. Even before I could lay my hands on the books with pop up pictures, I was introduced to the Quran, and then my bedtime stories would be the ones from the Ramayan and the Mahabharata. 

I feel my spiritual sensibilities are heightened by all this exposure. To see my Daadi engrossed in her Namaaz and my Aai (Naani) reciting the morning pooja was a normal sight. Not surprisingly, the Ganpati aarti has the ability to bring goosebumps and the Na'ats and the Qawali makes me lose myself in the trance of reverence. I'm privileged to bow down in a temple and also do sajdaa in a Masjid. And sometimes when I visit a Church or a Gurudwara, it atsounds me how all houses of Gods have the same sensation of oneness, tranquillity and acceptance, and how I am able to feel this. I am a secular child!  

I believe in Karma, the concept of an afterlife and also in the day of Qayamat. I believe in the omnipresence of the almighty, the one who is Nirankaar (without any shape). I can recite the Gayatri Mantra and also Ayat-al-Qursi. I'm a. Child who totally understands divinity in diversity. You cannot label me, you cannot categorise me, I'm secular, I'm spiritual, the chosen one. :p

I'm able to greet with a Namaskaar and with an Assalamualaikum with the knowledge that the meaning of the two is one- peace and truth. 

People might think I'm lost, they might assume I'm confused and when they raise their eyebrows in judgement, astonishment and sometimes resentment, I smile because I know I am a blessed soul. I smile because I couldn't be more aware of the words 'religion' and 'secularity' if I hadn't been born in the image of my parents who come from slightly different cultures (Purposely used the words 'slightly'; because both the religious cultures are quite same and equally good and equally pathetic) but who truly share the same heart!