The India I grew up in

I am a Hindu.

I follow Hinduism because I was born into a family which has been practising Hinduism for generations. I don’t think I had any say in the matter.

I grew up with a whole lot of friends at school and college, and I never ever thought of them as Christian or Muslim friends. They were all just plain ‘friends’. Our names or surnames hardly made any difference. Neither did we classify our teachers as Hindus, Muslims or Christians. They were either good or bad, stern or lenient, friendly or tough.

I have good neighbours and colleagues at work, and the only time I selfishly make sure that I remind myself of their religion is during festival times, when I ensure my share of delicious biryani or Christmas cake.

I love watching movies. But the religion of the actor hardly matters to me. It never bothers me that Salman Rushdie, Ruskin Bond, Agatha Christie or Charles Dickens were not Hindus.

Do any of us ascertain the religion of our plumber, electrician or carpenter when there is some urgent work to be done at home? Or that of the doctor when we are faced with pain?

I know of Hindus who have married Muslims and Christians and are living happily in love.

So why do we allow this monstrous attitude of regression to creep in stealthily and destroy our unity at a time when we are well into the 68th year of Independence and surging ahead with development in all sectors?

We have a lot of things to be proud of, and this current intolerant attitude is certainly not doing us any good, either nationally or internationally.

Like a vast majority of Indians, I do not subscribe to any of the ‘bans’ that are forced down our throats — whether it be the beef ban, the porn ban or the more recent issue concerning Garba dance in Gujarat.

In fact, these days I cringe inwardly when I read the ‘jokes’ about the beef ban that are so widely circulated through social media.

It’s no longer a laughing matter ever since the slaughter of Mohammed Akhlaq.

Love for the bovine population cannot be justified in any manner if it develops into hatred towards mankind.

And for those supporters of this heinous act who call themselves messiahs of Hinduism, let me remind you that the majority of us Hindus are living our lives peacefully, without any prejudice whatsoever based on religion, caste or language.

So why don’t you direct your energy towards more productive causes?

Why not ban the dumping of garbage in public places? Why not ban the destruction of natural water bodies? Why not ban deforestation, rape, the dowry system, hartals, corruption and a whole lot of other social evils?

There is certainly no shortage of things that need our attention.

I may be a Hindu, but I consider myself an Indian foremost.

My faith, my principles, my eating habits, my attire, my personal or social attributes — these are my own and do not depend on the unwritten dictum of any extremist group or school of thought.

We are the largest democracy in the world, and I am proud of that.

Currently, what we, as a society, are facing is an infringement of our basic constitutional rights, triggered by a few unholy mindsets that are out to bully us and jeopardise the social harmony in India for political gains.

Let us stand together and weed out this cankerous mindset from our midst.

We certainly owe it to the generations that will come after us.