Memories
can be miracles. They can bring about
transformations within us. My recent
visit to Kerala was for a reunion of some friends who studied together from
1976 to 1978. Meeting again 36 years later
is a momentous experience. The boys had
become men. The men are now involved in
a wide variety of professions, ranging from today’s most popular profession of
converting people from their religions to the least preferred job of fighting
for justice. There were jewellers and
chartered accountants in between. And a schoolteacher
like me. Quite a few priests too. The spouses and children of those who were
not priests added a unique charm to the gathering.
People
had cancelled or rescheduled important assignments just to make it to this
gathering. A few travelled all the way
from as far away as the USA only for this occasion. A few had spent a lot of time and money
making the necessary arrangements.
I
loved it. What a meet it was! So many people from such a wide diversity of
occupations and outlooks. And yet we all
found it delightful. An unforgettable
experience that lasted almost the whole day.
As
I, along with my wife, got a free lift all the way to my home (55 km from
Ernakulam where the meet took place) after the gathering (thanks to an alumnus
who was travelling to the same place), a thought kept springing in my
mind. If such a wide variety of people
can be reunited so joyfully merely because of the fact that some of them had
studied together in their adolescence, why can’t India be just one country living
happily together in spite of all the variety?
Why
should India be a people of one religion?
Yes,
interestingly, there was one alumnus of ours who boasted about his successful religious
conversions. I found him rather
comical. Not villainous, thank
heavens. But do we need such conversions
in order to live together as one nation?
Not at all. We, the alumni
decided to meet again after four years in spite of all the variety in our
outlooks and professions. We found
meaning in the reunion. We found meaning
in the love that we could rediscover. In
spite of all the differences in our careers, attitudes, outlooks...
Can’t
India find such meaning? I’m wondering
still, a week after the meet.
What a wonderful reunion after 36 long years. It would have been so nice to recollect memories of the past and rediscover each other after such a long time.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, Fayaz, it was an experience of a different kind.
Delete:) I guess we can only ask, no one answers because no is listening.
ReplyDeleteTrue, listening to this kind of stuff doesn't help in their power games.
Delete