“Okay my dear sons… That’s it! I shall see you on Thursday and many thanks for helping me. Good day!”- That’s my consultant after a hectic day in the hospital.
Rumbling noise in my tummy starts mounting every second and I decide to go for a kill straightaway. We (an Indian, a Pakistani, a Sinhalese) hit the restaurant very next moment. I get myself a plate of fries and settle at the usual table in which my name is not written. My Sinhalese colleague joins me and the Pakistani vanishes into thin air (I always suspect him for that).
(Earlier in the day my Sinhalese colleague and me were involved in an animated conversation about the problems in Srilanka,Islamic terrorism etc.,)
He restarts the conversation on the same sensitive topics as I gobble down the fries (the only edible thing in our restaurant) and start sipping my diet coke (trying to kill the pathogenic intestinal flora. ha.). I succeed in pulling him out of that conversation finally. Then it just happens….
My colleague (SE): Alright! Where are you staying?
Me: In Walnut Grove. With my friend.
SE: Oh! What’s your friend’s name?
Me: (I tell him the most common name in the world)
SE: Oh! He is a Muslim! (I could see the amused reaction in his face)
Me: Yeah!
SE: How are you adjusting with a Muslim?
Me: What do you mean by that?
SE: Are they friendly?
Me: What are you talking about? He is my Friend and I have (n) number of Islamic friends.
The discussion enters onto heated lines. One of his points is that the Islamic friends who are in Lanka support Pakistan when they play against Lanka.
I say, “I don’t know about that but it’s not the case in India”.
I tell about the amicability between religions and the secular feeling among the Indians and cite an example that the president of India is a Muslim himself and reads Gita everyday apart from doing Namaz 5 times a day.
Finally, I wouldn’t be able to convince him that Muslims are not separatists (after all the deliberations).
The end result: I reach home with a headache…
One thing that still irks me;
Why so much hatred?
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3 comments:
I bet u heard abt the fuss that was created when Bush visted India.
Thats when I came up with the following post .
http://pradeepavathi.blogspot.com/2006/03/wats-all-fuss-abt.html
People just hav to get that ,when u r there ,u can act as smart as u can but once u r gone every one's just worm food.
Dear Rakesh,
That was a fantastic thought for the world from you! Hmmm....only if all in the world were thinking like you and me!
Still, it is better to stick to such good ideals though the separatists of the world may claim we are ignorant. Have a look at my blog. It has something similar to your post. Find out what it is and tell me! Challenge, OK?
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