I stumbled upon a Pakistani play; yes yes I am not
supposed to watch them, as I am an Indian. And, we are in state of war with
them since 1947 and will remain so till we obliterate each other. It’s a
strange kind of love and hate relationship we have with them, we cant live with
them, we cant live without them and we have the worst sporting rivalry with
them. It so happens that one of my best friends lives across the border and we
constantly whatsapp each other all day long being normal friends, the only difference
being that we live two hours apart and cant meet each other as visas get
denied. Pakistan and India are the two Punjabi rishtedaars who are fighting
over a common piece of land, but so entwined with each other that they share
everything .We welcome each other with open arms and literally spread the red
carpet when they come to Punjab and vice versa. The bonhomie and the
hospitality are unbelievable and you have to witness it to assimilate it.
The play is Ranjha Ranjha Kardi and in the opening
episode has a scene where a lower caste girl is being taught how to read the
prayers from the holy book Quran. So, the village women are upset as she is
made to sit with their children and learn the right way .The teacher who is
imparting the knowledge says the book is made for all and nowhere did the
Prophet say that they couldn’t read it and by merely touching it; it wouldn’t
become unclean. All our religion profess this, all the saints say this, that we
are all one, impurity does not lie in the hands, it is not the work that makes
one small or unclean. It is the mind that is impure and the thoughts that make
us unclean. When are we going to get rid of these shackles? I am not saying we
here in Punjab are better or superior, trust me we face the same problems. We
all have bigger problems at hand and enumerating them is another story. When we
start treating each other as humans and as one, not divide each other on caste,
color, creed, sex, nationality we would truly inherit this earth. Imagine ,we
need to make laws to allow people to be with each other, be it same sex
marriages or inter caste marriages. On the rise are lynchings , tolerance is
ending , suspicions are on the rise and we ridicule each other just on the
basis of caste. The words of the play really resonate in my mind and I faced
the same situation when some women in my village objected to my teaching
children in the evening school ,they took their kids out and didn’t let them
come back. The problem being that why were the lower caste children sitting with
them/ I wonder ,where does it say on their faces that they are different ?
Dividing each other on the basis of color which is just melanin and the caste
that was all man made is so regressive .
We all breathe the same air , maybe I could start
giving bubbles so that they can breathe the pure rarified air ! A pure race
never led to any advancement , purity lies in the mind and that is the source
of all .
