THE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST INSIDE US


















“Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully
As they do it from religious conviction.”

-     Blaise Pascal

I have witnessed the communal riots right since I was a little boy in our home town, Mangalore (now Mangaluru). Our small house was surrounded by families of all major faiths… On the very left lived a staunch Brahmin family, on the very right lived a staunch Christian, a Hindu (GSB) and  a Muslim family. Right behind our house lived many families that belonged to various faiths… Ditto was in the front, across the road…

So beautiful this co-existence was, so enriching…
This sight still continues to behold us, inspire us!

Here in Mumbai, at my age of 62… In my floor, wing and our buildings live people of different faiths… Ditto is in the Society where I hold my classes and house my office… I am the only Christian in this building. But, during these thirty-two years of our co-existence here, none of the members of the other faiths here has given me – not even for a moment – a feeling of insecurity or fear…

I firmly believe, that’s how we all are right at our core…












When I was in the hospital – and almost dying – just a year-and-a-half ago, the doctors, nurses, ward-boys and people who prayed for me were not Christians – Roman Catholics to be precise – alone… My breath, my blood and heart did not bother about to which faith we all belonged…

Yes, at the core of our hearts, we all know, that no faith matters – except the faith called the ‘humanity’…

We know it… yet, when our arrogance and ignorance blind us, we forget that truth… We turn into a ‘Mob’… we pick stones, iron rods, swords, daggers and guns and slay each other, burn each other’s homes and destroy everything…

Including our faith in the humanity!

I am strikingly conscious of this beast in me… It takes a moment of madness to unleash him…

I am also strikingly aware of the simple, humble, thankful and peace-loving human in me…

So, every time the ‘Mob’ in us goes berserk - killing, burning, destroying everything, I go down on my knees and pray…

“O Lord, save us from this darkness!”

As I said at the start, in my 62 years on this planet, I have witnessed this ‘darkness’ not only in my little village, this mega city and our vast country, I have, also, witness this all across the planet… The poison that makes us beasts and monsters – from simple neighbours, brothers and sisters – is the same…

Our arrogance, our ignorance!

It just takes a moment of darkness, Sir!

As these dark clouds have come back over us, all over again, I go down on my knees and pray…

“O Lord, save us from this darkness!”

Here is a poem I had published in one of our publications about thirty years ago… Yes, it’s about that beauty and the beast inside us… Hope, it helps… heals…


NOTHING BURNED INSIDE US

SCENE 1

The winter night.
Chill night curfew and fear.
It was a Hindu-dominated lane…
They entered the lane and set afire
Yusuf Ali’s locked chicken shop.

The next morning, Yusuf Ali came to open his shop…
He cried!

What crime did he
or his two hundred chickens commit?
What crime?


SCENE 2

The deserted day.
Dawn to dusk curfew.
It was a Muslim-dominated lane…

A mob of at least two hundred young men,
armed with swords, iron rods and daggers
and eyes full of hatred,
entered that lane, where only two Hindu families lived…
Seeing the mob coming in fury,
all ran for their lives…
An old man couldn’t… He begged for mercy,
with his frail hands folded in terror.

What we saw in a few seconds was
the chopped body of that old man!

What crime did he commit?
What crime?


SCENE 3

The broad daylight.
It was a crowded mid-town residential locality.
A mad man climbed the fourth floor of one do the buildings,
caught hold of a three-year-old child by the feet,
and flung it down to the ground…
No one could do anything…
No one!

To which religion did that child belong?
What crime did it commit?


SCENE 4

It was our housing society’s small playground.
Whenever there was a holiday,
We all used to come down to play cricket…
Today was one such day.

We were twenty: seven of us Hindus, three Muslims,
four Sikhs, three Christians, two Jains,
and, one Buddhist.
As usual, we played till 3.00 in the afternoon,
forgetting our hunger…

We had also forgotten one more thing:
that, we belonged to different faiths!

Nothing burned inside us…
Nothing in our playground!







GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.:2. First Post (Gujarat riots); 1 & and 3 Danish Siddiqui/Reuters (Delhi riots)

Video: Silva Screen Records/ Winter Has Come


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Gerald D'Cunha said…
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March 1, 2020 at 6:50 PM
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