Noted writer Shameem Akthar has published a news item on the website of MumbaiMirror about a beutifull event in the sub-urb of Mumbai.. Read On….
This event at Kandivli’s spic Evershine complex would please both Munnabhai and Bapu. Both the cultural and managing committees of the oldest phase of the sprawling Evershine complex here decided to give a unique spin to Ganpati celebrations this year: the binding theme was Sarva Dharma Ekta. The theme found a platform, with Satyanarayan puja, Gurbani, Holy Quran and Christian prayers all recited from the same podium.
The recent paranoia that has enveloped the world tweaks my heart with misgivings. Since mine is a mixed marriage, it gladdens the parent in me to see such displays of ektagiri around my daughter. Though the theme has been firmly in place over the last two years, this year was different because it actually found a voice. And the voice found its message in that eternal and beloved secularist Kabir. On the chosen day last week, his songs set the tone of communal harmony, being played through the day so nobody within the complex could forget his core message: “Ram, Allah, Keshav, Karim, Hari, Hazrat — so many names, so many ornaments, all one gold.” Who better than Kabir to remind us, “This namaz, that puja, this Mahadev, that Muhammed, this Brahma, that Adam, this a Hindu, that a Muslim, but all belong to earth. Vedas, Korans, all those books, those Mullas and those Brahmins — so many names, so many names, but the pots are all one clay.”
The prayers and messages were staggered over the rest of the day, with representatives and priests from the respective religious groups speaking about or reciting from their holy books. The experience was educating. Hearing the Lord’s Prayer (special to Christians), all residents could appreciate how the core concern of all religions remains the same — of complete surrender to the Highest power : “Thy will be done.” And the fervent request for deliverance that all religions share, pleading with god to “Deliver us from evil.” And the children in the complex could find out that though Sanskrit and Arabic may sound different in texture, the tone of devotion was only one. And they learnt what their history books don’t quite convey: that all spiritual texts were only different pens writing the same message in different languages: to purify oneself.
This society of 800 residents tries to glue its kaleidoscope of communities by organising not just the festivals of the majority group, but celebrating Id and Christmas with the same fervour it accords Independence Day and Republic Day. Last month too the committee had a candle parade in memory of those who had lost their lives on 7/11. And its residents flowed as a silent, half-mile long crowd through Thakur Village to remind Mumbai that its unique heart of oneness was not just intact but getting stronger. And its pulse-beat could be felt here, in Kandivli east.
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