Mornings are so peaceful here. I see so much difference in the serenity of a town named Jorhat in the upper part of Assam than in my hometown Guwahati. It doesn’t matter how bad your previous day was, the morning never fails to soothe your mind. The eyes get a real treat of nature. Nature engulfs your mind so much that you feel a whiff of peace and calmness everywhere.
I travel by the university bus every day which is almost 15 km from the town. It takes almost half an hour to reach my workplace. With my earphones on, some enthralling music of Rahman blends with the mesmerizing beauty of the fields to help your mind relax. As I see the beauty in every single thing on the streets, I would like to mention one small but effective incident of one such morning in my life.
There are somethings that I feel inside that can only be expressed through my writing. I am quite a chatterbox otherwise, but it’s a habit of my childhood that I tend to take the help of my pen while expressing my real feelings. Well, now the pen got replaced by the keyboard. That day was a bright sunny day and I got ready to start my day. The bus arrived just in time. The trees glistened in the sunshine. Got my earphones connected and as usual, my half an hour’s journey of admiring the town began.
Everyday Bigotry
Just as we crossed the bypass there was a temple, then another just opposite the North East Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST). I do fold my hands and offer up a prayer when I see these temples. Sometimes I do miss the prayer if am not too distracted by the enchanting fields. After a while, you get a beautiful mosque that shone brightly in the sunshine and looked so peaceful and serene in white. I folded my hands again just to be stopped by the person next to me,” Are you Muslim?” she asked me with skepticism. I said “No“.
Then she laughed and said then why are you acting so. I could have replied to her, but I smiled and somehow I couldn’t break the peace of my morning mind which I always carry every day to work. The reply I would have given her is precisely what I am jotting down now. I am not a Hindu nor am I a Muslim. I am a human who loves nature above all. I offer a prayer to everything which is related to God. I don’t categorize beauty according to my religion. The mosque looked bathed in white gold and was one of the beautiful sculptures of the area. I folded my hands as God resides both in the temple and in a mosque or even in a church.
First, behave like a human, then act like a Hindu or a Muslim. God’s abode is beautiful in its own way. From that day onwards I feel more peace of mind as I came to know that at least I am a human being whose eyes admire beauty in its raw form, rather than differentiating according to one’s religion. That is where my mind wins over my Religion. I dedicate this piece to my love for human feelings solely, in the sacred month of Ramzan. Let us strive to have pure souls.