"My mother Khushnuma is a Muslim, my father Kamlesh Singh a Thakur. My sister Sita is married to Inzamam and my wife Shabana is thinking of naming my newborn Santosh." proudly says Vikram Singh, a Thakur in the village Khera Sadhan.
Amidst the hue and cry and political attempts to create disunity among Indians,there are instances that teach us that humanity is still alive, hatred is not the norm and tolerance is the only way ahead if we do not want to be lost in a cycle of violence.
Khera Sadhan is a village panchayat located in the Agra district of Uttar Pradesh. But what is so unique about this village is the villagers attitude towards different religions. They adopted their philosophy of life is to "live and let live". They believe people must be free to worship God in whatever form they like.
In Khera Sadhan, it is common to have a family of four brothers with two of them Hindu, two Muslim. Or have a husband who doesn't care about the religion of his wife, or his children for that matter. Here, Muslims worship in temples and Hindus go to the dargah. Eid and Diwali are both sacrosanct.
Ask 55-year-old Shaukat Ali Khan and he will tell you that he recently arranged for his youngest brother Raju Singh to marry Lajo, daughter of Sunil Thakur and Reshma. The wedding ceremony will be attended by Shaukat's brothers Rizwan Ali Khan and Kishan Singh. The nikah will be held at a temple.
"We are amazed when we hear stories of people fighting about inter-faith unions," says Salim Thakur, a Geeta and Quran by his bedside. "My neighbor and first cousin Love Kush Singh has been offering Eid prayers in the village mosque for as long as I can remember. Yet, like everyone else in this village, he also celebrates Holi and Diwali."
This raises the question - seeing how many of us fight over religion - where does the hatred come from and what purpose does it serve?
Source: TOI
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My name is Khan and I am a Hindu - The Times of India