Dharm

Just finished a brilliant movie on communal violence .."dharm " ..starring pankaj kapoor . It brings to light again one of the major issues that we have to deal being a part of such a diverse culture . India on its part has managed to not be a part of religious fundamentalism as compared to other nations on the earth but then we still have been part of it now and then in our own ways . Be it the cast system or hindu muslim communal rights ..they have affected us all in a way small or big .

When I was growing up we were a part of a small cosmopolitan township where caste , creed hardly made a differences . Friendships were being fostered there and it was just the person there that mattered , your ancestory did not mattered then . In our small happy world we never even managed to think that the caste , creed , status of a person actually mattered . Infact we convienently forgot that distinctions like that existed . The only distinction were the people you like to hang around with and the ones you don't .

The first time that I actually realised that distinctions like that existed where in my 10th standard when people in SC category were asked to register separately . It suddenly created a distinction which was no where to been till now . Unwantingly there was a extra line line added in my mind beside the introduction of the person . From now on it became a common theme in our lives , the people with quotas getting into colleges ahead of us ...it was a grudge everyone seemed to have ..but then later on that became a part of life and we did not think back on it ..

College was again pretty cosmopolitan , had friends from all states in india ..it never mattered where each one of them had come from , what they ate at home and once again the distinctions seemed to have been forgotten .

There have been shocks in between though ..like when 7 year old described to me how all her friends were brahmins , i did not even know a distinction like that when I was 7 . I also once heard a story of how my one of my uncle's got a tired beggar home one day to help him out and my grandfather just wouldn't have that person come into the house ..for he was a shudra ...

It was only when we reached andhra and after listening to my sister , family friends and my parents i realised how fundamentalist caste has become in andhra ...people group acc to caste in colleges and if they don't they are threatened by people from there caste . I heard my grandfather refer to one of cousins who had married a muslim , he thought that was one of the most demeaning things to do . My sister who has studied 3 years in andhra also seemed to grasp it ..she told me how people from different castes were really difficult to talk to .

Me being an outsider all this while had failed to realize the divide ...until it hit real close ....

seeing this movie now brought back all the memories ...the main character in the movie although follows dharm the way thinks it is right to the fullest , doing the toughest of vratas and working towards the betterment of brahmins ...his discipline is noteworthy ..but somewhere down the line he forgets that dharam is not just bettering one's self or betterment of people who we think are like us (due to some unfortunate ways of dividing people ).. its about rising above our differences and searching for the ultimate happiness or bliss ...and the person who will aid you in this process could very well be a muslim or a shudra ...

Coming to the US I have met people who have managed to go beyond the boundaries set by political maps and spread solidarity amongst people in the whole word.

Having said all this ...I know its easier said than done ..I myself get caught in some of its hassles and find courage failing me to get out it ...