It is said that
sometimes children show the real path to elders. Maryam Asif Siddiqui might
have been a regular 6th
Grade student
but she's not. Because she is the girl who came as a breath of fresh air amidst
the intolerant religious flutters the country is going through and a lesson to
many who resolutely believe in religious fanaticism.
Earlier this month on one fine Morning I got surprised to
see a Whatsapp message in one of my groups about a 12 year Girl from Mumbai winning a Gita
contest organized by ISKON (International Society for Krishna
Consciousness) last month. Later I found that the news has gone viral appearing
on all social media. As I had been occupied with some other obligations, I
could not follow the news in electronic or print media
However, at the
first glance I appreciated the news basically for three reasons…
Firstly…She is
just a 12 year girl, quite young. Being a mother of a child of around the same
age I am well aware of the mindset of today's kids. Their world revolves
around super smart gadgets and
The Interstellar kind of movies. I personally know how difficult
it is to make them read books on
Indian philosophy of moral values. For e.g. let it be even
Panchatantra .
As per my
knowledge girls of the same age (at least in Mumbai) have a greater interest in
trending fashions and other activities like dance, smart phones and partying.
They (especially girls) don't even love mythological cartoon characters that
much. So when I found a 12-year old girl winning a Gita contest, I was
astounded as I had never expected something like this even in my wildest
imagination.
Gita…undoubtedly a
difficult scripture even for bold and mature grown-ups. Some may believe it as
a religious scripture but I believe it as philosophical one as it teaches
purely philosophy of life more clearly…spirituality. Definitely it is quite
complicated and above the mind of a 12 year old to understand its teachings. I
think the young girl definitely deserves highest accolade for this adventure.
Second…she is a
girl. You may paint me as a feminist, but my upbringing says, in most of the
Indian families, girls are less encouraged to read scriptures irrespective of
the religion they born with. So as she was a…Girl…. won the contest on a
scripture among around 5000 students…honestly I was filled with deepest
appreciations for her.
Third…I
appreciated the efforts of her parents who supported, encouraged and helped her
to follow her endeavour as well. Moreover I'm also grateful to them for
inculcating such values in her through her upbringing. They become an example
for the parents like me.
However, I am
quite disappointed with our approach (that also includes all media) to this
incident. Some has quoted it as "Truly Secular" while some has
presented it as "an example of Communal Harmony". I'm really sorry to
say but no child knows the meaning of being secular or communal. In fact they
don't even understand the meaning of Religion…that they hear occasionally when grownups
talk about.
Why should we look
at this achievement through the spectacles of religion at all? Just because she
is a Muslim girl who won Gita contest, which is perceived as aHindu
scripture ? Let me ask…had the girl belong to any other religion (even to
Hinduism )…does the achievement would have become less adventurous and
noteworthy? Also…if the scripture had been
Quran or Bible or anything else and not Gita….then would it had been
less astounding?
If so…then I think
we really need serious introspection because we are losing out our human values
somewhere.
I feel…The
significance of this event is that we should encourage our children and young
minds to read different scriptures and appreciate the teachings in them. If
needed then lets organize contests to motivate them. This will instill human
values in much better way. Here I must appreciate the efforts of ISKON as well
for organising this contest.
And please for
god's sake…don't divide children by building walls of religion as they are pure
humans. Ask the girl above…I'm sure she will tell you that the only religion in
this world is "Religion of Humanity".
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