A few years ago I watched the movie ‘Mr and Mrs Iyer’ on the small screen and loved every moment of Aparna Sen’s movie. The scene I loved best is when the rioters enter the bus in search of Muslims; I watched with tears of joy Mrs Iyer quickly shoving her baby Santanam into her young Muslim co- passenger’s arms, telling the terrorists that he was Mr Iyer, thus rescuing him from the jaws of death!
Moving from the screen to real life, an incident that took place during the First World War comes to my mind: The Grand Rabbi of Lyons was a Jewish chaplain to the French forces. One day a man staggered into the trenches and told the Rabbi that a Roman Catholic was on the point of death in no man’s land and was begging for a Catholic priest to come to him with a crucifix.
No Catholic priest could be found.
The Jesuit quickly improvised a cross, ran out with it into the no man’s land and was last seen holding it before the dying man’s eyes. He was almost immediately shot by a sniper and later the bodies of the Catholic and the Jew were found together!
And another story: During a battle between Muslims and Sikhs hundreds of years ago, a Sikh water carrier called Ghanaya was seen giving water to wounded Muslim soldiers as they lay suffering from thirst under the hot sun. He was brought before Guru Gobind Singh and accused of being a traitor. The Guru heard the charges and asked Ghanaya to answer them. Said Ghanaya, “When I walked through the battlefields I saw no Muslims and no Sikhs, only your face in every man.”
“You are a true Sikh,” replied the Guru, “Continue your good work and here is some ointment to put on their wounds. You shall henceforth be known as Bhai Ghanaya.”
Says Guru Gobind Singh: Recognize all mankind, whether Hindu or Muslim, as one:
The same Lord is the Creator and Nourisher of all;
Recognise no distinctions among them.
The monastery and the mosque are the same;
So the Hindu worship and the Muslim prayer;
Men are all one.
As I watched Mr and Mrs Iyer, I realised as much as Meenakshi in the movie realised, that had not Raja told her he was a Muslim, he would have passed off as just another good looking Indian. But when these promoters of hate rear their ugly heads, then suddenly we look at those who were previously our brother or sister and label them; Hindu, Christian or Muslim!
Mr and Mrs Iyer stepped out of the train, friends, one a Hindu, the other a Muslim. When will we walk the same? How many more such movies before we wake up, embrace and hug each other as brothers and sisters?
Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist and author. He blogs at www.bobsbanter.com and can be reached at bobsbanter@gmail.com
