There seems to be a tie for the first "atheist" that I encountered in my life 
And this is because I don't remember whose identity as a "different-kind-of-believer" dawned upon me first !
And this is because I don't remember whose identity as a "different-kind-of-believer" dawned upon me first !
There was this aristocratic-personality-waaley Uncle, a colleague of my
father, who never went to a temple ... a la Bachchan of "Deewar" ( But
of course much ahead of "Deewar" )
And there was a cousin of my mother, who Mummy used to tell us, would ridicule his wife's Eid uz Zuha ritual (Qurbaani) saying:
"Tumhaari Bhabi to Bakrey par baith kar Jannat mein jaaeiNgi"
After my marriage I came to know that my father-in-law, my husband and his Chacha Jaan never prayed five times in a day
And they hardly ever fasted during Ramzaan.
We used to have a Kabab-sevain feast on Eid uz Zuha.
By God's grace we still do
But most of us have not seen the Qurbaani ritual happening
We used to, and still give the money to a person we are sure needs it
My husband's Chacha Jaan was an educationist and used to work specially in the field of women's education
He used to say:
"Hum ne roza-Namaaz to karaa nahi hai zindgi mein ... Kuchh achchey kaam insaanoN ke liye kar leiN ... Ye kaam hi saath jaaeiNgey ... "
Now when I see the world getting so terribly tattered and people drifting away from one another apparently more because of religious differences than anything else, I am reminded of these wonderful human beings who may not have touched millions of lives, and who are not nationally or internationally famous, but still most certainly their selfless deeds have enriched many lives and the ripples of their goodness steadily, invisibly, namelessly continue to spread Hope.
"Hope" that Peace may be some distance away, but it is not just a Dream any more.
Eid uz Zuha is the commemoration of Hazrat Ibrahim's obedience and devotion to God and the completion of Hajj Pilgrimage
May it be Mubarak and spiritually enriching for all
And while Muslims as a community may come across as "primitive and orthodox" to the outside World, it is heartening to see a gradual but more educated preference for better alternatives to charity instead of the ancient Qurbani
And there was a cousin of my mother, who Mummy used to tell us, would ridicule his wife's Eid uz Zuha ritual (Qurbaani) saying:
"Tumhaari Bhabi to Bakrey par baith kar Jannat mein jaaeiNgi"
After my marriage I came to know that my father-in-law, my husband and his Chacha Jaan never prayed five times in a day
And they hardly ever fasted during Ramzaan.
We used to have a Kabab-sevain feast on Eid uz Zuha.
By God's grace we still do
But most of us have not seen the Qurbaani ritual happening
We used to, and still give the money to a person we are sure needs it
My husband's Chacha Jaan was an educationist and used to work specially in the field of women's education
He used to say:
"Hum ne roza-Namaaz to karaa nahi hai zindgi mein ... Kuchh achchey kaam insaanoN ke liye kar leiN ... Ye kaam hi saath jaaeiNgey ... "
Now when I see the world getting so terribly tattered and people drifting away from one another apparently more because of religious differences than anything else, I am reminded of these wonderful human beings who may not have touched millions of lives, and who are not nationally or internationally famous, but still most certainly their selfless deeds have enriched many lives and the ripples of their goodness steadily, invisibly, namelessly continue to spread Hope.
"Hope" that Peace may be some distance away, but it is not just a Dream any more.
Eid uz Zuha is the commemoration of Hazrat Ibrahim's obedience and devotion to God and the completion of Hajj Pilgrimage
May it be Mubarak and spiritually enriching for all
And while Muslims as a community may come across as "primitive and orthodox" to the outside World, it is heartening to see a gradual but more educated preference for better alternatives to charity instead of the ancient Qurbani
