It was 7:20 PM on July 18th, 2006. Jolarpet Express (a train that runs between Tirupattur and Chennai for the convenience of daily working people) was returning from Chennai and just crossed Arakkonam and I noticed three Muslim men next to the toilet right in front of the train door laid a mat on the floor and wanted to pray.
What caught my attention was not these three Muslim men but my fellow passengers around me. Instantly that place became a place of respect for everyone and everyone was quiet except for the ranting of the running train. A patrolling police officer and a petty vendor stopped from crossing their path till they finished praying. In spite of being fairly crowded, people even adjusted themselves to offer a place to sit for the remaining two Muslim men while one is praying.
So I asked myself a question as to “Why didn’t the fellow passengers find that to be inconvenience but respectful in spite of many of us made to believe by others that we are polarized”? How I wished that those who are threatening the fabric of our society by dividing us were there to see how India’s foundation of democracy is at work and will remain strong!!
By the time I got off the train at Katpadi, I knew the answer to my question and it is we the people who know it best what it means to live in a democracy by being tolerant and respectful to others faiths. It is we the people who know it best that democracy is not given but it is what we make of. It is we the people who know it best to stay calm and united in the midst of any amount of bombings and destructions of places of worship.
I couldn’t have been more proud of my fellow countrymen for showing the way to others in small gestures. It is in these gestures we signal to those that want to divide us that “We won” and “You lost”. Let’s continue to be the soldiers of democracy wherever we are.
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