What's YOUR religion?

What’s YOUR religion?

The central character of my short stories Reena, the professional, is a married woman now. She is in her mid thirties and finally decided to get a man in her life all for herself. And that lucky man is Aman (yes the same Aman you met in Inside Out), who has by now quit his job only to become a successful entrepreneur. He is into garment business, mainly exporting to other countries. So their story continues here.

Yes, theirs is an inter-state and inter-religion marriage (Reena is a Hindu & Aman is a Muslim). Aman is from Delhi and Reena from Chennai and she first met him when he came to Chennai to work with an MNC. It was love at first sight for Aman, and love at many many sights for Reena. But the fact is that the love bug bit both of them, and both are now settled in Delhi as his business is based out of there. He wooed her for many years, like a true lover, and his persistence and perseverance finally won Reena’s heart and she accepted him as her life partner fighting against all the odds. He doesn’t want her to work anymore and Reena also thinks she should take a break from work.

Aman was a funny man who had an amazing sense of humor and it will not be wrong if I say the ONLY thing he took seriously in his life was Reena. He, being the funny man himself, usually calls Reena just ‘Ree’ but when he is slightly upset with her (that happens very rarely) it becomes just ‘Na’.

Aman’s entry in her life was starting to change her life 360 degree. She was now a home maker having quit her job after marriage. And she was learning to loosen up and to see humor in those small little things that would upset her very much otherwise. They were friends first and then a couple. And their life was full of love, friendship, tiffs, passion, possession, and the entire gamut of emotions that a human being can feel in life.

One day Reena told him- “you wooed me for many years only to CAGE me like this??.. I was happily single… but look at me now...I am still leading a ‘single’ life because you don’t have time for me… I quit my job for you..only till marriage I was your priority, after that I became the least priority for you.. or so it seems..”. She went on to rant.

“Ree, why do you make things complicated.. I am busy.. I work so hard…and its all for you.. Why don’t you understand. You know what’s your problem? Your problem is you think too much. Don’t think too much”.

“Yes, I understand..that …ONLY I have to understand” , said Reena disappointedly.

Aman knew she was upset. He cracked an instant joke to cheer her up.

“Acha Ree, tell me, why is it called Mother Tongue and not Father Tongue?

“I don’t know’, Reena said carelessly looking away.

“It is because father seldom gets to speak.. hahahaha”.

Reena looked at him with a smile which soon became a loud laugh.. “hahaha… good one” – she said.

Aman looked relieved. “Humor is the only medicine for Ree’s rantings and ramblings”, he said to himself.

Every time Reena rants, Aman tries the dose of humor to calm her down. He always won in his effort.

Time flew, that too very fast, amidst all the chaos around them, all the unrest in the world, all the tiffs within them and all the deep love between them.

And a couple of years after their marriage there was an addition to their family – a cute boy child. Reena and Aman named him ‘Human’.

Everyone – both families, relatives, friends- all of them wondered at this choice of name for their boy, some laughed and some other scorned. But Reena and Aman were unfazed by the amazement and amusement of the society. They wanted to set an example, they wanted to send out a message loud and clear.

Human grew up and now old enough to be put in a school. They applied for his admission in a posh school and got a call for interview from the school. Reena and Aman went to the school for interview on the scheduled date. The panel skimmed through the application form submitted for Human and the principal looked at Aman and Reena.
He asked – “your child has an interesting name! Why did you name him Human? And why is the column of religion left as blank? ”

Aman and Reena looked at each other, and Aman said with a smile –
“Because he is born as a Human being to a Muslim father and a Hindu mother. Ours was a love marriage and we had to face a lot of oppositions from all quarters because of our religions because of which we could not go ahead with our decisions for a longest time. But ours, being the true love it is, found a way and we united finally to be with each other till death do us part”.

He continued – “my wife and I are progressive people and we do not completely agree to the standards and norms set by the society. Say for eg: we would not force our child to become a doctor or engineer when he grows up. We would rather find out his field of interest and encourage him to pursue something his heart is in, and we will just let him be himself. We, as parents, will only try and instill good thoughts, good behavior and good values in him to become a beautiful human being on the inside as well as outside”.

He paused for a moment and continued -
“Or say for another eg: naming a child in accordance with their parents’ religion. But, in our case, we are both from different religions. And we respect all religions. We believe in that Supreme Power above that controls the heaven and earth and everything between it. And we would not want our child to become a Hindu or Muslim. We just want him to become a good Human being. Our constant endeavor would be to make him one”.

“As for the column of religion – well, can we write HUMANITY as his religion?” – Aman queried.

The Principal’s face told he was impressed with their thoughts and their gumption to follow their belief unperturbed by the world and its vagaries.