The entire country has declared a public holiday today out of nowhere, all for the celebration of the pran pratishtha of the newly inaugurated Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, even though there is no proof that such a man who was given the destiny of Lord Ram even called that particular tract of land his, and Father is still in the hospital, because a doctor only finishes his work when a patient has healed, no matter what day it is, looking after the stitches on the leg of his patient, a Muslim man who was attacked by machete and almost lost his life to a mob.
Jai Shree Ram.
Patients greet him saying Jai Shree Ram. The television is on and every channel is portraying the historic inauguration of the temple in Ayodhya. The doctors talk about it in between patients in the break room or as they are exiting and entering the lift. They cannot stop praising this government for letting Hindus have this temple and not compromising on which community the land belongs to. Father cannot stop thinking about it either.
He is Muslim, and fears that someone out of nowhere will stab him the moment they find out.
Luckily Father is a respected doctor. He has lived in his country this entire life. He is Indian and proudly so. The other doctors and nurses are used to him and don’t disturb him. Because he wears his patriotism on his sleeve when most of his patients find out his surname they see how fondly he praises Modi and they bob their heads at him fondly at every word he says.
Of course whether they are giving the approval to Father himself or his sentiments, he cannot tell. He feels their approval and accepts it for what it is and goes about his work because that is what he is at the hospital to do.
He is still trying to understand his feelings about Modi. Certainly under Modi’s watch the city of Indore has become one of the cleanest in the country. The roads have a lot less potholes. Trash is properly disposed of. There are a lot more footpaths alongside the shopping complexes and stores. Indore has improved so much and the country is improving so much and all of this makes him so happy, given Father loves India and wants to see it become a first class country someday, with modern infrastructure and amenities and services.
But then he looks out those roads and there are saffron flags hoisted everywhere, imprinted with the likeness of either Hanuman or Lord Ram, and he cannot help but feel afraid. He is not a Hindu. He is aware of the times decades ago when mobs came to Muslim parts of town and forced everyone to take off their chaddis and show whether they were circumcised or not, and if they had no foreskin they were hacked up into pieces as if they were buffalo.
Father examines the wound of his patient. The patience winces at his touch and whimpers as if a hot iron has been pressed on it. The stitches have been well done. It will heal up in some months. Father thinks about prescribing the patient some pain medication and giving him some helpful tips for how to manage with a wound and then sending him off on his way to billing.
Their eyes meet while Father is in the midst of his thoughts. The patient gives Father the warmest of smiles. It is completely innocent, almost bereft of any hidden meaning or agenda. He is smiling with his eyes and showing the full kindness inside of his heart and communicating all the pleasure he feels just to be in the company of Father.
Father wonders how such a tame and sweet-hearted person could have been attacked for no reason at all.
Jai Shree Ram, Jai Hind. The two slogans are becoming intertwined. Father doesn’t know if Jai Hind means what it is meant to mean. He wants the best for India, but he feels that everyone around him believes that is what is best for India is for everyone to think the same way and worship the same way and be the same way, and anyone who doesn’t agree has to be violently ejected and rejected. And there is nothing Father can do to control it. He can only smile at everyone and be kind enough and show that he belongs, because the moment he opens his mouth and says something a bit more critical, there is the chance that he could be punished, in the same way that his patient was.
There was once a pluralist and multi-cultural India in which Father was given prasad on Hindu holidays and Father gave Muslim sweets to his coworkers on Eid, and Father worries it is dying slowly and surely, each and every day, right in front of his eyes.
Do not agree with this observation. India is plural because of its majority population. India may not be perfect and it applies to its people too. But, it is the best country when it comes to respecting all cultures and religion with equal opportunity, more than even USA.