Being Indian. Being Human.
I hardly write or discuss anything on religion or politics. I have either remained aloof or quit groups that discuss them. I am not scared to express my views. I simply abhor the two subjects! I grew up in a village surrounded by all kinds of people, from all religious and caste divides. I have also been advised to stay away from certain sections of the neighbours, not because they belonged to a particular sect, but they were dirty. Some of them toiled in the mushy farmlands while others worked hard in the rich households in the neighbourhood. If their hands and feet were dirty, it was because they worked hard to earn their daily bread. I gladly disobeyed the family dictate and happily indulged in friendship with the kids of my age and ate the sumptuous, simple meals which their families eagerly fed me, whenever we were tired. Today, I have to pay through my nose to eat the Cuppa and Fish curry , the staple diet of those families, which they lavishly spread ...