Homeland after Eighteen Years - A 48 hour Travelogue

K L Chowdhury
25 26
Homeland after Eighteen Years
He is on a high,
almost intoxicated with joy
for showing me around,
in his own car
(his father died a pauper
and left nothing behind
except a fair name and good will).
“Do you watch TV?”
he asks me suddenly,
Not really, I reply,
except for a few channels –
BBC, Animal Planet and Discovery.
“What about Peace Channel?
It is quite enlightening,
Dr. Zakir’s discussions, especially,” says he.
“I heard that name somewhere,” I reply.
“A great exponent of religions,
he traces them all to Abraham,
whom the Jews acknowledge
and the Muslims, and the Christians too.
Jews and Muslims and Christians
are children of Abraham, he says,
and, so are the Hindus, he believes.”
“Yes, we are children of the same God,” I reply.
“The word Brahma
is a Hindu derivation from Abraham.
Don’t you agree?” asks he.
I just smile
for I wonder if he would accept
that Brahma is a great concept,
that Brahma has been there much before
any of the religions he named,
that Brahma and Creation go together
Yet, was it not gratifying -
a Muslim youngster wanting to strike
a common thread between religions?
After a dizzying drive
a thousand feet up from the base
we come to a halt at the top of the hill,
and I ask Rauf to stay behind
sparing him the long flight of stairs
to the temple.
Even as I read on a notice board,
‘No cameras allowed beyond this point,’
from a strange impulse,
I ask the sentry on duty
to let me carry the camera with me.
But, my argument fails to convince
for he has orders to carry out,
he tells me almost apologetically.