Quest for God

My religious identity has been a subject of inquest on the roads of Cairo. One of the worst things that I have faced in Cairo is the constant barrage of questions about my religious beliefs….

Yesterday while coming to my home, I boarded a taxi and was questioned about my religion… from my experience I had realized that it is easier to pass oneself as a Christian than as a Hindu or Buddhist or any other non-Abrahamic religion (In case of Judaism, you face worst degree of animosity, so don’t even try it).

So naturally I told the taxi driver that I was a Christian (a Masihi). The Taxi driver smirked and asked me if I know Isa-Ibn-Mariam (Jesus, the son of Mary)… I replied that off course I know him. And then came a shock, he asked me almost mockingly, "Hel Isa Allah, sahih!!!! (Is Jesus really a God)"… There was a certain degree of condescend in that question… I felt bad, even though I was not a Christian. The world is becoming a worse place to live.

It set me thinking about my religious identity… and if it is necessary to think about it… I am born Hindu… though I never believed in the dogmas… I once toyed the idea of becoming a Buddhist and in fact if one goes by strict sense of customs, took a Diksha (initiation into Buddhism) in the Khardang monastery in Keylong. Of course that did not make me a Buddhist… for I believe an adoption of religion is not about calling oneself a follower of religious regulations but following of religious values. I had a brief yet intense relationship with a Roman Catholic girl… and during my adolescence I was infatuated with a Muslim girl. I regularly go to Church, Dargahs, and Gurudwara (I feel Bangla Sahab Gurudwara in Central Delhi as one of the most serene religious spots)… so my religious identity is so obfuscated that all I can say is that I am a born Hindu.

Back in India, I never felt the need to express my religion… nobody asked me and I asked nobody about religion. In fact, everybody flashes his or her own identity in full glare of public… proving that India is one of the most vibrantly functioning secularism. One look at a person and you will realize that he is a Hindu, Muslim, Christian or a Sikh. My best friend is a Muslim, married to a Hindu girl. A very good Christian friend of mine was married to a Hindu boy.

But when I came to Egypt… things changed. I was asked about my religion almost on a daily basis. People don’t know what is Hinduism…. Some branded me as a Jew, because I was not a Muslim and not a Christian. Some branded me as a non-believer… Some, who knew about Hinduism, laughed at my religion and asked me who my Rab (my God) is … some went ahead and asked me why I worship a cow, a mountain or fire. All my theories of polymorphic monotheism and Hinduism being a spiritualistic religion that allows individuals to reach God without rejection of their beliefs- were either incommunicable or incomprehensible.

I realized one thing for sure… that my world view and the world view of people I meet are poles apart… and more I will try to explain, more will I fail. I stopped trying.

I started masquerading myself as a Christian… calling myself as a Christian had an immediate effect… people started looking my beliefs with some respect. The condescend was gone. I met a few people who said that it does not matter as to what I believe in, until I have a pure heart. And some who told me how Islam is a more refined and better than Christianity, inviting me to join Islam.

Till yesterday when even that myth was broken.

We sure are living in intolerant times… I don’t blame anybody, look at west as to how do they stereotype Muslims as terrorist… The bad aspect is that some 200 years we were all living in more peaceful climes… in India, Muslims and Hindus co-existed… in Levant, we had a thriving Christian community.

I hope this is a transient phase…