Two Harmless Incidents

One day two young boys sat side by side on a table in a roadside dhaba to have lunch. They didn’t know each other; nor did they wish to know each other. Both were grappling with their own problems. One of them had just fought with his girlfriend and was looking very miserable. The other had just finished his exam and it was a disaster; he had no idea what he will tell at his home. So they were lost in their thoughts, without even noticing each other.

Soon their chicken curry and rice was on the table and they digged in—someone just uttered stress eating. As they were eating, another person came and sat down. Now the table was quite congested and the two began to notice each other. Their hand began to touch each other. So, one of them removed his hand. The third person noticed this very carefully. So, as soon as this boy came out, he began scolding him—

“This is so obnoxious and communal. I mean how it matters that he is a Muslim and so you won’t even touch his hand. As soon as his hand touched yours, you removed yours. For God’s sake, we live in a secular, democratic country. We should be tolerant towards other religions. This is not the way to treat people of other religions…………….”

He went on and on, lecturing on secularism and communalism. At the end of all this, this boy could say only this much—

“I didn’t remove my hand because he was a Muslim. I didn’t even notice that. I just tried to make way for him.”

Some days later, the three of them found themselves on the same table in a similar situation. The boy recalled last time’s incident. So, he was adamant that he won’t repeat last time’s gesture. After all he had to prove his secular credentials. In fact he became over-enthusiastic. And so he began pushing the other boy’s hand. Consequently the other guy removed his hand this time. He seemed to be very happy with himself. After all he has proved that he is not a Muslim basher. He is truly a secular individual. But the third person was again furious and red with anger—

“You are such an insensitive communal beast. I had some inkling last time itself. But this time you have crossed all limits. What do you think is this table? Is it a battle ground to prove that you are the stronger, the majority and he is the weaker one? Shame on you!...........”

He again continued furiously.

Meanwhile the other boy, like the last time, was standing all stunned. But this time he couldn’t contain himself. He came to the other boy and said something about riots and the creators of riots. Soon they began beating this third guy.

In some time it was all finished forever. The third man had gone to the hospital to save his dear ‘secular’ life. And the problem was solved permanently, at least, for these two boys.