Religious diversities and Haleem

As i tweeted before.. Am not an atheist, am not agnostic either. Am just trying find out or rather confirm the existence of god. I wish he/she/it existed, so i could simply turn towards him/her/it in my times of trouble, and rest in peace with the belief that my problem would get solved, in finite time. And the biggest challenge on the mission being am not even sure what to look for and where to look for my answers. Nothing divine ever happened to me, but it happened to others. Atleast they said so, and i want to believe them.

Well the main theme of this post is not to rant about the tangibility of anything divine, but the faith on it and the way people celebrate the same. That's called religion. There was this talk on Ted which differentiated being religious and being spiritual. Being religious is just about the faith that his/her god exists, said that, when you start following rules and regulations of the same and make it at par with a profession, strictly, that's when you become spiritual.

I went to this place some weeks back it was 30th Aug (or 29th), the 2nd last day of ramzan. Haleem was on the mind and it didn't matter how many seas we needed to cross for relishing the orgasmic delicacy. I like calling it the non-veg payasam. Shiwajinagar was the place to be and Russel Market was the destination to reach. Yeah you get many such places in Bangalore with names suggesting it to be the poshest places of the world, but they disappoint you big time once you reach the place. So this is quite a shabby place with all kinds of people walking from everywhere to everywhere, mostly financially not so gifted ones like me and also financially so not gifted ones like others. This is that kind of place where the women carry the kids as if they are carrying an old piece of luggage and never ever try to stop them from crying no matter how much they wail. The men don't care either for their women or the kids. You see hawkers spread all over the place in lungis sometimes flaunting rupa inner-wears and sometimes just local ready-made boxers. The thing about these kinds of places are that no matter whatever you buy, you cannot bargain. Not because they are costly and the prices are fixed, but because the prices are cheap, falls so below your expectations, that you don't feel like bargaining. The concept gets more intensified in a city like Bangalore. The city of gardens (malls).

The place is more or less a muslim area but has a church called St. Mary Basilica. Religious places don't really attract me but people do, rather their faith does. As they say you mostly get attracted to things that you don't posses. Something was being celebrated here. There was a group of fathers and popes praying in front of a huge photo of Mother Mary. Atop a perch which was a part of the church (that rhymed). I could see people looking up in utter devotion in their eyes. Somebody was crying. Not crying like that kid i mentioned before, but she had tears in her eyes. Uhh oh wait a minute there are more people who are crying. Hey no.. In fact everybody was crying. Now i am interested. I had this urge to cry too, or atleast take a photo of the mass tragedy but it felt very unholy. Taking a photo exactly when you are crying ! Bad manners no. Well i didnt have the heart to ask anyone the reason but later i did find out that it was a part of a nine day 'Novena' being carried out where you pray and mourn the death of your loved ones and which is followed by a grand feast. Also this is an event where people feel blessed and believes that all their wishes come true (in finite time I guess). People wore mostly orange robes, must be some kind of dress code. Well all that apart what drove me was the huge presence and the connection that one could feel between each other towards a singular cause.

Okay lets move on. Some more distance and you are already in russel market. Aah the smell of destiny.. I mean the smell of chicken, mutton and beef, the fumes, the stalls, the mild commotion. Haleem awaits. So people cant really eat before its the proper time for Iftar, its the first fast breaking meal after sunset. It was pretty amusing to see the timing of iftar being the prime issue of importance among the whole community. Even i got asked a few times is it the time for iftar yet. Ofcourse, you fast for the whole day and make delicious chicken delicacies in the evening, without eating it ?? I would be left just short of a nervous breakdown. No wonder everybody wore on their faces a visible sign of spirit and hope. The hope that the time will come and the spirit that they will have something to eat. Together. Yes you see the whole celebration mood between connected souls in a place full of vivid colors with fun and the joy. Well finally its iftar. Suddenly wherever you see you see people eating. Restaurants don't have people to serve you because they are busy eating too :D some stall owners even distributed pieces of kabab and other munchies for free. Well when you get things for free, you don't miss it.. Here goes. 2 kababs gulps down the system. Well this lasted not very long because it was time for namaz and the vast crowd suddenly vanishes empty. Even that lasted not very long because namaz was over in 15 minutes and the place is suddenly all crowded back in place. Tell you it was pretty awesome and funny to see that.

Well delicious haleem was had and it was quite an eventful experience to walk through two diverse religious communities in such proximity in one day. Diverse religions have many bad side effects, but it has good effects too. It unites people, brings them closer, spreads love. The best thing about having different religion in our country is that every religion has their own celebrations and functions, and since these celebrations don't prevent people from other communities from joining the fun, it automatically adds up to more celebrations and get-togethers throughout the year. So even if you don't have anything to celebrate in your religion, go join somebody else's fun :P sorry i forgot to take a snap of the haleem, being a bong you don't really remember anything else when you are eating delicious stuff.