On a train to Modi's State

A big saffron 'tika/Tilak" on the forehead and maybe the saffron coloured cloth slung over the shoulders- looking at that makes me recoil, recoil in displeasure, dislike and more importantly "FEAR". These images have stayed from the Gujarat riots, and the old images from Babri Masjid demolition. Now whenever i see a saffron flag posted somewhere in some troubled area, a feeling of premonition and an adrenalin rush.
Today with the terrorists running amok, creating pandemonium and fear, I fear of the future these saffron clad men will take us to. With states like Orrisa and Karnataka already burning and many states recovering and learning to live with the ashes, I wait with a heavy heart to see what is next. The voice of “moderates” are so often unheard so here I am trying to add to these voices knowing its only a drop in the ocean, but then again drops makes up an ocean.

I ‘ve met people who were so anti Muslim that I managed to dismiss them as ill guided humans and guilty of the process of socialization, that they havn’t sent the world. One such person, infact there were other too but one person struck me the most, I met him on a train journey to Gujarat. It was a long journey and traveling alone I was doing wht I presumed was the safest bet for a girl traveling alone, i.e. be uncommunicative, and if needed talk only to the women….lol…
Anyway by the end of the 16th hours of the journey 8 of which I had slept I was bored and was finding it more and more difficult to ignore the conversations buzzing around me. They we all residents of UP and conversations changed from Mayawati, business, Raj Thackrey and god-know-wht-all and then finally they landed on Islam and Muslims. Wht generalization was on and nothing in the positive mind u….i knew it wasn’t a good idea me getting into an argument as I had another 20 hours of train journey to spend with them, but then hw long can u hold on? Wht happened after tht was 2 hours of wht my cousin so often calls “ SOLID” argument. He said I was out of tune with reality while I said the same about him. He said he himself has had instances of some people talking about wanting to set up a Pakistan in India and other things about them always being loyal to Pakistan. Even though I don’t deny that there can be certain section, I believe, very strongly that this section is a miniscule part, something they aren’t willing to give. They infact believe that the people I know form a small majority and even admitted that they had met such person themselves too. Despite all this they stood by there stand and at the end all we agreed to was - ‘agree to disagree’. Why was he different from the others? He was a Doctor, an educated man, with quite liberal views on other issues. And now tht I think about him I recall other “educated” persons nd one tht stickes to my mind is some1 who has studies from two of the best Institutes of our country, but tht’s another story………