FORGONE DAYS

During my schooldays there were these friends of mine who fought for my lunch box...At times I didn’t even get to taste the dishes my mom made...Often it was grabbed by my mischievous set of friends...if its omelette in it..easy for them to tear.....chicken means easier to choose the best piece...And if its beef..then they make sure they clean every corner of the box and return it on time...

It was the best jovial time for us when guys from our class go for shabarimala pilgrimage...We eagerly waited for them to come back..Not because we yearn to see them soon...It’s the love for that “aravana paaayasam” (temple offering)..That tempting sweet dish. That they bring for us make them our favourite...

And celebrations were another exciting times...when we draw the plan of the party: it’s from “classic decorations, dj party to dinner”    ...While when the day comes, due to short of money we often ends up hanging two- three balloons...and many at times our teachers were against that too as they thought we would dirty the walls, sharing the very limited snacks brought by other classmates ...mix a bit of mango flavoured powder with water and sugar and serve that tasteless drinks among ourselves ...the very playful ones would bring the speakers and music sets and invite the rest to dance....that was all with the celebrations..

And during these times I guess our class did not consist of students from one religion..They were all different on religion background...those mischievous guys who often grabbed my lunch box and finish the whole of chicken  ,beef, eggs in it were not Hindus ,Muslims or Christians.. in fact they were my friends...and when we eagerly waited for the temple offerings ...”we” means the rest of my class..I remember students with a cross across their neck and the ones with the Muslim scarves put on.. were all snatching that  temple dish...

In my class..we had no religion...may be religion was just an identity for those innocent minds...now that this cruel world has separated us ...now that when even my lunchbox is under scan...thanks to a ban...I want to go..Rush back to that class ...where I have my naughty ones who kept me cheery all days along with their cutest junior love stories....whenever a new movie got released I could  see my pals in novel hero styles....advises from the teachers for pairing up couples in the classes ....and when teachers called these pairs to counsel in person and say “one vital matter is that  your love is out of your caste ,secondly you are in school ,and that does not  permit you to be in love ”the second statement were expected but then we never knew as we grew up that anything ‘out of religion or caste ‘ is soooo  forbidden...we never knew religion was to separate people then...

And now that we are matured and are well aware to distinguish between  right and wrong....we know that school crushes didn’t have any dirty side as teachers said...school instants are cute to be remembered but the matter that’s still confusing is whether religion is what’s ruling us...I lost my class as I grew up.......And the culprit who took it away is religion.....But the main question lingers in my mind..... Is not religion accidental ? .... is it not the one we are born into mostly.... If we would have been switched in our wombs we would have different faiths but perhaps that need not take place, since now it’s not faith that matters but number of the members.