Shared humanity - a Muslim Hindu story witnessed by an atheist

Originally posted on 9th July 2015:

"Jai Ramji Ki."

"Jai Ramji ki. Aur kaise ho?", asked the Mother Dairy milk booth concessionaire. Even as he was busy tending to customers, delivering tokens, milk packets and returning loose change, I could notice a smile come up on his face.

"Badhiya hain. Zara 3 token de dijiye. Thodi jaldi main hoon."

Even as I was bleary eyed around 6 in the morning today, this brief exchange between two people in my neighbourhood, surprised me, amused me and lit a spark of energy inside my weary body.

One may wonder, what's so special about it? An ordinary day to day conversation between a customer and a Mother Dairy milk booth concessionaire in Delhi. So what's special?

All the more so when the greeting appeared so natural and seamless for the greeter.

Well, figure out for yourself.

I bought my tokens and joined in the conversation.

"Aur bhaijaan, sehri ho gayi?"

"Haan, sehri ho gayi.", he said with a smile lighting up on his face.

"Aur aapke Abbajaan theek hain?"

"Haan, papa to theek hain par mummy ki tabiyat theek nahi rehti. Teen chaar saal ho gaye hain unko. Diabetes aur Thyroid ki problem rahti hai. Achha main chalta hoon. Zara jaldi mey hoon. Baad mey miltey hain."

As the slim, tall, gentle, soft spoken Mr. Iqbal Zafar left the Mother Dairy booth, I happened to remember what Nelson Mandela once said - "If you talk to people in a language they understand, your message would go to their head. But if you talk to people in their language, your message would go to their heart."

Clearly, Bhaijaan (as everybody in Pocket 2 calls Iqbal Zafarji) seemed to know what the 'Hindu' concessionaire of the milk booth would relate to and know more than a salaam or an Assalamaleikum.

And he had no qualms wishing him "Jai Ramji ki" in the morning without worrying about what people would think.

It's been 12 1/2 years since I moved into this neighbourhood and Bhaijaan and his Abbajaan have been a quiet highlight in the Pocket 2 Central market here. He's my go to person for all courier and minor stationary needs.

We can choose to focus on differences as much as we can choose to focus on similarities.

And as I have always experienced, despite natural and socially constructed and imposed artificial differences between people, we all have more or less shared commons - commonalities of needs, aspirations, fears, desires, insecurities, illnesses, family concerns, knowledge and basic human courtesy and decency.

As Jim Carey said last year. we can choose to operate out of love or out of fear.

In that moment today, an ordinary man chose to focus on the common humanity even through a different form of greeting.

Wishing the other person so didn't seem to make Bhaijaan any less muslim.

Not at least in his own estimation irrespective of what insecure, myopic religious leaders on either or for that matter, any side of the religious divide would deliberately choose to decide out of their fears borne out of false superiority, exclusivity or righteousness.

That's why it appeared so natural when he wished as he seemed to wish out of greater wisdom and love and not necessarily any false superiority or righteousness.

Am sure when such souls go to their graves, they would not just be quiet but might lay down there content as well.