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Only people like Bebi aunty can stop this divide, teaching us the true essence of being Indian.
At a time when politicians belonging to different parties are busy trying to draw a line of demarcation between Hindus and Muslims, I know a mother, who is the embodiment of affection and love, with a beautiful, large heart, (that can shelter anyone, without any distinction of caste, creed and religion). She has the ability to laugh at the ugly faces of politicians of our country, who ironically determine our collective fate.
This, I guess, might appear to you like an exaggerated statement, perhaps being made by a son for his mother. I guess it’s natural for you to feel that way, considering the presence of such mothers is significantly rare in the current Indian society. The game “Hindu – Muslim” has perhaps compelled mothers to treat ‘sons’ with distinction. This attitude of mothers gives rise to hatred for each other, so much so that it ultimately ends up providing sustenance to the popular “Hindu – Muslim” game, which keeps getting consolidated further.
She is the mother of one of our classmates. On being invited by her to a ‘chai party’ at her house, we agreed right away. To be honest, I was a bit nervous initially as usual. I remember, during my school days, mothers of my friends were terribly reluctant to even touch me, for that could leave them ‘impure’. This is an ugly form of untouchability. I have experienced it multiple times. These scars are still fresh in my mind, for being treated like that leads to an inferiority complex. Anyone who has witnessed it closely would certainly be able to understand this better than those who have not experienced it at all.
But after reaching Bebi Aunty’s home, my fear was gone in no time. Bebi aunty welcomed us with such warmth, that it felt like she had known us for a decade. Her benign, pure smile melted away my insecurities.
We (most of us were Muslims) sat on the bed. Puffed rice with sweets and hot tea came in. We talked a lot, laughed a lot. The sound of the laughter and chit – chat filled the room with warmth, true affection, love and belief.
People like Bebi aunty are the need of the hour in these very crucial current times. The whole nation is being polarised on the basis of religion. Only people like Bebi aunty can stop this divide, teaching us the true essence of being Indian.
Image source: Unsplash
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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