August 17, 2012

• Stopped Dead In My Tracks

  In which I reminisce about one of my favorite stories by one of my favorite writers.

  A few days back, @doahsdeer wrote a post about writers that stop you dead in your with their mastery over the art of writing.  The post concluded with the questions – Which writers stop you dead in your tracks?  Why?

  The first set of answers that popped up in my head were Shibram Chakraborty, a Bengali writer and দেশ এর  মধ্যে নিরুদ্দেশ  (a title that loosely translates as “Lost in the Country”, and completely loses the witty wordplay it had in Bengali).  The story, I first read at the age of eight.  Much like Looney Tunes, it was as funny then as it is now.

  The story tells of a rather successful businessman who had broken his leg prior to when the story takes place.  During his stay in the hospital, he became an apprentice to a guru residing there.  Moved by the guru’s message, that all religions share a common message of tolerance, peace and love, a philosophy described as সর্বধর্মসমন্বয় (Sarva Dharma Samannaya, literally, a Gathering of All Religions), the businessman set out to make his guru’s dream a reality.

  The businessman sent his younger brother back to their home town to build this Sarva Dharma Samannaya.  The younger brother managed to set up a local organization to handle the construction.

  The process continued fairly smoothly, and reached completion without any incidents.  There was even some surplus money left over, which was used to set up a savings account with the local bank, with the interest being used for the purpose of maintenance.

  On the day of the grand opening, the businessman arrived to personally inaugurate the building, with photographer in tow to commemorate the occasion.  Only to find rows and rows of public toilets.  And a cost-effective vegetarian restaurant across the street.

  The businessman was livid with rage.  The project manager, however, explained that he had originally thought about building a temple there, only to realize that it would be visited exclusively by the local Hindu population.  Building a church, or a mosque posed the similar problems.  Building a church, a mosque and a temple right next to each other posed the threat of riots eventually breaking out over various religious practices interfering with various other religious practices.  So after much soul searching, the project manager came to a simple understanding.

  There are very few situations all religions universally not disagree on.  Where people from all religion come together under one roof and peacefully coexist–

  However, before the project manager could finish, the businessman ran to the nearest door he could find, and personally inaugurated the edifice.

  The first time I read the story, it blew my mind.  It was unlike anything I had ever read before  I didn’t even think people were allowed to write something like this.  I mean we were always being told how serious religion and God was, and here was a story literally and figuratively dragging it all into the crapper.

  Re-reading it as an adult, the realization hit, that it was some pretty direct commentary on the religions, primarily the Hindu-Muslim conflicts, in India at the time the story was written.  It works as a story because it’s a damn good story with a very interesting premise.  Morals aren’t shoehorned into it.  Readers aren’t force fed opinions.  But at the same time the man was being pretty direct about how he saw the religious conflicts raging around him.

  • 6:18 pm
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