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When I was a kid, India to me meant waking up to a Masjid's Azan, smiling at the early temple worshippers as I passed them by, and fearlessly praying a Christian prayer in my school. Back then, India for me meant marveling at the architecture of every place of worship with no malice. It meant reading legends of Ram, Krishna, Guru Gobind, Jesus and the prophets with equal awe and excitement. In fact, it didn't feel weird reading Mahabharata for three continuous library classes because I LIKED the story. Back then, it didn't even feel weird to ask my fellow schoolmates about their religion.
One night, I remember seeing tears in my mum's eyes as she left her friend's group after they shared some vile messages. I remember feeling that I would never have to go through such heartbreak for my friends will forever keep their heads above religion, cultures, and beliefs. Now, as a seventeen-year-old (yes, not even eighteen, not even 'mature', but then which one of us are?), I feel those thoughts to be nothing but "MITHYA."
As I grew this very society took my heart and dissolved it in the murky acid of politics and hate until all that remained my identity was my religion. Not Country, but religion.
https://www.wattpad.com/story/215334155