By :Rinku Khumukcham
Way back in late 2006, I happened to share a room with a
Christian convert Assamese in a Guwahati lodge. He was a stranger to me and me
to him but I don’t know what made both of us trusted to one another to share in
a same hotel room which charged rupees 300 per night. Of course both of us
managed to save rupees 150 each by staying in the same room with two beds. The
lodge did have single bedded room but it charged rupees 250 for staying one
night. As we both had limited budget so we finally decided to stay in the
double bedded room. After all it was for a night stay only. The following day was
setting off for my destination at Shillong to give my final third year degree
examination.
I never use to have good memories, and my biggest problem is
remembering someone’s name. Even, number that I save in my mobile hand set were
often confused creating embarrassment for my friend who talks from the other
end. That is why I hardly remember his name but I still remember that he was a
Christian convert from Upper Assam and he was in Guwahati for attending a religious
related function.
A medium size handbag containing a towel, soap, tooth brush
and some books was all I carried. I didn’t suspect the fellow I share room would
took it away while I fall asleep. But still then I kept my bag under my pillow
on the pretext that the pillow was little low for me. The stranger seems to understand
my apprehension. Surprisingly, he showed no suspicion on what I had been
thinking.
Before we went to sleep, we started a small talk as
everybody does being shared in the same room. He told me he was in Guwahati to
attend a workshop for Christian people. I can not exactly remember the theme of
the workshop. He then said Christianity had changed his life. That Assamese
person seems to be a typical one. I could easily sense his hatred feeling about
the ugly side of the Indian class or caste system which had put his particular
community into a low profile family. He told me that Christianity had changed
his life. Above that he had been treated with no differences or discrimination
of being born in a low caste family.
Every story he narrated me in that one night had implanted
an admiration for Christian religion. I had done my schooling at different
Christian missionary schools like MBC Chingmmeirong, St. Goerge and later at
St. Anthony College, Shillong for my higher studies. During those days, I had
never given a damn on the teaching and authenticity of Christian religion. But
a night – when that stranger talk to me about his life as a Christian I was
really moved. Move in a way that even today I sometime felt that there is no
wrong in choosing the religion which is being accepted by almost half the
people of the world.
But till today I am not a Christian, I follow the religion
that my late father, grandfather, great grandfather and great great grandfather
use to follow.
Somehow I felt that stranger in the hotel room did tried to
motivate me of converting to Christianity. All that he told me was perfectly
truth. There was not a single point left on me to argue to any of the matters
he had put up. However, after careful listening to his though provoking lecture
I finally made up my mind that I should at least put up some objection to
pretend that I was not really moved by his lecture.
I said – you talk about the dirty face of the religion that
had kept you deprived from participating in the societal occasion. But is it
right to run away instead of making a change just because there are wrongs in
what had been going on? Is not that your duty to protect the religion,
tradition and culture of your own people whom you belong to instead of choosing
some other alien religion and culture for the sake of survival? I also said that I felt more respectable than
you as I still choose to live a life as hindu at which my ancestors has been
following from time memorials. I thought these few argument would silence him.
But the real debate began from these few questions I put up.
To my embarrassment he asked me, “Are you a hindu?” You are
a meitei from Manipur and meiteis were not hindu they were compelled to convert
into Hinduism. What make it difference between you and me. I choose Christian
and You choose Hindu, he added.
At that moment of time I left with no other choice but to
say.. “it is getting late, I have to get up early, good night.”
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