Friday, October 4, 2013

Good People: Chapter 1: Path Breaking Novel and Love Story with a Difference


Chapter 1

The placement building of Indian School of Science, Engineering and Technology (ISSET) was buzzing with activities and excitement. It was the day of nerds among the student community of the college. The top-notch companies would pick up some of the most precious and genius of them at astronomical salaries. It was rumored that the last heard highest salary offered to one graduate engineering student was close to equivalent of $100,000 per annum. That was thought to be a great salary for a fresher in India by any imagination.

ISSET was famous for attracting the best students, the best professors and the best recruiters. And ISSET really did it.

Over 500,000 students took the entrance test every year for admissions to ISSET. It was one of the toughest entrance test administered by any institute in India. The cream of the cream of the country competed. But finally ISSET admitted only 600 odd students for its 5 engineering branches. Thus the ratio of the number of students applied for admission to ISSET to those who got finally selected was 833:1. In short entry into ISSET was a tough proposition.

Professors of ISSET constituted the top academicians. In their heydays several business organizations attempted to lure them by offering unheard of salaries and perquisites but their love for teaching and research was so enormous they preferred to hang on to ISSET.

The recruiters who visited ISSET were the most sought after companies who headhunted the best talent at the lowest cost of recruitment. Campus recruitment at ISSET met this objective of such companies in the best way. While every other institute used to beg such companies to visit their campuses and select the students, ISSET dictated the terms over these companies. The recruiting companies had to meet certain minimum criteria to qualify to make it to the ISSET campus. And the criteria to qualify as the zero-day recruiter (i.e. companies who were called on the first day of the recruitment session in the campus) was the toughest.

Good companies always tried their best to be the zero-day recruiters at ISSET campus. Their stock went up.

‘Advanced Tech Systems’ qualified as the zero-day recruiter. They called very selected students for the interview, the cut-off GPA being 3.5. Very few students of the college could meet this criterion.

Shaan with 3.8 GPA, the highest GPA secured by any student in the current year, was presently in the interview room.

‘Advanced Tech Systems’ was one of the most reputed companies of India. Matching its reputation was Shaan, the brightest student. He was seated in front of its selection team. The interview team of the company consisted of its two technical managers and its human resource manager.

The interview progressed. When it was more than half way through and the interview team was beginning to get highly impressed by Shaan’s replies, the human resource manager saw something peculiar in Shaan’s application form. He pointed it out to his two colleagues. Then they got into a private conference. It appeared as if they decided to pause the technical part of the interview because human resource manager took over.

He returned the application form to Shaan. He commented, “You haven’t filled up the form fully. ‘Your Religion’ column has been left blank by you.”

Shaan replied, “I do not know my religion. My early childhood was nurtured in an orphanage that was run by a Hindu. Later a couple adopted me. My mother is a Christian and my father is a Muslim (Moslem). I do not know the religions of the persons who actually gave birth to me. The in-charge of the orphanage guesses that my parents might have been Hindus. I don’t know what is his basis to say so. But on the certificate he gave to my legal parents he wrote my religion as Hindu. All you know my biological parents could have been Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist or Sikh or some others. Now, you tell me my religion.”

The HR manager got interested in this unique situation of Shaan. “How have you done so far without any religion? Didn’t your parents choose one of their religions for you? I am sure they must have decided one of their religions for you for all the official purposes. That is needed everywhere.”

“It has been quite a tough job for them. So sometimes I was a Christian and other times I was a Muslim. Despite their many efforts to sort out their own conflicts on the matter they could not decide for me. And the certificate from the orphanage indicated me as a Hindu and they wouldn’t accept it either. But I did quite well despite all of this confusion. I ate as good as a Hindu or Muslim or a Sikh or a Christian or a Buddhist or any other. I slept quite like anyone of them. I read and sing as good as anyone of them do.”

HR manager gave a smile and asked, “Whom did you worship?”

“I used to worship numerous Hindu Gods while at the orphanage because everyone in the orphanage did. Then after my adoption, I prayed Allah in the company of my father and Jesus Christ in the company of my mother. So all the gods of the world must be either pleased with me or possibly they may be having conflicts among themselves on my account. And they must be as confused as I had been till late.”

“You mean to say that some clarity emerged lately? Then which religion you have embraced finally?”

“None. I realized that I could do as well without any religion tagged to me. I feel liberated. I experience freedom all the time. I need not have to perform any or many of the unnecessary and unwanted rituals prescribed by various religions. I can eat all kinds of things that are human food and which I like without any restrictions or guilt. I can wear all sorts of clothes that please me and do not offend others. I can use all kinds of salutations to greet the people. I can walk into all the religious places on the earth and admire the beauty of those places equally well without any partiality. And I do not miss them either or do not feel guilty of not visiting them for days, months and years together. Yet, I can still speak truth. I can still be kind towards all the people. I respect everyone including myself. I still do not steal and I am not corrupt. I do not possess any intention of grabbing other’s property or wife. I still do not think of waging a war or killing anyone. I do not think or do badly for anyone in any way. So don’t you think I am fine without any religion?”

HR manager looked puzzled. After thinking for a while he said, “Well, I don’t know. I can’t think of any person without a religion. And I am afraid we cannot accept your application form without filling up this mandatory column of religion. Our computer just wouldn’t process it. I am extremely sorry. Please write either your father’s religion or that of your mother’s. Or you can as well write your religion as Hindu since you have that kind of certificate from the orphanage. Then it will be OK.”

Shaan spoke, “After enjoying the liberation that I have been experiencing lately without getting into the maze of all kinds of religions, I do not wish to get stuck with one just for sake of a job in a company. I appreciate your compulsions that you are bound by your company policies. It’s all right with me.”

“Please do not misunderstand us. We are not compelling you in any way. It’s just that we wanted our records to be complete. For now you can go. The interview is over. We will inform you our decision after interviewing other candidates. Thanks for showing your interest in our company.”

Shaan thanked them, shook hands with the three interviewers and came out. He wore a broad smile on his face particularly while re-reading the “Advanced” part of the name of the company from the interview letter in his file.

Later that day he came to know that ‘Advanced Tech Systems’ bypassed him to select other students with lower GPA but with other considerations.

This was not the only time Shaan had to go through this kind of experience. Even later on, in every job interview in the campus or at employer company’s office, he faced the same. But he did not get annoyed. He understood the predicament of the people of this world well. They could not fathom anyone without an affiliation to some organized religion. They also could not easily accept the background of Shaan- first an orphan and later adopted by a Muslim father and a Christian mother. Quite a checkered stuff. And so if they found a candidate who was more regular type and they invariably found one, they would prefer him to Shaan.

Any way, Shaan had already decided to breathe the air of freedom and decided to remain a pure human being without being further classified and sub-classified by religion, caste, sub-caste and sub-sub-caste. Yusuf and Alice- Shaan’s legal parents- had recently conferred with him on this delicate matter and they had allowed him to choose the religion of his choice. That’s when he decided.

One evening after the dinner, Shaan’s mother Alice and father Yusuf called him to their bedroom.

Alice said, “Shaan, while it’s quite late already, we do not wish to make it worse. We need to give you a religion. Your dad and I were very scared to discuss this issue between us for fear of getting into a serious conflict and losing each other and in turn you. In bringing you up, we could not decide on many issues. While marrying each other and in adopting you we had no problems but later we had serious differences of opinions regarding some rituals. Should you be ‘circumcised’ like a Muslim or ‘baptized’ like a Christian or like a Hindu should you be administered through ‘yagyopavit’ or ‘upnayan’? Then there was the question of what you should eat or not eat- each religion has some restrictions and some permission. Which ways you should pray and should you pray Allah or Jesus Christ? We argued a lot and finally gave up keeping the matter pending for decision at a later date. We went on postponing decisions on such matters and also your affiliation to any religion.”

She further added, “So we pretended that everything was going on fine. But now you are on the threshold of launching your adult life and many things would depend on this decision. So we took certain decision for you. I will request your dad to tell you our decision.”

Then Alice turned to Yusuf and requested, “Yusuf, I want you to tell our decision to Shaan.”

Shaan’s father spoke, “Shaan, when we brought you home from the orphanage, we got a certificate saying that you are a Hindu. Orphanage in-charge by way of his previous experiences deduced this. Many times the mother or the father or both or any other guardian who left their children in that orphanage incognito later claimed their child and at that time the orphanage in-charge used to come to know that they were all Hindus. As if people knew that that orphanage was meant for Hindus. Now it is somewhat difficult to accept such a reasoning or argument, yet what the orphanage in-charge told made some sense to your mother and me. Therefore we want you to adopt Hindu religion for your future life.”

Shaan went near his parents and held their palms in his own. He was quite overwhelmed. He gathered courage to speak out, “Mom and dad, you are very good people. You are extraordinary. I am very lucky to have you as my parents.  You brought me up so well that I never missed anything in my life. Least of all a religion. Religion thing is so insignificant for me because of your upbringing. Did it ever bother you that I was a Hindu? Or did it bother you that mom is a Christian? And did it bother mom that you are a Muslim? You showed me all along that we all can live together in harmony if we live together just like good human beings. That counts the most.”

Shaan’s father spoke again, “But Shaan, you will need a religion. People are going to be curious about it in your future life more and more. Your would-be wife will like to know. Your employers may be interested in it. If you happen to contest for any public post in future, the public will like to vote for a person of their faith. It is just about pragmatic to ally with a religion. Therefore your mother and I urge you to embrace Hinduism.”

Shaan replied, “Dad, you and mom are excellent people. You are so very broadminded; I haven’t yet come across people like you. I am sure that you will be willing to give me the freedom to decide in the matter.”

“Yes. You have total freedom in the matter,” Shaan’s mother confirmed.

“I have thought a lot about this thing myself. I have read a lot of related literature and also observed the people around me. I am abreast of what the people of the world are doing with the religious divide. While no religion prescribes it but in reality religions are becoming the excuses for the human beings to fall apart from each other rather than they uniting them. It even results in the extreme behaviors of hatred, bloodshed and wars.”

Shaan paused and then continued, “Also If I stick to just one religion, despite my being liberal with many aspects of life I am likely to subconsciously or consciously imbibe its inherent inadvertent narrowness conflicting with the broader essence of humanity. Or there is a threat of other people of my accepted religion expecting the practice of that narrowness from me. Under the circumstance I do not wish to get branded with any one religion though I have no contempt for the people who follow any particular religion, as it is their human right. I just wish to be a good human being. Please give me your blessings.”

Shaan’s parents’ eyes welled up with tears- the tears of pride for their son. They squeezed Shaan’s palms and nodded in agreement. They took him in their embrace for a long time.

Thus Shaan decided not to attach himself to any organized religion. Soon he defined a guiding principle for his life.

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Stories
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