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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