Ever since I moved from SPJIMR, I have not had a decent haircut. I like this slope on the back which is short and neat. The barbers in my area dont have a clue about it. Some have come close but even a 50 buck "Hazel" haircut did not meet my expectations.
So as evident from where I am coming from, I went back to the same barber near my college in Mumbai. Light of Asia. Manned and operated by a muslim family. Situated next to the mosque, you can say it is pretty much a muslim "dominated" area. For me dominated means that in the event of riots who emerges less brutalized. Anyway, I had gone to this salon with happy memories of college and in hope of a good trim.
The man (owner) seemed to recognise me vaguely until I introduced myself as a former student. It did not really matter but he was very pleasant anyway.
I told him the kind of cut I desired and he started on with his craft. Very artistic, polite and delicate in his movements. I do not know how it started, what was the seed that initiated the conversation which followed for the next 1 hour over a haircut..
I asked him if he knew the price of a flat next door. ( Some swanky place where flats are available for 70-80 lacs a piece)....He was genuinely astonished by the price and commented that if men were wiser they would group together and erect a building for themselves in the collective capital. Logical yes but feasible no....I guess this was how co-operatives came up in mumbai...anyways...
We spoke at length and then the topic veered towards religion. Here was a devout muslim who even used to read the Aazan in the adjoining mosque. His view was very simple. There is one and only one way to reach God. It is either Hindu, Christianity, Muslim or any other religion. But there is exactly one religion. There cannot be multiple paths. Only one path is the true one and the others are a quagmire. He was not saying his religion is the right one but there can only be one religion. I on the other hand believe that religion or no religion God can be reached. There was bashing of idol worshippers where as I supported idol worshipping. A lot was discussed.
One of the questions I raised was "Why has God sent us to earth?" Prompt came the reply, to worship Him. My response - so basically He has sent us here to praise Him and laud Him. If this is what was all that we were to do, then why didnt we stay where we came from and praise Him from there? Why would God choose to have people follow Him? Does He have a point to prove to the Devil? Anyway......This and many other things were spoken and debated.
I didnt oppose him vehemently on every point ( not advisble to argue with a man having both your neck and a razor blade in his hands). The reason why I thought a lot about this conversation was because I had assumed he had knowledge of his religion and I believe that all religions preach peace and advocate tolerance towards other religions. This I hope forms the basis of all religions....It didnt seem so at the Light of Asia......I am also not too sure what does Kaballah preach....
The poor man had a terrible head ache coz of the high involvement talk we had. He infact had to lie down after giving me the haircut....Well, at least I have something to write about.
3 comments:
Welcome back to the blogsphere, head intact, albeit short a few hairs. Hmm, much like myself!!
I commend the barber. It's not common for people set in their ways to tolerate countering points of view.
The questions you ask are, well, rather premptively answered by Islamic theology. Humans, and the rest of creation, is only to glorify God. No other larger purpose. Islam literally means to serve.
However, I think it unfair to apply "Modern" or "Western" derieved notions to a belief system that was born in a very different time and place. Such abstract questions were considered more important by some cultures, less by others. One is not necessarily intellectually superior to another, for that alone.
For that matter, most Hindus today would be horrified by beliefs and customs dating back just a few generations. Hindus have a terribly convinient sense of collective amnesia for naughty things, and a rather deluded sense of history mixed with vainglory.
Let's face it: we all do it. Orthodox muslims are no exception.
Hmm. must admit there is not much specific information I have about my religion. I see religion as a set of (rather flexible) beliefs and values. Doing the right thing rather than following the laid path.
There is a lot which we choose to conveniently forget about religion. Accepting only a part of the truth.Anyway....
not advisble to argue with a man having both your neck and a razor blade in his hands - totally agree.
Nice dude...
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