Reshma: How a Simple WhatsApp Message Helped Build an Interfaith Bridge!

It came straight out from the blue! The other day, I received a WhatsApp message from the wife of a former colleague, whom I had last seen more than a quarter of a century ago!

Sheela (name changed) had managed to get my number from another former colleague of mine. Sheela’s husband, Jolly (name changed), was turning 60 and their daughters wanted to give him a surprise. They planned to stitch together video clips with greetings on the occasion from some of Jolly’s old friends and colleagues. Sheela wanted me to be part of the surprise and so had contacted me, requesting me to send her a short video message for Jolly.

Now, that was such a lovely surprise! Imagine hearing from someone after such a long time!
How nice of Sheela to have remembered me after all those many years!

Jolly, who had been my supervisor in the company where I had once worked, was a super gentleman. He trusted me and gave me the freedom to take important decisions. As I thought about him, my mind travelled back to a time a little more than a quarter a century ago. The world was a really different place then in many ways. At that time, another person and I were the only Muslims in our office, the others being from other faith backgrounds. At least in our office, no one discussed religion or passed remarks about this or that religious community. Islam and Muslims were not the at-the-top-of-the-mind topics they now seem to be for many. I recalled how I was never made to feel I was different on account of my religious background. I reflected on the affection, care and acceptance I had received from many of my colleagues, including Jolly.

But how different things seem today, less than three decades later! How pervasive heated debates about religion and religious identities, especially ‘Islam’ and ‘Muslims’, have now become!

On receiving Sheela’s message, my monkey mind began to work overtime. What might Sheela be thinking of me, someone with an obviously Muslim name, I wondered. She must have seen the photograph of a shrine that looks distinctly ‘Islamic’ that is hosted on my WhatsApp display picture. How did she react to it? How did she really feel about me, with my Muslim religious background?

But I need not have worried at all. Of course Sheela knew I was a Muslim, and yet she had reached out to me, considering me not as someone belonging to this or that religious community but, rather, as a person who mattered enough to be contacted more than a quarter a century since we had last met. I recognised Sheela’s abundant affection. It was Divine grace that had brought us back in contact. I was moved by her unconditional acceptance of me.

Often, our own fears about what others might think or feel about us cripple the onward journey of our life. We need to let go of such fears. The monkey mind imagines all sorts of things that may not be true at all. We need to discipline it and let our hearts rule over our minds when we need to. That’s something this little incident taught me.

I am grateful to Sheela for the lesson she taught me in the art of unconditional acceptance of others as fellow human beings, no matter what their religious background or identity. And I hope my little video clip with birthday greetings for Jolly becomes my little contribution for today towards building an interfaith bridge!