There’s too many historical references, that could tell you why harmony is the only way forward to a better nation. I am not here to explain or give relatable evidences to them. Today, as I write this piece sitting on my couch, occasionally switching tabs of social medias, every other hour, I see news clippings, which tell me that something is just not right. My conscience, it’s been restless these few days.

I remember, when I used to be a kid, a decade ago. We had to wake up at 5:30 AM in the morning for school. It started at 6 am. The time I woke up, there was a nearby mosque and the Azaan used to be the first thing I would hear, by the time we left, The Gayatri Mantra would be played in the nearby temple and we all just kept talking about how the Pokemon episode was of the previous day. We used to study at a convent school, and It is common to have Jesus Christ, Mother Mary, Mother Teresa as pictures, statues, as references (as our teachers were christians). We did sometimes mock them though, not because of their religion, but because we were mischievous, we always found it hard not to, just like we mocked almost everyone else.

By the end of the day, we’d have seen and blessed by 3 different religions, Sikhism was not practised very widely at my place, but when I moved to another city, It became one of the beautiful parts of my day. The halwa at the end of the day in gurudwara is something you’d definitely love about Sikh Religion. Every Ramadan, I used to be excited not because I was practising Islam, but the fact that my locality suddenly was filled with lachhas, and dip that in milk and you’d not taste a dessert tasting more delicious than that. There were many instances of me being a part of uncles breaking their fast, and man there’d be a lot of food, and I used to be excited.

Come Durga puja, Diwali, Chhath Puja,Holi, we all used to gather and have the tasty delicacies our mothers would cook, festivals for us was more about eating good food, having a good time, and just fooling around with friends, and a lot of them.

In all these years, I never thought that one day, the flags that flew high looking harmless, would become a symbol of fear, and I’m talking both sides. It’s sad that we instead of enjoying the diversification that India offers, food, culture, people we’re bringing all of it down, just because someone told us, that we should.

I miss my country, the one which was filled with love, passion and brotherhood for each other. I’ll be holding on to my memories above, those are what makes me proud to be an Indian. The India of now, the one with hatred filled inside everyone’s head, is not something I am proud of. I love my country, and all of its people, and I miss it.