''An Easter that never arrived.. #LahoreDiaries.''
For Rahim and Carl, studying in class 4, it was a holiday on 25th March.
It was Friday for Rahim. Good Friday for Carl.
And as their parents had asked them to do, they prayed.
And so they prayed, in different languages, adopting different postures, but the crux of the prayer remained the same- For peace and sanity in a chaotic 'world'.
By the way, the definition of this big word, 'world' for them was small and simple- it was just a place from school to church/mosque then to Gulshan e Iqbal park in the evening, back to home and sleep till they were awakened by the calls of Azaan to repeat the same sequence the next day and next and next...
For their 8 year old brains, the prayer only meant a ritual, a ritual that would be followed by their favourite
sweet dish if it was Friday for Rahim and if it was a 'Good' one for Carl.
That evening, on a Friday that was 'good', they stormed out of their homes and went to play at the same place- Gulshan e Iqbal park.
Rahim was taller than Carl but Carl was more muscular.
Carl often used to annoy Rahim by saying his muscular strength was only because of the pork which his family secretly purchased and served him.
Rahim was in no mood to enjoy this joke. Not on Friday. Not after his prayers where he was advised by some elders, that Muslims consider pork unholy.
Angered by the joke, Rahim asked Carl to compete him in a see-saw game. Apparently, Rahim thought there was much more to a see-saw match than just bulky muscles.
Carl jokingly said, ''I will just fling you up in stratosphere(a new word he had just learnt from his geography teacher but of which he had no definite idea!) if I sit on your opposite side of the see-saw assembly.!''
And just as he had foretold,
Carl lifted him up, up, up in the air until Rahim shouted, ''I quit'' much to Carl's glee who roared out loudly, ''I win!''
Another boy, possibly two years elder to Carl was watching all this from a distance and thought he would join in and have some fun too.
He approached them and said that he was the King as far as the game of see-saw was played and challenged them for a match.
Rahim quickly glanced upwards and saw the evening sky turning dark and told Carl it was time to go home. Carl, however was determined to take on this senior boy and wanted to establish his supremacy over the kingdom of see-saw(an innocent 8 year old really thought he would be the king of see saw matches if he beat this guy!).
''Your mom will get angry. It's Good Friday and you need to be home before sunset! Remember?'' Said Rahim.
''Oh yes. I do!'' Said Carl and whispered, ''But I need to beat this bully!''
Rahim said it could not happen that day. He had to leave homewards.
After much persuasion by Rahim, Carl gave up but not before fixing up the match with that guy on the day of Easter, on Sunday.
The Easter day.
Another hot afternoon in Lahore.
And as decided, Rahim and Carl went to the Gulshan e Iqbal park for what Carl proudly remarked was going to be, ''The greatest match of see saw ever in the history of mankind!''
It is 29 th March today. 2nd day after the noise of boom followed by screams of little children and young adults and a few old ones had spelled doom for the entire Lahore.
A day, Rahim's father, before Rahim and Carl went out to play, had in his trademark exaggerated fashion heralded the arrival of summer by saying, ''Soon the sun will be in all its fury and burn down our land!''
Little did he know, his summer would come early. As early as the evening.
And he would still shiver with fright and cold sweat on a warm evening of 27th March, 2016. There was something bad in the air. Something dark, smoky, something ugly that day.
Perhaps, it was just not a perfect weather to play ''the greatest match of see-saw'.
Carl's dad reflected in his moment of utter sadness,
The summer of 2016 will never come for Rahim and Carl.
Tomorrow will be the 3rd day after the gut wrenching Lahore suicide blasts, and Carl's mother will be hoping it's an Easter and pray for her son's resurrection, at least to see him sit on that now lonely see-saw assembly in the Gulshan e Iqbal park where she knows children and adults will still continue to gather, the next Easter and the next..
Rahim's father will carry on with his 'rituals' as usual, offer Namaz to Allah for restoring some sanity in the callous minds of those who also proclaimed to follow 'Islam'.
More than 80 people died in the suicide blasts in Lahore on 27th March. The suicide attacker was a guy my age! His organisation claimed that the attack was targeted towards Christians who had gathered to celebrate Easter in the Gulshan e Iqbal park in Lahore. Little did they know, there were people of all religions and all faiths but one-terrorism, who had gathered in the park.
#LahoreDiaries.
-Devashish Palkar
For Rahim and Carl, studying in class 4, it was a holiday on 25th March.
It was Friday for Rahim. Good Friday for Carl.
And as their parents had asked them to do, they prayed.
And so they prayed, in different languages, adopting different postures, but the crux of the prayer remained the same- For peace and sanity in a chaotic 'world'.
By the way, the definition of this big word, 'world' for them was small and simple- it was just a place from school to church/mosque then to Gulshan e Iqbal park in the evening, back to home and sleep till they were awakened by the calls of Azaan to repeat the same sequence the next day and next and next...
For their 8 year old brains, the prayer only meant a ritual, a ritual that would be followed by their favourite
sweet dish if it was Friday for Rahim and if it was a 'Good' one for Carl.
That evening, on a Friday that was 'good', they stormed out of their homes and went to play at the same place- Gulshan e Iqbal park.
Rahim was taller than Carl but Carl was more muscular.
Carl often used to annoy Rahim by saying his muscular strength was only because of the pork which his family secretly purchased and served him.
Rahim was in no mood to enjoy this joke. Not on Friday. Not after his prayers where he was advised by some elders, that Muslims consider pork unholy.
Angered by the joke, Rahim asked Carl to compete him in a see-saw game. Apparently, Rahim thought there was much more to a see-saw match than just bulky muscles.
Carl jokingly said, ''I will just fling you up in stratosphere(a new word he had just learnt from his geography teacher but of which he had no definite idea!) if I sit on your opposite side of the see-saw assembly.!''
And just as he had foretold,
Carl lifted him up, up, up in the air until Rahim shouted, ''I quit'' much to Carl's glee who roared out loudly, ''I win!''
Another boy, possibly two years elder to Carl was watching all this from a distance and thought he would join in and have some fun too.
He approached them and said that he was the King as far as the game of see-saw was played and challenged them for a match.
Rahim quickly glanced upwards and saw the evening sky turning dark and told Carl it was time to go home. Carl, however was determined to take on this senior boy and wanted to establish his supremacy over the kingdom of see-saw(an innocent 8 year old really thought he would be the king of see saw matches if he beat this guy!).
''Your mom will get angry. It's Good Friday and you need to be home before sunset! Remember?'' Said Rahim.
''Oh yes. I do!'' Said Carl and whispered, ''But I need to beat this bully!''
Rahim said it could not happen that day. He had to leave homewards.
After much persuasion by Rahim, Carl gave up but not before fixing up the match with that guy on the day of Easter, on Sunday.
The Easter day.
Another hot afternoon in Lahore.
And as decided, Rahim and Carl went to the Gulshan e Iqbal park for what Carl proudly remarked was going to be, ''The greatest match of see saw ever in the history of mankind!''
It is 29 th March today. 2nd day after the noise of boom followed by screams of little children and young adults and a few old ones had spelled doom for the entire Lahore.
A day, Rahim's father, before Rahim and Carl went out to play, had in his trademark exaggerated fashion heralded the arrival of summer by saying, ''Soon the sun will be in all its fury and burn down our land!''
Little did he know, his summer would come early. As early as the evening.
And he would still shiver with fright and cold sweat on a warm evening of 27th March, 2016. There was something bad in the air. Something dark, smoky, something ugly that day.
Perhaps, it was just not a perfect weather to play ''the greatest match of see-saw'.
Carl's dad reflected in his moment of utter sadness,
The summer of 2016 will never come for Rahim and Carl.
Tomorrow will be the 3rd day after the gut wrenching Lahore suicide blasts, and Carl's mother will be hoping it's an Easter and pray for her son's resurrection, at least to see him sit on that now lonely see-saw assembly in the Gulshan e Iqbal park where she knows children and adults will still continue to gather, the next Easter and the next..
Rahim's father will carry on with his 'rituals' as usual, offer Namaz to Allah for restoring some sanity in the callous minds of those who also proclaimed to follow 'Islam'.
More than 80 people died in the suicide blasts in Lahore on 27th March. The suicide attacker was a guy my age! His organisation claimed that the attack was targeted towards Christians who had gathered to celebrate Easter in the Gulshan e Iqbal park in Lahore. Little did they know, there were people of all religions and all faiths but one-terrorism, who had gathered in the park.
#LahoreDiaries.
-Devashish Palkar
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