All Roads Lead To God

Saturdays With Shivani

When asked about my religion, I have never had an easy answer. My equation with God is an ever evolving one. I have looked up to the supreme power, submitted to it and relied on it, building my belief as I grew up. If I were to declare my relationship status with God, it would read— It’s complicated.

When I entered parenthood, I wasn’t sure what I shall tell my daughter about religion and God so like with most things that flummox me, I decided to make the road as I walked. Thirteen and a half years later, I am holding her hand and still doing that. We struggle, we stumble, we fall, we help each other back on our feet and move ahead as best as we can.

There are phases when she questions the very existence of God and would rather believe in herself than anyone else. In these moments, I prefer to step back and let her navigate her own path because I strongly believe that our relationship with God is totally personal and she should be calling the shots in hers.

Born in a Hindu family, we do celebrate the landmark festivals but the rituals are low key. We don’t visit temples or bow in front of deities. She hasn’t read Mahabharata or Ramayana, any scriptures and not even Hindu mythology. She will do it if and when she desires to; that is what her father and I feel.

Many may not agree to this approach and we are quite okay with that. I have grown up in the backdrop of partition stories, witnessed Babri Masjid demolition, watched in horror as cities burnt and bombs blasted; all in the name of religion. These were front page headlines during my time. Now people baying for each other’s blood and mob lynching has been reduced to news tickers that flash and disappear from public psyche as followers of all religions try to outdo each other. Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s astute observation in Madhushala— mandir masjid ladvate hain; rings truer than ever (temples and mosques make us fight).

Religion was probably envisaged as an alamanac to guide us but over centuries, it has become a tool to manipulate us. While the manipulators become powerful, we are left to choke in hatred. If religion invokes such strong emotions and invites nothing but destruction of humanity, I am quite alright with my daughter’s ignorance on the subject. She does have a strong conscience, something that we have worked very hard on and that is the moral radar we hope she will rely on, in the murky waters of religion.

Why is it so hard for the hardliners to believe that whichever road their religion may show, the destination is essentially the same. There was a famous dialogue in the movie, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na where a bumbling pastor (played beautifully by Naseerudin Shah) would often say— Idhar ja rahe ho yah udhar ja rahe ho … kidhar bhi ja rahe ho … sab raasta God ke paas jata hai (Whether you are going here or whether you are going there … wherever you are going … all roads lead to God). That in the fewest of words is what our daughter needs to know— all roads lead to God.

–Dr. Shivani Salil