BY ASHWIN GEDAM
VP-Global Marketing, Xpress Money
My childhood has been a potpourri of cultural experiences. It has helped immensely in shaping me as a person and my career as a marketing professional. I grew up in Fatima Nagar, near the Pune Cantonment area, which belonged to a neighbourhood convent, but was named after a popular Muslim lady. I grew up playing with kids from all strata of society, including the children of farmers from areas such as Gawli Mala and Ganji Vasti (so named because the men usually wore vests). While the farmers’ wives sold vegetables in the local markets, the women from Ganji Vasti typically worked as maids in the neighbouring apartments.
I studied in a school run by Christians, in an area surrounded by people belonging to different faiths. We had an equal number of students following Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Jainism. For the longest period of time in school, I sat between my friends, who followed Islam, Christianity and Jainism. We were a mixed bunch coming from different walks of life – children of rickshaw-drivers, dairy-owners, well-to-do timber merchants, police personnel and white-collar workers.
Every festival was celebrated with huge fanfare, both in school and in my neighbourhood. During the Ganesh festival, irrespective of our faith, everyone took turns to collect the vargani, a community fund, raised to celebrate the occasion. If Iqbal and Patrick collected the vargani from Ganji Vasti during Ganesh Chaturthi, some children from Gawli Mala fasted during Ramzan with their friends, even if it were for only a day. Similarly, during Christmas, all of us came together to sing carols. In school, we shared our lunch while sitting on the church steps and enacted the roles of Shivaji, Krishna or Jesus in the school plays with elán, without inhibitions of any kind.
Religion, caste and social status never bothered us. Each one of us was just a human being. We played and studied together, ate in harmony, went to each other’s homes and our moms were equally nice to all of us. We revelled in the innocence of childhood and loved every moment of it.
I am grateful to my parents for the childhood that I had – they taught me the values of humanity and not religion. And in some way, I will pass this on to my daughters. I will not raise them believing that their religion or their gender makes them superior or inferior to anyone. I will raise human beings who have faith and humanity - human beings who treat everyone else as equals. This is what I will do for my country. And I pray to God that there are many more like me.
Feedback: ashwin.gedam@xpressmoney.com
