The harsh and roaring debate surrounding the so-called ‘controversial’ advertisement by Tanishq Jewellers has left us all shook.
The fact that the advertisement had to be rolled back by the brand because it was blamed for promoting ‘love jihad’ and portraying a supposedly untrue picture of a Hindu-Muslim relationship in Indian society is sad.
A 44-second ad which divided the nation
One look at the advertisement after all this unnecessary drama will make any sane mind wonder, “What did I miss here?”
However, restoring our faith in love and unity is a couple who preaches nothing but mutual respect and oneness from their home named “हम”. Here’s their heartwarming story which was shared on the official social media handle of Humans Of Bombay:
A Hindu-Muslim love story to remember
Image Credit: Instagram/Humans Of Bombay
“I saw her for the first time before Dussehra–we were neighbours. I was away at boarding school, so we never met. In 1976, I came back to Raipur. I remember she was wearing red that day. For 2 years, we’d catch glimpses of each other. But even that felt like a crime because she’s Muslim & I’m Hindu.
Finally, she wrote me a letter–she called me by my pet name ‘Chunnu’ & told me she likes me. For 3 years, we wrote hundreds of letters. I couldn’t live without her–whenever she was out of town, I’d wait for her & sit in one place for hours!”
Getting caught wasn’t easy but standing by each other was key
“When we finally met for the first time for a movie, we took our friends along. We kept meeting after that. But once her brother saw us and she got fired at home.
So I requested her parents to not shout at her–they just asked me to leave. My parents’ reaction wasn’t good either. By then, I’d set up my business and was renting 2 flats for work–I had some savings.”
And then they eloped
Image Credit: Instagram/Humans Of Bombay
“I told her I wanted to marry her. We spoke to our parents; they’d known each other for years, still, religion came in the way. Our fathers met and decided–‘Dono ko samjha lenge’. We had no choice but to elope.
On our wedding day, she left for college normally. From there, we went to Arya Samaj, got married and left for Nagpur. We’d written letters to our parents–our friends gave it to them after we reached Nagpur.
We returned and moved into one of the flats I’d rented for work. Her father came to meet me and said, ‘Take care of her.’ My parents came once too. Still, relatives taunted us–my uncle even said he’d get me married again. Even when we found out she was pregnant 2 months later, people said we got married because she was already pregnant.”
The beautiful reason why their home is named “हम”
Image Credit: Instagram/Humans Of Bombay
“We ignored everything, but when our daughter was born, we decided to leave Raipur. We wanted to live peacefully. We moved from city to city and finally settled in Goa–by then, we were a family of 4!
Through our 44 years together, religion has never ever come up–we celebrate all festivals at home; puja and namaz alike. I’m vegetarian but everyone else eats meat. We respect each other’s beliefs. That’s why we decided to name our home ‘हम’–H for Hindu and M for Muslim. Because there’s no space for religion in ‘हम’–there’s just love…there’s just us.”
Now, this is a story we can all learn from.
Lead Image Credits: Instagram/Humans Of Bombay
