AFVOA Newsletter 03 of 2020

Section 5 - Memoirs CV 2 No. 03 / 2020 Page 73 of 167 3 My Definition of Secularism Mrs Merlyn Franklin Genre: Reflections n a country like ours the word “Secularism “is thrown around like confetti. To know the correct meaning of the word, you can either google or look up the dictionary. This article brings out my definition of Secularism. While growing up in a cosmopolitan city, we hardly knew our roots, we did not know our caste or creed. Yes, we were Christians. But we had Hindu and Muslim friends and no one was curious or inquisitive to know details about the other person’s caste, creed, or religion. The only thing that mattered was whether they were good to us. And if they were good to us, we reciprocated their goodness. My mom learnt to make the best biryani from our Muslim neighbours, and in the same way she also learnt some fabulous south Indian dishes from her Hindu friend. As a child, life was just black and white, where people were concerned. They were either good or bad. The grey stuff was when some people were sometimes good and sometimes bad. But for me the true meaning of secularism was seen in the Army. My husband belonged to a regiment that had mixed troops, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh. All living together in remote areas fighting for one single cause, ‘The safety of this country.’ It was the 18th of August, the unit was in Dharamshala, HP, and it was my son’s first birthday. We were keen to seek God’s blessing for him. There was a beautiful church close by called The Church of theWilderness, but we decided to take him to The MMGC (Mandir, Masjid, Gurudwara, Church) in our unit. It's one big hall for all to worship. The Malwi, the Pandit and the Granthi are soldiers from the unit. Since there were only two Christian officers, there was no need for a I