Today late in the evening when stepping out for dinner, I entered a lift which was already occupied by an elderly man in his early 60s, wearing the traditional Indian kurta pyjama, a cap on his head, sporting a white beard that matched the colour of his hair. Reflexly I greeted ‘Assalaam Alaikum’ . I expected him to reply back ‘Walaikum Assalaam’. He didn’t . I felt offended this time, wondering what is wrong with the Muslims here ? As this was not the first time I have had this kind of response from strangers here. Yeah of course, I forgot to mention, I didn’t know this man. He was a stranger to me. All that I recognised from his get up, was that he was a Muslim.

I have had similar kind of responses from all strangers that I have greeted so far : men/women, young/old. Strangers I don’t know, strangers I don’t recognise, but strangers whom I relate to in terms of identity. A few days after I landed in Mumbai, I had hailed a cab to go to South Mumbai and while sitting in the cab,I had noticed the driver was a Muslim. An old man, and I reflexly greeted ‘Assalaam Alaikum’. I supposed he didn’t reply , probably because he hadn’t heard me. A couple of days later, I met two Muslim ladies, waiting for the lift and I greeted them too. As usual, no response. They didn’t even acknowledge, neither by a nod nor by any gesture ! It was if they hadn’t heard me ! And this has happened quite often, enough to now bother me.

I find this very odd. I have spent many long years in Saudi Arabia and on this occasion I have come here after five years. Of course a lot of things have changed here. Even the way people dress and the way they talk, their behaviour and their attitudes, everything. And I am not talking here about my friends or relatives. Mumbai has changed and it’s people have changed too.

I unintentionaly start drawing comparisons between Saudi Arabia and Mumbai, though I love Mumbai very much and this city is my birth place. I grew up here. Studied here. Got married here. I feel there is no place on Earth like Mumbai. Mumbai has a life of it’s own. A different life. It is not just the commercial hub of India, it is the place where Bollywood makes dreams and sells them to the rest of India and even exports those dreams abroad. India beats to the heart beats of Mumbai.

It’s about culture I suppose. Some cultural practices arise out of religious practices. In Saudi Arabia, where Islam is the prominent religion and it’s laws are based on Sharia, Islam is a way of life there. Islamic practices are, what are followed by the majority, hence most of it’s cultural practices are derived out of the religious practices. The habit of greeting each other by Salaam has become a reflex action. Whether the person is known to one or not, he/she is greeted by the Islamic greeting ‘Assalaam Alaikum’. It is recommended by the Hadith for two Muslims to greet each other by Salaam, even if they have been separated by a minute and met each other again after a few steps. This greeting is a part of the identity of Muslims, irrespective of where they stay. But now I believe this practice is observed only in some parts of the world.

When I mentioned this to the girl ,who was with me in the lift at that time, she said that this is the norm here. Here they don’t greet strangers. And even if they do, the usual response is of distrust.They look at you as if you need something from them. And she added further, that she herself would perhaps greet a Muslim woman, a young man out of question, but would never greet an aged man either, because she wouldn’t trust him.He would probably start getting some ideas, she said.

And I realised, how much lack of trust and inability to trust has pervaded the society. A greeting may perhaps be a way to initiate a conversation. Which could perhaps later on lead to other things, either a relation or a transaction or perhaps even nothing. But can’t we greet each other without expecting anything else other than simply a simple reply to the greeting ? Should any interaction necessarily have a motive behind it ? Why all this distrust ? After all, ‘Assalaam Alaikum’ only means ‘Peace unto you’

I have had a habit of blindly trusting people only to be let down miserably and now I know all cannot be trusted. Yet I haven’t given up on humanity. I haven’t given up on trust.I still do believe not all are same. Not all can be trusted and similarly not all should be distrusted. Life has taught me to be now cautious, but not afraid of people. Why don’t we treat each one as a different person than the other ? Why don’t we take them on face value ? I am not advocating throwing all caution to the wind. But really, why don’t we give them a chance to show what they really are ? Every one deserves a time , a moment to prove what stuff he is made of. If they fail you, it is their loss. Feel sorry for them, but don’t give up on humanity as a whole.