From Synagogue to Church to Temple

A three-headed Shiva, carved out of a mountain in the Elephanta Caves, a one-hour ferry ride from Mumbai.

Behind the counter, there was a shelf in the hole-in-the-wall cybercafé we found. I noticed it as I handed my passport to a clerk in order to confirm my identity and therefore gain access to the precious resource of connectivity.  Upon the simple wood ledge was a bronze cross with Jesus hanging limply off of it and next to that, Shiva, a Hindu god.  I was fascinated. 

The rest of Mumbai is no different.  Today we toured the south end of Mumbai with Nathaniel, a Jew with the dark skin and facial features of a purebred Indian.  He took us to two synagogues, both painted a beautiful baby blue with white edging, inside and out.  We gazed in wonder at the brightly lit space, benches circling a lifted stage from which prayers from the Torah would be read, as the air whirled around us from fans that hung from a high, cathedral-like ceiling.  Behind a light-blue silk curtain stitched with Hebrew letters, was the sacred ark.  One hundred rupees for one picture.  

One of the Jewish synagogues in Mumbai.

By a major road, a church sign in bold black letters proclaimed the lifting power of Jesus Christ.  Next to it, a small stone church stood, the rest of Mumbai clattering busily about it.  

Later in the tour, we entered a Jain temple, leaving our shoes by the door.  Stepping lightly, bare-footed, we entered the ringing, chanting area, the smell of incense wafting in the tropical air. Flowers were strewn by the feet of statues featuring images of wise sages and a few Jains were kneeling down, palms pressed tightly together, a small platform covered in rice grains shaped into miniature backwards swastikas before them.  A religion that focuses on the damning cycle of reincarnation, Jainism seeks for complete respect and humility towards all living things, including bacteria and
microbes.  They are strict vegetarians and moreover, refuse root vegetables such as onions, garlic and potatoes for fear of disturbing the smallest particles of life that exist underground.  That fly flicking the air with its wings nearby?  A Jain would be horrified if you even attempted to swat at it.  Apparently Barack Obama specifically visited the Jain temple that we walked into today. 

Similarly, our current president visited the Mumbai home of Mahatma Gandhi (who is called Gandhiji, or “respected Gandhi” by the Indians) not too long ago.  We stepped foot into the same place, the residence for ten years of a devoutly Hindu man who advocated for peace among all religions and peoples.

Gandhi alone may be the reason for the tremendous diversity and tolerance of religions that I have
come to find here.  His circle-rimmed eyes smile off of every rupee note.  The spirit and ideals of this man who lived for the eternal yet sought to bring equality to the present is such a bold contrast to the narrow-minded, violent extremists who have bombed Mumbai seven or eight times in the past ten years. 

Talking to Sukanya, a short, curly-haired third-year at St. Xavier’s, about terrorism in Mumbai, I was amazed at this statistic.  She also blatantly commented on how Mumbai went on with its daily routine the day after the most recent
attack (three crowded areas of the city were viciously bombed just a week before our trip). Rather than attributing it to resilience or bravery as many foreign newspapers had, Sukanya said that returning to normal quickly was done out of pure necessity—to stop work, even for a terrorist attack, would have placed the entire economy of the city out of whack. “We have become desensitized,” she admitted to me. “You can’t constantly worry. It’s impossible to live like that. After an attack, we call our loved ones to make sure they are safe and then go on with our lives. There is nothing
else we can do.”