Christmas prayers in Urdu!

A church which celebrated Christmas where the prayers are in Urdu? Yes, this is indeed secularism at its best – the Central Baptist Church at Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi, the oldest church in North India is actually referred to as the “Urdu Church”. Constructed during the Mughal era, this church conducts prayers in Hindi, English and Urdu. And the best part – on Christmas night, the Church had called  qawwals from Meerut.

This Church is bang in the middle of Chandni Chowk, close to Jama Masjid. So during Christmas time, while one can hear the azaans from the mosque, it is also interspersed with Christmas carols. Yes, there are also many temples in this area, so one can also hear bells in the midst of the prayers.

At a time when religious discriminations are at a high, where even an innocuous comment is blown out of proportion, this inter mingling of prayers and religious sounds, sounds almost unbelievable. Today, in most of India, people live almost in ghettos – each religion living in an area where they have a majority. This melting pot, which had existed a few hundreds of years ago, which was taken to be a natural way of life, is today something to feel wonderful about. God save India from religious zealots and evil politicians. We may not have learnt ther good things from the British but surely, divide and rule is here to stay.