Coming from a middle-class family that “respects” all religions, 12-year-old Muslim girl Mariyam Asif Siddiqui has done her parents and the school — which incidentally named the Cosmopolitan High School — proud by winning the Gita Champions league. The written competition on the Bhagavad Gita was organised by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
Winning the prestigious Gita Champions league a contest in which as many 4,000 children participated is a big achievement for the Class VI student.
“Apart from chatting with my parents who are conversant with Hindu religion, I had gone through the study material provided by ISKCON for nearly a month before I appeared for the written examination held in January. What made things easier for me was the immense support I received from my parents and teachers who helped me understand the Gita in the simplest way,” Mariyam said.
The contest is a multiple choice question (MCQ)-based 100-mark written examination which poses questions on the Bhagavad Gita, a 700 verse Hindu scripture which forms a part of the epic Mahabharata.
“Our family believes in respecting all religions. After all, no religion preaches hatred. It is essential that we inculcate in our children the need to accept and respect all religions,” Mariyam’s father Siddiqui said.
A chip of the old block, Mariyam had over the years taken interest in knowing about other religions, besides Islam. “My parents have instilled in me that all religions are equal. But, humanity is ultimate religion. I had tried to learn as much as I could about
other religions, particularly Hinduism,” she added.
“When my schoolteacher told me that the Gita Champions league is open for children from all religions, I told myself why I should not take part in the contest. My parents were more than happy with my idea of participating in the contest. Winning or losing does not matter. I thought
that if I particpate in the contest, I would get to learn more about the Bhagavad Gita,” Marryam recalled.
“My win in the Gita contest has encouraged me to learn more about Hindu religion,” Marryam said, while adding that she would lose no opportunity to learn good things from all religions, including her own religion Islam.