Navin Mishra

Navin Mishra taught us science and English. But his greatest obsession in life was bashing Hindus and Hinduism. According to him, the Hindu Puranas and religious texts were blatant lies and Hinduism was the worst religion on earth. We couldn't understand why he hated the Hindus so much. We couldn't understand why the headteacher was so disappointed with his religion. Once a boy said to him, "Sir don't you think Lord Rama really existed? The remains of the bridge Lord Rama built to reach Sri Lanka are still found." 

Mr Mishra told him, "Were you present at the time Rama was building the bridge?" Mr Mishra always encouraged us to be scientifically motivated and not religiously. Mr Mishra had two children, a boy and a girl. The boy was Sanatan and the girl was Vaisali. They also studied with us. Both were good students. They told us how their father disapproved of pujas, prayers and festivals. However, Mr Mishra was an active social worker and was engaged in a number of welfare activities. 

When Mr Mishra had joined the school, his wife was a student there. Mr Mishra was tall and handsome. He had cultivated closeness with the Class 10 girl Rupa and they had married.

Mr Mishra had formed a literary society and he excelled in composing poems. He was very much respected as a poet. But the elderly people disliked his attitude to the gods and goddesses. 

Mr Navin Mishra was standing in the local bazaar taking his tea in the morning. Two men were going somewhere. They stopped and screamed: "Hey Rizwan....!" They came up to Mr Mishra and embraced him.

Mr Mishra abused them strongly."Who are you? I don't know you at all. Calling me Rizwan!"

"Are you not Rizwan Ali?"

A large number of people gathered and wanted to know what had happened. 

It came to light that Rizwan Ali had changed his name to marry a charming Hindu girl. He had his first wife in Calcutta but he had divorced her and had come to Odisha to work. Rizwan Ali was arrested on the charge that he had not told his wife that he  had changed his name from Rizwan Ali to Navin Mishra. Now I realise that love jihad existed even four decades ago.