Judge the book

It was the sacred month of Shravan. Though I am a non vegetarian I tried to avoid eating non vegetarian meals during this sacred month. On some specific days (Tithi) and before and after them I make sure that I do not consume meat. On some of the days (Tithi) I fast as well. While not many people are aware of this I also do not openly talk about it.

Once it was one of the days when I was fasting. That day I had consumed only fruits and milk. While working I was approached by a friend Sagar (pseudonym). He had brought biscuits and he offered those to me. I told him that I would not consume them because I am fasting.

"Whoa. Really?" He asked me appearing surprised.

" Yes really," I responded in a close alignment with his question. I was completely unaware that it was going to be a heated discussion.

" I would have never imagine that you fast," he said to me while I had other friends sitting around me. All of them had been listening to this conversation.

"And why is that?" I asked him because why it was unusual for anyone to believe that I fast on certain days.

"Because you do not appear to be someone who would fast," Sagar responded and he was still treating this discussion casually. It felt more like he wanted to make fun of me.

"And why is that?" I wanted to get to the bottom of it before reacting. I wanted to understand his thoughts so that I could respond to him properly.

"Because you do not strike as a religious girl to me," he responded with a smirk on his face. I did not like that remark at all. I am a religious person and whenever someone says that I do not appear religious it definitely hurts my sentiments. Moreover it makes me annoyed. But still I continued with my string of questions.

"And why is that?" I repeated my question. I want keeping my voice down and the tone polite.

I saw that Sagar was getting more and more frustrated. "Because you do not dress up as if you are religious," he said with his growing frustration.

"What do you mean by dressing like being religious? Is there a specific dress code for that?" I was angry but still kept asking questions with a playful tone.

"Nobody would imagine that a girl in western attire would be religious," he was almost shouting now.

"And you know this because you read minds correct? Do you remember an idiom we learnt in the school 'don't judge the book by its cover'? You did exactly that. Now you are having a meltdown because I called out your behavior. Did you think you would get away with a nasty remark without consequences?" I confronted him. I too was angry and frustrated but I was able to keep my voice low.

Sagar now had nowhere to hide. People around me had witnessed the whole ordeal. I asked him to leave and hope that he learnt his lesson, "no one will stop you from expressing your thoughts. But if you make nasty remarks, be ready for the consequences. You are not a victim when you planted the attack".

He left and I felt that I was able to stand my ground bravely. I felt relieved because I did not take an insult on the face value but fought against it.