So after the dreamlike journey to north, I was back in the hustle & bustle of metro life. Almost unwillingly, i resumed duties, as i opened my office mailbox that morning, i was greeted by loads of pending mails seeking attention of the concerned.
One mail almost stood out though, for the name of the sender of the mail was not Indian, it was a Malaysian name and the subject matter was almost spine chilling, it spelt out doomsday like prophecy, warning that Allah will not spare non believer and all. There were attachments of around 50 pages. Almost everything in the mail was in Urdu.
The first day, i ignored the mail, thinking it must be some kind of religious promotion mail. That evening when i switched on the television, i heard the news of bomb blasts in Pune. A thought cycle did started cropping up my mind, the mail in the morning started percolating in front of me. I decided to recover the mail and put up to the Director for his information. Ours being a government department in the heart of the city is always vulnerable to such threats.
As i reached the Office the another day, i opened the inbox, only to find similar mail once again, the same attachments, the same contents, i took the print outs of all the attachments and reached my Director’s chamber and briefed him about the mail we have been receiving for two consecutive days. Suprisingly enough the mail was marked to many other Government Departments, which gave the entire mail a very different contour. The Director too was taken aback to receive such a mail.
Since the mail was in Urdu and very little matter was in English, and whatever little was in English was like “Allah will not spare non believers”, “the end is near” and all, which did not dawn well on us. So the Director called one Muslim Officer and requested him to read the mail. He took the mail with him and studied the contents.
And what a mail it turned out to me, it was a harmless mail, it just spoke about the beauty of Islam and urged the readers to forward the mail to ten readers the next moment, else he/she would be treated as a non believer and Allah wont spare non believers. We all felt relieved, and could now afford a laughter.
Looking back at this small incident, i feel how some due to some insane people the whole religion is looked upon with doubt and how good technology is being used for silly uses like forwarding chain mails. In good old days we used to receive similar handbills & postcards urging to carry on the chain else one would be doomed.
Thus began my first week in Office after good long break. And what a way it was to begin. And no, i am not doomed, not just yet, though i did not forward the mail.
Vijay's Space 
It really gets me, these “religious nuts” who believe their religion is “the only one!” – and everyone else who does not believe will die – or must die. Why do these people require OTHERS to believe in their religion? Is there faith that small that they need others to support them in it?
I have my own. I would be called a “heathen” by any religion on earth – and yet I agree with a lot of them, including the Hindu, which to me represents the many faces of god. All of them are wrong – all of them are right. I can be comfortable in any church because I know despite the religion, we worship the same “God”. It’s just man’s hand in the thing which has screwed it up.
And perhaps my ‘bad fortune’ is a result of throwing / deleting chain mail – but then again, I live the American dream: I have my own house, a 2000 Ford Mustang convertible top and I live off the money I earned, even if it is through Social Security disability paychecks for the injuries I received during my career in the Marines.
Superstition only works on those who believe.
And yes! – you did the right thing reporting this – and please, next time? Do it a bit sooner. From what I understand our Unibomber only gave people one chance – and that was to not open the package up.
Radical Muslims drive me crazy sometimes. Aren’t they glad ‘we’, the Americans, aren’t as crazy as them?
Oh wait: yes, we are.
hmhm… Religion & faith is a tough topic to write upon. And even more so hard to comment on. I think that chain mails like those aren’t really the first and are not going to be the last. But, I think that- More than what religious terrorism can achieve- the paranoia about the same is achieving more.