Love As Resistance

Spreading the idea of love is pertinent in the present atmosphere of divisive politics

- Abhik Bhattacharya

FOR years, Danish Ahmed, 46, has been running a sharbat shop in one of the lanes opposite the historic Jama Masjid in the capital that serves a very special sharbat. But only recently the nondescript shop became the talk of the town when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi made a pit stop here to have the famous mohabbat ka sharbat-a popular summer drink made of fresh watermelon, rose syrup, milk sugar, ice cubes and rose petals.

"This is the bench where he sat," says an enthusiastic Ahmed while showing photos and videos of Gandhi. When asked what the most memorable aspect of his visit was, he says: "His statement nafrat ke bazaar me hum mohabbat ki dukan kholenge', has stayed with me."

For Ahmed, love is bhaichara-a sense of brotherhood among different communities, which is significant in the present atmosphere of pervasive hatred. "Love is like our sharbat-pure and authentic. It spreads faster than any other emotion," says the sharbat maker.

The statement made by Gandhi at the juice shop was the central theme of his more than thousand-kilometre-long Bharat Jodo Yatra in 2022-23 in which he, along with thousands of others, walked from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. Addressing a rally at Nuh in Haryana in January, Gandhi said: "When these people go out to spread hatred in this country, people of our ideology go out to spread love and affection".