The mutton biryani enlightenment.
The People with Different Bodies
In front of the reception in the shop, Einstein only heard some sounds but didn’t see anyone. After watching a funny video on his phone, he stood up with a laugh and suddenly saw a dwarf man. He might be the man with a sea of secrets and insults inside him, the man nodded his head slowly with a deep smile. He thought Einstein had laughed at his dwarfness, as he had seen many people in his life react that way. But it didn’t hurt or shake him anymore.
After spending five minutes with Einstein, discussing the service, the dwarf man felt comfortable. He believed Einstein had a person inside who could be his friend.
Later, after the man left the shop, Einstein scrolled through the pictures they had taken throughout the year on the computer. Different faces, different colors. From black to pink. There wasn’t a single European or American face on display— after all it was a collection from the Middle East labor camps. Yet, he saw Arabs with pink skin than some Europeans and Indian Tamils darker than some Africans.
Among all these faces, there was one African man who visited the shop many times over several months for photographs. From birth, one of his eyes had remained half- closed. The bureaucracy never cared to look into his details; they only saw that the machine rejected his photograph during the visa process. Because it recognises the man closed his one eye by mistake or because of the carelessness. So, it asked for one more picture of him. Many more time. One day, after taking yet another photo, the man cried a lot, believing it wouldn’t be accepted either. After that, Einstein never saw him again.
Some people came with differently focused eyes. Others hid their baldness under Muslim caps and Sikh turbans.
One day, a very tall man came to the shop—not to take photos, but to print an indication label for his guests arriving in the country. His job was to hold the board at the airport to help them find him. Einstein thought this job suited his height perfectly. He could hold the board high above the crowd, making it easier for the guests to spot him. In fact, if someone had simply told the guests, “The person picking you up is very tall,” they might recognize him even without the board.
The tall man was inferior during talking to Einstein for two reasons one he was conscious of his height, two he himself felt little ashamed of his job without no reason, So he masked his discomfort with a big, shallow laugh followed by a smile. After getting his print, he thanked Einstein multiple times. The people arriving were important for his company’s new contracts, so he wanted everything to be perfect.
That evening, Einstein unexpectedly met the same man at a restaurant during tea hour.
“Ellam gambhiramayitt nadannu, mone” (“Everything went well, boy”), the man said, then the same big, shallow laugh followed by a smile.
Einstein thought about the English movie he had watched, where the central character lived under constant television surveillance inside a massive set covered by an artificial sea. His entire life was scripted, with people entering and leaving according to the storyline. But he was unaware about this. Einstein felt like that character now. Every person he met seemed to follow a script: a dwarf person one week, a tall man the next. An angry man, then a kind person. With all these thoughts swirling, he fell asleep that day.
The Circle-Body Man
Among the shop’s visitors was a Tamil man with a large, round body. He came often at ibn Battuta photo studio, and his face became etched in their memory. As an illiterate laborer in a foreign country, his only way to grow was by forming connections. At the shop, he tried befriending either the kind one or the immature one. Luckily for him, both types were there.
The immature one occasionally hurt the circle-body man’s ego by using his mother tongue improperly, without knowing. Yet, the man chose to overlook the disrespect and focus on the kindness he received. He wasn’t selfish or malicious—just one of the weakest. And his circumstances had humbled him.
His name began with a woman’s name in his mother tongue, with a piece of “Raj” added to signify he was a boy and now a man. Once, while filling out a form, the immature guy joked, asking whether he was male or female. People standing around laughed loudly. Sometimes, it’s not the joke itself but the audience’s reaction that wounds the victim most.
So, the circle-body man slightly shouted at the immature guy in the Ibn Battuta shop. Suddenly, he realized his helplessness in the foreign country and the family depending on him back home. To dilute his emotional outburst, he used some explanations. He said, \”Every man has a woman’s name in their name.\” Then, he gave some examples, though they didn’t logically sync with his point.
Anyway, the people present, including Einstein, agreed with his opinion. The man might have faced this problem many times in his life. Maybe it was one of his childhood traumas. It’s possible, isn’t it? A name travels with us as our identity, just like our face. If it contains something that can be joked about according to the world’s standards, you are, quite literally, fucked. The fear that \”everyone will make fun of you\” begins to grow in your mind.
Even if someone in your life convinces you otherwise, another evil person will eventually come along to remind you that, yes, it is still a joke to the world.
Einstein had his own traumas, so he tried to be as empathetic as possible toward the circle-body man.
Recognizing the man’s pain, he bought tea for the circle man and the immature guy with his own money. The circle-body man calmed down, feeling cared for. He blessed Einstein, saying he would have a son in future. And cursed the immature guy, saying he would have a daughter.
Having a baby boy is just as beautiful a moment as giving birth to a baby girl. But the circle-body man came from a patriarchal society where daughters are often seen as a financial burden during marriage due to the dowry system. This was one of the financial problems he was facing at the time.
So, his perception of good and bad stemmed from his own experiences and struggles.
Gradually, the circle-body man began talking peacefully that evening. Unsure of what to say to hold everyone’s attention, he turned to the topic of God. Though the others believed in different gods, he spoke about the similarities among different gods and the equality among their super powers.
Einstein noticed, not only the circle body man but everyone using god as a topic to grab the attention of the new audiences. In his travel through different states in India Einstein noticed this same technique used by many people. Forget India, even the world’s richest and most powerful politicians talked about God because it was a universal idea. Why? Because people feared the unknown and searched for an imaginary guardian in moments of helplessness. That’s why the idea of God exists—even among people unaware of popular religions.
But you can’t influence a group of people by only talking about God. This is why people choose religion—it’s a tool to communicate with a large audience. It’s easier to connect with others by referencing what they are already familiar with and believe in.
Using religion is often seen as more effective than creating new communities or introducing new values and trying to promote them.
Einstein tested this idea by posting both positive and negative things about the same religion on social media. Many people reacted to his posts, giving him mixed responses. However, when he shared what he truly felt in his heart or his observations of the people he met, nobody reacted. Nobody listened.
That day, the circle-body man prayed to all the gods he mentioned, asking them to make his lottery ticket win. Then, he left the shop. Einstein also left sometime later.
When Einstein reached the restaurant he visited daily, it was less crowded than usual. While placing his takeout order, the restaurant manager approached his employee and told him to give Einstein the day’s special mutton biryani. The manager seemed friendly toward Einstein without any obvious reason. Maybe it was because they both spoke the same mother tongue. Or perhaps he had noticed Einstein’s quiet, friendly demeanor with the staff. Maybe it was because Einstein smiled at him every day. Or it could simply be that Einstein never caused harm to anyone around him.
Whatever the reason, the manager decided to surprise him with the biryani.
Einstein believed the unexpected kindness—the mutton biryani—must have been the result of the blessings from the circle-body man. When someone speaks from their heart, it influences the rhythm of the universe.
Just like people use religion, the heart acts as the universe’s true religion. Speaking from the heart aligns with this rhythm and creates a ripple effect in the world.
Why do people suddenly feel an invisible bond with others from the same religion when they realize they share the same belief? It’s because it gives them a sense of commonality. And why does this commonality matter? Because people want to feel understood. Without shared experiences or beliefs, understanding becomes difficult.
That’s why people search for others who share their religion, mother tongue, physical region, ethnicity, or even similar traumas.
But Einstein went a step further. He saw the universal commonality in everyone’s heart and Speaking from their own heart. Through this he connected with others on a deeper level, beyond superficial differences.
And somehow, a simple plate of mutton biryani unlocked this enlightenment within his mind.
