Of Muggles and Wizards

Its the 1st of September again. A new batch of excited students in London are probably making their way to King's Cross Station to platform nine and three quarters and to the scarlet Hogwart's Express, marking their first tentative steps to wizarding education that will prepare them for the life ahead. For, 1st of September is when the academic calendar starts for Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Oh! How i wish i could have been on that train! But i can't. The reasons being 1) I am a muggle and have never shown any sign of magical activity 2) I am on the later side of my twenties and i guess thats too late for elementary education.

Still, had I been a wizard (meaning having some magical powers, for the uninitiated. If still confused, refer to the Harry Potter series)and of the requisite age, I would not have been on that train, I guess. The simple reason being, I am an Indian, and of course, we would have similar institutes here. Maybe I would have gone to the world famous Indian Institutes of Wizardry that have produced some of the world's finest wizards (who have been gobbled up the moment they graduated by some foreign wizarding firm, and where you have to be exceptional to gain admission) or to the National Institutes of Wizardry or maybe to the Assam Wizarding Institute. I would have probably boarded one of the various wizarding trains made available by the Indian Ministry of Magic in consultation with Indian Railways and Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav.

Maybe I would have shopped for my school things somewhere near fancy bazaar in guwahati (the entrance having been suitably hidden from muggles). Maybe I would have gone to an institute which was once, among the top ten wizarding institutes, and which now languishes among the bottom half.Maybe I would have encountered some of the best and world famous wizards as my teachers. Or maybe I would have encountered teachers who would have been more interested in their personal glory and riches and in the student's personal lives than imparting quality education.

Maybe the institute would have a reservation system as is present everywhere in India. 27% for the muggle-born, 20% for the half-bloods, and 10% each for wizards hailing from remote areas. Maybe the Minister for Magic would ask us to spend a further 5 years of our life catering to wizarding amenities at very low paychecks and almost non-existent infrastructure before signing our degrees. Maybe...

For, I believe that life in India, the way the Government and bureaucracy functions, the way people behave and the way the system works, would be exactly the same- whether you are a muggle or a wizard. Life would not really be different, only you would be capable of magic if you were a wizard. Rest all would be the same. Nothing different.