Balasore: Locals invariably look for Zerina, a woman of minority community, whenever there are religious meetings or discourses happening in Goplagaon or its adjoining areas in Balasore. Zerina is famous for her in-depth knowledge in the Gita and other Hindu scriptures.
Though born into a Mulslim family, Zerina developed a penchant for various religious tests from her childhood. She has got the slokas of the Gita, Vishnu Sahasranama, Gayatri and Mahamrutyunjay mantras by rote.
A Sanskrit teacher by profession, the woman works at Barabati high school. She has carved for herself a distinct identity in the area by her command over Hindu religious scriptures. Usually, religious conservatism deters people from learning religious knowledge of different religion, but Zerina rose above it.
She said, when she was a child, it was her father Sheikh Asmatulla, who encouraged her to learn Sanskrit, one of the ancient languages in the country. By the time she studied Class-X, she had taken Sanskrit as an optional subject and even topped in the subject.
She created a history of sort when she was the first Muslim girl to get a slot in top ten list in Sanskrit. Later she pursued her post graduation in Sanskrit in Utkal University and later started a career as a Sanskrit teacher.
She admitted that even after marriage, her husband Moin Chand also helped her gain more knowledge in Sanskrit religious texts.
Apart from regular Quran recital, she has been regularly studying puranas, scriptures and religious texts. One can acquire true knowledge only after studying the sum and substance of all religions. Sanskar (reformation) comes from Sanskrit while knowledge of Sanskrit is essential to understand the Indian culture, she said. PNN