“Between the Mosque and the Temple” is the short story

written by a Parsi writer Boman Desai. The story is about a small

incident which could have resulted in huge dispute between the two
communities of Hindus and Muslims. The story highlights the
importance of religious places and the intolerance that rises from the
attitude. The story is about Banu, who is the chairman of Sanitation
Committee.
She had to settle a dispute between these communities about the
placement of a dustbin. The Hindus said that it was too close to the
temple and the Muslims said that it was too close to their Mosque. The
collector had warned Banu that a bloodshed might result if she were
not careful. But Banu said that she would fix a day to examine the
place.
On the day of visit, Banu wore plain clothes. When she came out of her
house, she decides to walk to that place instead of going by car. When
Banu was on her way to the site, a group of students recognized her.
They greeted her and asked where she was going. Banu told them she
was well but she had an important work to do so she invited them to
join her. She remembered Gandhi’s salt march in which everyone
joined to show solidarity against the British. The students followed her
and as they walked, many people joined them. Soon the collector’s car
came there. When she reached the site of dispute, she said that the
solution was to find the place exactly between the mosque and the
temple. She wanted both a Hindu and a Muslim to walk with her and
count her footsteps. She walks and the crowd with her counts the steps
aloud. There are total two hundred and thirty two steps between
temple and mosque. So she decided to place the dustbin in centre
which is about 116th steps from both places. The Hindus and The
Muslims thanked her and said that it was a wise decision.