This post was prompted by my meeting with the Amil (head) of the Bohri mosque in Santacruz last week. My mom was all set to go on a pilgrimage but Amilsaab refused to give her the ‘safai chitti’ or clearance to be part of the Bohri tour unless I put in an appearance at the mosque. When I met him he chided me for not following the dictates of the religion and of our spiritual head to which I replied that the permission is for my mom who follows the religion. If I was the one who wanted to go then you can expect these things of me. He then tried to convince me that one should follow the customs, traditions, religion, etc of the community one is born into. His arguments didn’t cut ice with me but it did set me thinking whether relating to your roots is necessary. Should I identify myself as a Bohri Muslim? Can’t I just be a human being? Is a religious and community identity important?
Throughout my school and college days I have been around people from other communities. Yes, I did have Bohri friends like Hozaifa and Hussein during my school days and I cherish the time I spent with them. Recently Hussain messaged me on facebook saying that he still remembers how much fun it was running from room to room in my house with my pet roosters at our heels and I kinda agreed with him. Those days were fun. My carom playmates Suleiman and Sameer were Bohris too. But that’s the past. Today, my friends circle doesn’t have anyone from my community (if you leave out family). Unlike many others I don’t seek out people from my community. I don’t even bother to ask someone where he/she hails from because that simply doesn’t matter to me. This could be because I never quite got initiated into community activities. I never went to a madrassa or participated in Bohri community activities. I never felt the need to be part of a particular community. Is that wrong?
I would rather celebrate Hindu festivals like Holi and Diwali than Eid simply because I find the former more fun!!!
Even though my mother tongue is Gujarati, the language I am most comfortable with is Hinglish followed by English, Gujarati and Hindi. And I don’t understand a word of Arabic, the language of Islam – the religion I’m born into.
As for food, though I thoroughly enjoy Bohri delicacies like khichra, dal-gosht, biryani , kari I can go without them for months and yet not complain as long as I get to eat dal-chawal, dosas or paneer delicacies.
I find that I don’t look at patriotism like others do. Sure I love my country and am grateful that my ancestors didn’t immigrate to Pakistan at the time of partition. But when others go about passionately bashing Pakistan, or even China or US for that matter, I’m not enthu about simply painting them bad. I say you should rather see the circumstances that brought about the situation and try to understand the other party’s point of view also. I just can’t stir that passion, or rather blind faith, in me to believe that our guys are always right and it’s solely the fault of the other party. I end up being accused of being unpatriotic or insensitive or unaware of reality.
In sum, I just don’t feel the need to have a religious, community or country identity. I am ‘rootless’ so as to say. Is something wrong with me?
7 comments:
Quiet insightful I must say
Bold and brave thought. and very well articulated.
I dont think it matches completely, but maybe reading a little Pico Iyer could find resonance. More than anything else, I think we value the 'liberty' to express ourselves outside the confines of traditional pegs of identity. Liberty is a strong word and hence in quotations. Also took a liberty with we, but more talk later. :)
I've always known why we are friends. I didn't know that the similarities are so uncanny :)
Wonderful read.
It is refreshing to see a citizen of the world in the true sense, speak up.
Thank you for making this thought public, Fir. It makes 'unbelonging' people like us feel more 'at home'. :)
You are not rootless!!..thats a wrong conclusion...just that u belong to the free world...
NO! There’s nothing wrong with you or the likes of us! Infact, I completely agree with you!
More so due to the fact that Amil’s use arm-twisting methods rather than reason and logic which in-turn backfires and makes one question their powers/authority!
Specially, if there’s any family event, they use it as a mean to extort their way out of people – in this case your mom’s travel plans!
For the rest of your article – I feel it’s more a matter of personal personality, taste and open-mindedness than being rootless. ie.
Personality: Friends – I feel you’d just be a good friend with a bohri girl/guy should you run into someone who shares your wave length. I don’t think religion/cast etc has anything to do with it! Right?
Unless ofcourse, you’d subconsciously judge and then distant yourself as soon as a stranger mentions that he/she is a Bohra.
Taste: Food – This one specially has nothing to do with what caste you belong too! Although nothing beats DCP if indulged in once in 6 months :)
Patriotism: Again this one totally depends on one’s emotional and intelligence maturity. One can’t go on paki/chini bashing just cos they are our politically unfriendly neighbors! Although I do feel in comparison to USA (for example) they are a better ally to have considering we share the same language/dressing/food/resources!! What is your opinion on that?
Lastly, I realize I am commenting on your blog ages after it was posted; I do hope your mom had a safe and a good trip for where ever she was requesting the safai-chitti!
Our identity is shaped by a multitude of influences, fanaticism is when we root for one of them at expense of others. I do not think you are rootless but well rooted by all your influence which you have chosen not to discard.
Appreciate your writing this piece. Set me thinking.
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