[Reader-list] Ghalib and the damn Muslim problem
Anand Vivek Taneja
radiofreealtair at gmail.com
Wed May 7 21:02:01 IST 2008
Ghalib-e khasta ke baghair kaunse kaam band haiN?
Roiye zaar zaar kya, kijiye hai hai kyoN?
Sorry I could not resist succumbing to the temptation of an endless chain of
Ghalib quotations. While this one seemed apt in the tongue-firmly-in-cheek
way most of Ghalib is apt; I think the central problematic raised by Mahmood
remains unanswered - which is to ask what it means that while one may not
be a believer (in any religious or ritual sense); one is still identified
(and identifies oneself) as a Muslim (or a Hindu) in a sense of
political/community identity. The gap (or lack of) between one's
confessional and empathic senses of selfhood and community; and the changing
nature of this gap raises interesting questions, particularly in these
fraught times when race, religion and identity are being fixed/contested
through the biometric logics of surveillance states.
Would the anecdotal story told of Ghalib (in the TV serial, to a British
officer deciding on his exile from the city post 1857) that he was only
'half a Muslim' (because he drank wine but didn't eat pork) be possible
today?
Anand
On Wed, May 7, 2008 at 9:34 AM, TaraPrakash <taraprakash at gmail.com> wrote:
> Can't say which "kaam" but Ghalib would say be different be unusual while
> doing it.
> "Raghon mein daudte firne ke ham naheen kayal, jab aankh hi se na tapka
> to fir lahoo kya hai"
>
> If it seems beyond your usual physical powers, use will power "Jo haath
> mein jumbish naheen, aankhon mein to dam hai...
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Raheema Begum
> To: TaraPrakash ; reader-list at sarai.net
> Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2008 8:51 AM
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Ghalib and the damn Muslim problem
>
>
> I agree.Hain duniya bazeecha-e atfaal mere bhi aage.
> par kya karein us kaam ka jo hai pada mere aage?
>
> Raheema.
>
>
> On Wed, May 7, 2008 at 6:19 PM, Raheema Begum <
> theunderscoredhood at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I agree.Hain duniya bazeecha-e atfaal mere bhi aage.
>
>
>
> On Tue, May 6, 2008 at 9:27 PM, TaraPrakash <taraprakash at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> Very appropriate.
>
> And he must be repeating constantly from his grave
>
> "Hota hai shab-o-roz tamasha mere aage."
>
> Only if he had not offended some regressive Islamists with his
> unorthodox
> and perhaps unislamic deeds ...
> "Tujhe ham vali samajhte jo na badakhwar hota."
>
> (we would consider you a religious preacher if you were not a
> drinker)
> Apologies if the translation is not accurate. It's not my forte
> anyway.
> Regards
> TaraPrakash
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bain Al Satoor" <bainulsatoor at googlemail.com>
> To: <reader-list at sarai.net>
> Sent: Monday, May 05, 2008 5:47 PM
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Ghalib and the damn Muslim problem
>
>
> > Huye mar ke ham jo ruswa, huye kyun na ghark-e-dariya
> > Na kabhi janaaza uthta, na kahin mazaar hota
> >
> > Ghalib.
> >
> > On Mon, May 5, 2008 at 9:19 AM, ambarien qadar <
> ambarien at yahoo.co.uk>
> > wrote:
> >
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Hi
> >>
> >> I'm not very sure if we can read what Hali wrote nearly a century
> back,
> >> with the same interpretative lenses today.
> >> To me, Hali's piece on Ghalib (quoted in Mahmood's mail) already
> reads as
> >> a ceratin kind of break from the mores of traditional,
> ritualistic,
> >> wahabi
> >> Islamic practices that he so brilliantly represented.
> >> This rupture is particularly relevant in our times for it
> reaffirms a
> >> poetic possibility of dissent.
> >> Moreover, it is Hali's version of how he 'saw' Ghalib. I'm not
> sure if we
> >> can comment on it in essentialist ways. At best, it can provide
> possible
> >> insights into the myriad ways the Poet and his times have been
> written
> >> and
> >> understood.
> >> The choice actually lies with us- to understand Ghalib through his
> grief
> >> at the plight of the larger muslim community (according to Hali)
> or
> >> through
> >> our knowledge of his stunningly syncretic oeuvre...and think about
> our
> >> 'pareshani' or ways of countering it..poetic or otherwise.
> >>
> >> (No offences meant!)
> >> Cheers
> >> Ambarien
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> __________________________________________________________
> >> Sent from Yahoo! Mail.
> >> A Smarter Email http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html
> >> _________________________________________
> >> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
> >> Critiques & Collaborations
> >> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
> >> subscribe in the subject header.
> >> To unsubscribe:
> https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
> >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
> > _________________________________________
> > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
> > Critiques & Collaborations
> > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
> > subscribe in the subject header.
> > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
> > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
>
> _________________________________________
> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
> Critiques & Collaborations
> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
> subscribe in the subject header.
> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
>
>
>
>
> --
> labels- http://whosebody.wordpress.com
> Kauntext- http://raahi.wordpress.com
> One State Solution- http://onestatesolution.wordpress.com
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> 'On the just and unjust alike it doth rain,
> and the quality of mercy is not strained.'
>
>
>
> --
> labels- http://whosebody.wordpress.com
> Kauntext- http://raahi.wordpress.com
> One State Solution- http://onestatesolution.wordpress.com
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> 'On the just and unjust alike it doth rain,
> and the quality of mercy is not strained.'
> _________________________________________
> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
> Critiques & Collaborations
> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
> subscribe in the subject header.
> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
>
More information about the reader-list
mailing list