A Letter from Talha Sughlatwala

Dear Zeeja,

A poem for for friend Talha Sughlatwala

December 6,1992

Ayodhya

Your monkey army

which built bridges

for you, whipped

a storm for me

in the mosque.

Mercenary shards of

that storm

flew to my home

and tricked lives

into matchboxes.

The epidermis of

the soul is covered

with too many sores.

Yet, I recognise now

why prophets no more

rush to save us.

Ends

I don`t know how to react to this. To be angry at my own countryman just lumping me and my kind into a monolithic entity and subjecting us to the worst kind of hatred and disgust? Or to feel sorry for him and my country at the confusion and misery that all of us seem to be steeped in? Most of all I think I feel sympathy for Talha Sughlatwala, because he is barraged by a large number of confusing and conflicting ideologies that are the unfortunate results of the ravages of time. He reminds me of a sunflower that cannot seem to make up its mind as to which of the dozens of suns it is supposed to look at.

To Innocence Lost

Zeenat:

Inna lillah-e-......!

This may well be the key quotation, ``But then, I AM confused by the ambivalence of my feelings.``

As someone said:

YahaaN tasbih ka halqaa wahaaN zannar ka phandaa
Aseeri laazmi hay mazhab-e-shaikh-o-brahman maiN

love,

t

The saddest part is the epilogue.

Sadhana

This letter is a very sad statement of unnecessary hatreds and violence between people.

Unbeliveable!!! This was an an eye opener and the epilogue was simply heart rendering!

We still have a long way to go and I hope we reach there soon, because we are responsible to those died to at least make sure that they died for something and not in vain!

Ciao!

Zeejah:

I really admire the format you picked to write the reportage.

It is important that azaan be heard on chowk more often.The din & stench of drunks & chursees becomes too obnoxious sometimes.

Let the Ba Ba Blacksheep bleat.They sure seem to be feeling the warmth of the lions` breath on their tails.

It wont be long.

__________________________________________________

wassalaam

Ambivalence is the key word to describe most Desi sentiment. I know it describes me too.

Thanks Zeejah for sharing this with us.

It`s good to see such honest, pure, ``not trying to impress anyone`` sentiments on Chowk.

Every Indian and Pakistani should be forced to read Talha`s letter.

May his soul rest in peace.

Hi Zeejah,

Thanks for sharing this thought provoking letter with Chowk.

May Talha`s soul rest in peace.

rgds

Saima

This letter is not exactly an eye opener, the impression about Indian Muslim in India is created by very nature of the attitude they hold: in peace time or hard time, and every1 knows this fact more or less. As I have experienced it, it starts with Cricket, every time Pakistan wins against India they celebrate on the streets, and I don’t understand what inspires them: it is not a religious win, it just cricket. Well they always try to be different, they never try to mix with the main stream, wherever they are the minority or to that matter majority. I find it amazing that Muslim struggle to locate their identity wherever they are: In Pakistan they Anti-India, anti-Mohajir, anti-Shiite, in Afganistan they are Tailban, in India they are pro-Pakistani, in Philippines they are hostage takers, in US they bomb buildings. I wonder if there is any place available to them on Earth where they do not have to struggle for an identity.

hn:# 1

A good poem.

Except the bridge then too was built by the monkeys to wage a war.(They seldom tell us the Lankian version).

First the Golden temple,then the Babri mosque.Is it any wonder that when those who are not fit to rule assume power,do not know how to use it,without alien ideoligies.The caste system was really there to serve a purpose.For hindus it must continue or they should give up hinduism.The two are mutually inclusive.

Money or gold lovers become money Or gold savers.They develop miserly natures.That makes them security conscious.That makes them cowards & then the rest is always all history.

When temples & churches start hoarding gold their purpose is lost & their end can be foreseen.

__________________________________________________

It is India`s eternal shame that (1) the police were in cahoots with the terrorists and murderers in the pogrom against the muslims of Bombay and Surat, and (2) no one has been punished for these acts yet. Thakre, who incited the riots and the pogrom, walks a free and important man against the tattered ``secular`` flag of India.

Dear Zeejah!

unbelieveably touching..indeed one of the best I have ever come across on chowk...his account was so simple,so direct,so natural...so real...

May his soul rest in peace.Amen.

and thanxs for sharing this with us....I am sure that he would have been happy to know that you gave it the audeince and readership that it so well deserved.

luv,

TAM.

EST Reply #: 11

FARANGI_KUSH

``

The caste system was really there to serve a purpose.For hindus it must continue or they should give up hinduism.The two are mutually inclusive

``

--I really did not want to disrespect the author of the letter, by making this into another Hindu-muslim; india-paki thing.

So I will simply say this:

-Religons get distorted over time. Hinduism did too. Caste system in Hinduism was determined by profession/work/``karma`` not by birth. Over time this got corrupted. Just like in Islam, a lot of traditions are more tribal in nature than Islamic.

Eg: The ritual (followed in some muslim African nations and in Saudia Arabia) of female genital mutilation is not Islamic, correct ? Yet it is carried in the name of Islam.

Use this article for introspection and reflection. We can all learn from it.

AD

The distance from Ghatkopar to Mohammed Ali Road is more than 20km

Perhaps Mr. Sudheendra Kulkarni, BJP activist will read the article.

He wants to change Hindu-Muslim perceptions in India ?

Perhaps, if the BJP/VHP/RSS combine, while still maintaining a historical claim on the Babri Masjid site, admitted that they broke the law in breaking the Masjid, and that they should not have taken the law into their own hands, and perhaps rebuilt the Masjid, without any prejudice to their claim to the site, but agreeing that it had to be settled peaceably, no matter how long it takes,

then it just might be a start to your goal,

Mr Kulkarni ?

-arun gupta