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Lessons in Secularism for India


Lesson No. 1

Firoze Mohomed Shakir (left)
Firoze Mohomed Shakir lives in Mumbai.  I have been haunting him like a ghost in some vague quest for quite a time in the virtual places I was permitted access.  His photographs, for example.  What drew me to him initially was his poetry which I used to read via indiblogger.in.  The poems were entirely different from the ones I had ever come across.  They looked initially like prose broken into arbitrary lines.  As I focused more I realized that secularism has as much hope in India as Sufism. Below is his latest poem that I have copy-pasted from his status update in Facebook.  The postscript also belongs to him.

[Dear Firoze, I hope you don’t mind my using you as a lesson. Personally, I’d rather be a Hindu (to use your words) than be religious!]

I Would Rather Be a Hindu Than Be a Wahhabi
yes 
i would rather be called a kafir 
than be a wahabbi 
i would rather be a hindu 
than be a wahhabi 
both options 
close to humanity 
one with 
my cultural inheritance 
of peace and brotherhood 
mutual tolerance sanity 
no i distance myself 
from your hate filled 
religiosity 
a shia pandit 
i am 
hussain 
is enough for me 
these are my thoughts 
you dont have to agree 
at least here in india 
my lord is not 
held in captivity

I say this with pride I am a good Muslim simply because my parentage , my country my friends made me so.. I distance myself from those adherents that allow one Muslim to kill another Muslim.. yes I am a Hindu Shia.. A kafir and proud of what I am.....
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Comments

  1. Roohi BhatnagarMay 23, 2015 at 6:38 PM

    Even I am fond of Shakir sir's photography, his prose and poems. He's off Indiblogger now and I tried catching up with his work on Flickr. Thanks for sharing this one. He is a gem as a human.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMay 23, 2015 at 7:07 PM

      Roohi, you are my lesson no.2 ...
      I don't know why Shakir Saab chose to leave indiblgger. But I have managed to extract a permit to visit him when i'm in Mumbai :)
      Cheers to Harmony

      Delete
    2. Firoze Shakir Photographer No1May 23, 2015 at 7:33 PM

      Thank you Tom you are our teacher too...we love you .. unconditionally .. thank you Roohi and all my Indiblogger friends ,, take care ,, thank you Ranvin Renie

      Delete
    3. Tomichan MatheikalMay 23, 2015 at 10:12 PM

      I learn from you all. And am grateful.

      Delete
  2. Ravish ManiMay 23, 2015 at 9:44 PM

    Thoughtful & courageous.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMay 23, 2015 at 10:14 PM

      You know, Ravish, I would love to have some of our politicians acquiring some of this thoughtfulness.

      Delete
  3. Amit AgarwalMay 24, 2015 at 12:43 PM

    I am a great admirer of Firoz bhai ever since I came to know him some five years back. And I'm not talking here of his photography alone, it's more about the grand person that he is! Wish there were more like him in India, on second thoughts why only India? People like him are a need of the hour the whole world over! My love, regards and gratitude...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Amit AgarwalMay 24, 2015 at 12:46 PM

    Thank you Tom sir, for presenting him here alongside that wonderful poem of his!
    A great tribute indeed!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Vinay NagarajuMay 28, 2015 at 4:21 PM

    A wonderful poem Matheikal and a very deep thought too ..

    ReplyDelete

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