Akbar Ahmed: Two Plays: Noor; Dara Shikoh.

History offers several opportunities for counterfactual thinking. The question remains does counterfactual thinking help us in deepening our understanding of society and life and not repeat the mistakes. If not, the whole exercise would be futile.

Akbar Ahmed's narrative in this book challenges the reader to think whether one can step out of the limiting boundaries of context and stand up for truth and compassion. At several points in the book, the reader is sensitised to the idea that the journey to truth is solitary and subjective.

Akbar Ahmed juxtaposes the story of Dara Shikoh, the Mughal Saint- prince with the story of Noor, the fearless sister of three brothers, each representing a version of Islam in the contemporary world. Though both settings are separated by four hundred years, the issues remain the same.

Akbar Ahmed presents a nuanced story of humanity and Islam in Noor. Noor’s story is set “in a city in the Muslim world, which could be Baghdad, Cairo, Karachi or Kabul (P.15).” Daoud, the doctor and second brother of Noor likens their state of living to almost a Hobessian existence:

“The neighbourhood isn’t the same anymore; everyone is nervous. Cousins spying on each other, friends reporting on a friend, who is there to trust? (P.19)”

It is hard to miss the despondency in Daoud’s words. In his helplessness, Daoud resorts to Islam, as the panacea for everything in an increasingly unpredictable world. In Daoud’s words:

“These Americans have reduced Muslim societies to a jungle. But even the jungle has certain laws. Here we don’t have any. Only Islam can prevent our societies from totally collapsing (P.31)”

Daoud is the voice of the disillusioned who witness a ‘clash of civilisations’ between the West and the followers of Islam. For Daoud, the differences between both worlds are insurmountable and complex. He is the closest approximation to a puritanical, doctrinaire Aurangzeb in the contemporary world. Daoud’s words underscore the dangers of a non-existent dialogue between the West and Islam.

“Yes, yes, but I cannot ignore what is happening to my people any more. We Muslims are being killed and tortured and humiliated across the world. We have been robbed of our honor and dignity. Entire generations are growing up traumatised and angry at the injustices, and yet, Muslims are being called ‘terrorists’ and ‘extremists’. And everywhere America is leading the attack on Islam. Islam is under siege. It is time for every Muslim to stand up and say, ‘No more. We will not take this anymore. We will be heard.’(P.32)”

Noor’s third brother Ali is a lawyer and believes in the rule of law. Ali’s disillusionment stems from his experience with the military when Ali and his sister Noor are unfairly detained and suspected as terrorists for calling out the excesses of the troops.

Noor and Ali are taken to an undisclosed location. Ali is tortured and Noor abandoned in the dawn hours in the outskirts of the city. Ali discovers that the Western ideals of human rights, mercy and justice he believes to be universal, are in fact useless in protecting citizens. Akbar Ahmed portrays the angst of millions through Ali’s words:

“I have been trained to uphold the ideals of justice, the only thing that separates us from the animals! I am supposed to fight with my pen and my words, fight for what God has decreed and society has written into law. What good are we if we can’t implement the law on earth? What good am I? We have no rights. We are vulnerable anytime and anywhere. Anyone can walk into our homes and humiliate us. Even our women are not safe (P.41).”

Noor’s eldest brother Abdullah looks for inspiration to the past. Abdullah is the disciple of a Sufi mystic and strives to understand what makes one a true Muslim. Abdullah is the epitome of Dara Shikoh. Abdullah’s faith and optimism in human nature is a contrast to Daoud’s cynicism.
In Abdullah’s words:

“It is upto us to translate the will of God (P.61)” and the past provides a template for us to act, “The Saints give us inspiration and hope, not grenades and explosives (P.40).”

In the second play ‘Dara Shikoh’ , Akbar Ahmed portrays the struggle between two Mughal princes, Aurangzeb and Dara Shikoh. They fight for something more than the throne. The Princes fight for their ideas, values and two different understandings of religion and spirituality. Akbar Ahmed’s Dara Shikoh is poignant and tenacious. Defending himself in the court, addressing a panel of Mullahs, Dara Shikoh argues:

“Neither Guru Nanak nor I have ever made negative remarks about Islam. On the contrary. What both of us have done is to underline the spirituality of Islam, and to contrast it with the hypocrisy of its religious clerics who do not practise what they preach……I simply emphasise the inner spirituality of faith, and not its outward superficial behaviour, which can o easily degenerate into mechanical ritual and empty, hypocritical gestures……My Islam teaches me to understand and appreciate other societies and religions. That, too, is written in the Qu’ran (P.92).”

Akbar Ahmed’s book reminds me of Hegel’s quote:
“The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history.”

If only we had allowed the past to illumine the present;
if only we had learnt from Dara Shikoh’s pluralism;
if only Dara Shikoh’s understanding of Islam found followers;
if only..….if only…if only..ah, the counterfactual!

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two by John Tiffany

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I have only read the book or the script for the rehearsal as it is mentioned on the cover page. Since, I haven’t watched the book ‘staged’ I can only say my review is partial. However, I sincerely feel my memories of growing up with the Potter series would have been unmarred if I’d have skipped reading the book. First, I missed the rich imagery and description that characterize J.K.Rowling’s books and second, the narrative was broken and characters explored in a shallow manner.

There are several threads that warrant a deeper exploration. For instance, Albus and Harry’s contrasting experiences with the Sorting hat; Rose Granger-Weasley’s striking resemblance to her mom’s self-assured countenance; the ‘awkward’ friendship between Albus and Scorpius and why would they ‘not’ hug?

The book zooms in to the father-son relationship between two (three?) pairs: Harry Potter and Albus; Draco Malfoy and Scorpius and almost hesitantly, Dumbledore and Harry. The book is not so different from the earlier Potter books in that it has a message. The message here being, the need to stop living in the past because it will only mar the present that lays a foundation for the future.

Albus and Scorpius drag us through alternate realities in the future as they try to tweak the past mistakes to correct the future course. But, every alternate reality comes with a price and is definitely worse than the present they come from. Albus and Scorpius come to a hard realization of the delicate balance of time and destiny and let things be.

I felt the redeeming feature in the book was the newly struck friendship between Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter et al. Draco’s struggle to deal with life as a widower and his grudging admission that he missed the strong bonds of love, trust and friendship among Harry, Ron and Hermione endear him as opposed to the rich, entitled Slytherin kid that he was when at Hogwarts. Love is a much misunderstood concept for both Harry and Draco as they struggle to forge loving relationships with their respective teenage sons. The journey to find love is humbling for all.

In Harry’s words to Malfoy: “Love blinds. We have both tried to give our sons not what they needed, but what we needed. We’ve been so busy trying to rewrite our own pasts, we’ve blighted their present (P.279).”

The book’s weakness is the format: Prose to drama is a huge leap. The book’s strength is definitely the exploration of the themes of love, magic and humanness.

Dumbledore remarks:
“Harry, there is never a perfect answer in this messy, emotional world. Perfection is beyond the reach of humankind, beyond the reach of magic. In every shining moment of happiness is that drop of poison: the knowledge that pain will come again. Be honest to those you love, show your pain. To suffer is as human as to breathe (P. 275)"

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Bilquis Jehan Khan: A Song of Hyderabad, Memories of a World Gone By

Summing up the book, the author Bilquis Jehan Khan writes:

" I have told my story so that those who never saw it (Hyderabad) then would have an idea of what it was in its heyday (pre-1948). It had a culture that no longer exists - it belongs to a time gone by (P.282)."

However, this book is beyond a 'nostalgic romance of the Hyderabad that was'. It is a recollection of Khan's life experiences spanning three continents and six countries and the kindness of people that makes the world a better place. Only someone like Bilquis Jehan Khan would find that despite her journey across the world -- the world is small and home is built with love and friendship, surpassing geographical boundaries.

As I read Khan's recollections of Hyderabad between 1930 and 1948, before her journey to Pakistan to join her husband, what impressed me most was the cosmopolitan nature of the city.

Perhaps, only in Hyderabad would a Muslim wedding trousseau consist of silk embroidered sarees, the staple of Parsi ladies (P.113); Only in Hyderabad would the festival of colors Holi, during the month of Basant, be celebrated with equal fervour by Hindus and Muslims (P.33) or a Christian priest would bring his troubled parishioners for healing blessings from a Sufi master (P.148). Further, Khan describes in detail the large number of Arab and African guards who served in the armed contingent of the Nizam and Muslim noblemen in the city, their special cuisine and customs (P.25). Khan herself, is married to Nasir, the son of a Muslim nobleman and a Scottish lady.

Khan describes the administration of jagirs (lands) by the Muslim noblemen. She writes:

"Our tenants who lived on the jagir were Hindus of the untouchable caste. My grandparents treated them well and looked after their interests. The Hindu servants were paid the same wages as the Muslim servants in Nasir Manzil (P.50)."

Khan's recollections are heartening especially in the present days of religious polarisation in Hyderabad and elsewhere in the country.

Khan notes a peculiar sense of camaraderie between the Muslim nobility and the Hindu employees.

Khan recollects one such incident between her grandmother and Malleyya, the chowkidar who happened to report to his duty, quite drunk. When asked "How would you answer to God on the Day of Judgment?", Malleyya, emboldened by his inebriated state replies, referring to the disparity in their class status: "Pasha, there are going to be so many more important people standing before God in front of me that He will not see little me to ask, 'Malleyya, why have you been drinking so much?' (P.52)."

I haven't read much about the experiences of Hyderabadis after the military action and accession of Hyderabad state to India in 1948. Khan notes the suddenness of the political changes and how unprepared the Nizam and his subjects were to meet the nascent democratic India. She shares her own feelings of being uprooted from her homeland Hyderabad.

In her words:

"We did not feel the immediate effects of the Partition at first, but in September 1948, the first year of my marriage, the Indian army marched in and took over the state (p.164)."

Her husband, who was an employee of the Nizam State railways had to find a job elsewhere. When he was posted to Karachi, Pakistan Bilquis Jehan Khan recounts: "My whole world collapsed. Hyderabad was my life and soul. How could I leave India and live in Pakistan? ... I decided to go to Karachi. I could foresee many trials and difficulties, but I believed that with my husband by my side I could bear anything (P.165)."

Just when Bilquis Jehan Khan and her family seem to find themselves at home in a new country, they get entangled in a political manhunt by the Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Her son-in-law was arrested by the government on charges of conspiring with the leaders of Baloch who were rebelling against the government. For two long years, the family did not have much information about his whereabouts until his release in 1977, after the military coup by General Zia Ul Haq (P.243).

A Song of Hyderabad is a personal memoir, a political-social commentary in one. This book imparts a profound message to the reader: and that is to live with grace and dignity in the face of troubles.

I have always found peace at the many Sufi shrines in Hyderabad. Khan writes about her father who renounced his "surrender to the worldly life" at the age of 39 and became a Pir (spiritual master). The following lines about what it means to be a Sufi, struck me the most:

"The goal of the Sufi is to 'see the face of the Beloved (God)'. Among Sufis the basic means to that end is self-control. Meditation, the invoking of God's name, and self-discipline are important parts of Sufi practice, but unlike Hindus and Buddhists whose ascetism can take extreme forms, Muslims are forbidden to totally renounce this world. They believe that the greater challenge is to follow a spiritual path while living in the world and whilst being surrounded by its many temptations. A Sufi should renounce himself, not others (pp 143-144)."

I will cherish this book and its message.

I am Malala: The Girl who stood up for education and was shot by the Taliban

This book should be a compulsory read in schools. Schools are the training centres for future citizens and we have a duty to our children to educate them about the interconnectedness and well being of individuals across the world. If we are aware of this interconnectedness of our existence, we understand the futility of war and invasions.

Viktor Frankl's "Man's search for meaning" exhorts us to find meaning in tragedy and use it to propel ourselves to achieve our potential. I am Malala's message is equally profound.

Malala presents an eloquent account of the dangers of a state that fails to fulfil its mission to its people and how non-state actors step into this gap and hijack a country's future. She warns world citizens, this process is so gradual that we don't realise until its too late.

People in Swat valley initially accepted the Taliban leader (Fazlullah) because they

"liked his talk of bringing back Islamic law, as everyone was frustrated with the Pakistani justice system...(P. 113)."

They saw the Taliban leader as a kind of Robin Hood (P. 115).The Taliban exploited the ignorance of the people and their illiteracy:

"Mullahs often misinterpret the Quran and the Hadith when they teach them in our country, as few people understand the original Arabic (P. 113)."

The Taliban, Malala observes, first took over the music, then their Buddhas, then their history and culture.

"They destroyed everything old and didn't bring anything new (P.123)

At several places as I was reading the book, I felt this story is not about Malala; it is about countries with real international interests and how weak states fall prey to the machinations of the strong. Quoting Rahmat Shah Sayel an Afghan poet, Malala observes what was happening in Afghanistan was a:

"war between two elephants" - the US and the Soviet Union - not our war, and Pashtuns (in Swat, Pakistan) were "like grass crushed by the hooves of two fierce beasts (P.35)".

It is impossible to read the book and miss the agony of millions of people, displaced or refugees, whose sentiments Malala echoes:

"(But) when you are exiled from your homeland, where your father and forefathers were born and where you have centuries of history, it's very painful. You can no longer touch the soil or hear the sweet sound of the rivers. Fancy hotels and meetings in palaces cannot replace the sense of home (P. xvii)."

Every student of history or politics, no, every citizen of the world should read this book to understand how seemingly distant politics has grave repercussions for local life. National boundaries no longer limit political tremors. The interconnectedness of our existence means that we as world citizens need to step beyond our limited cultural comprehensions and seek to know and understand and educate ourselves. We baulk from doing this to our own detriment.

Malala observes:

"It (9/11) might have changed the whole world, but we were living right in the epicentre of everything...In Pakistan we were still under a dictatorship, but America needed our help, just as it had in the 1980s to fight the Russians in Afghanistan....There was a major problem however. Our (Pakistan's) own intelligence service ISI had virtually created the Taliban (pp. 85-86)."

Stuck between a state that ignores the welfare its own citizens (Pakistan) and the Taliban that takes advantage of the state's inefficiency,

the only remedy lies in education. "Ignorance allowed politicians to fool people and bad administrators to be re-elected (P. 41)".

I feel immensely privileged to have leaders that laid foundations for a strong democratic tradition in India. Malala's memoir is a caveat not to take the institutions of democracy and tolerance for granted. The state is for the people and the people work it. To sit in complacency is an irreparable mistake. Martin Niemoller's poem serves as a reminder.

First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the socialists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak out because I was not a Catholic.
Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me (P. 140).

This book can be received in various ways:
as a memoir of Malala's life;
as a nostalgic account about her homeland marred by international realism;
as a snap shot view of two decades preceding Malala's shooting by the Taliban in 2012 : to understand that national politics is driven by long term historical causal sequences and the variables keep on adding with the passage of time, crystallising as a Gordian knot political gridlock;
OR
most importantly as a warning to the world about the dangers of acting out of narrow self-interests.

Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah (1565-1612): Ruler of Hyderabad and the first Urdu Poet.

I have often been passive audience to the Delhi versus Mumbai debate between my friends. However, neither Delhi - the site of ‘seven cities’, city of conquerors and intellectuals - nor Mumbai - the city of opportunities, microcosm of India bustling with entrepreneurs - holds allure for me.

I have always been a quintessential Hyderabadi.

Hyderabad combines the adventurous spirit of Mumbai with the architectural and literary mystique of Delhi. Talking of literary splendour, after the fortuitous discovery of the diwan (collection of poems) of Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah in 1922, the locus of hosting the first Urdu poet shifted from Delhi to Hyderabad. The archives section of the Salar Jung Museum treasures the only surviving, illustrated but incomplete manuscript of Mohammad Qutb Shah’s diwan.

Masud Husain’s essay Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah is a sketch of this poet-king, the fifth ruler of Golconda. Originally written in Urdu, the essay is translated into English by Mehr Afshan Farooqi.

The fourth Qutb Shah ruler of Hyderabad, Ibrahim Qutb Shah is lauded as the real founder of the Qutb Shah dynasty. His exile and stay in Vijaynagar familiarised him to the socio-cultural traditions of the Hindu population. Telugu language and literature were encouraged in his court alongside Persian. Ibrahim Qutb Shah was known to be the precursor to the tolerant ideas of ‘Mahabali’ Akbar.

It is believed that Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah was born of a Hindu mother and was brought up in the Hindu tradition until the time of ascension to the throne. Scholars such as H.K.Sherwani contest this claim, but Masud Husain remarks that Mohammmad Qutb Shah’s poems hint at an unconventional upbringing and ascension to the throne of Hyderabad in 1580.

“I left my faith and adopted this religion (Islam)
I was born of a wonderful Hindu lady.” (P.6)

Ibrahim Qutb Shah was well known for his tolerance for Hindus and other Muslim sects other than Shias. However, Mohammad Qutb Shah conspicuously veers away from this tradition. To buttress this claim, Masud Husain quotes one of Mohammad Qutb Shah’s poems:

“The faith of the Prophet survives
You chase out the Hindu armies
Destroy the darkness of sin
Bring forth the sparkling daylight” (P.11)

The true value of this essay lies in its examination of whether the famed Bhagmathi is fact or fiction.

Masud Husain explores contemporary, primary sources such as Faizi’s letters to emperor Akbar (Insha-e-Faizi), Abul Fazl’s Akbar Nama, Nizamuddin Baklishis’s account of Deccan History in 1594 (Tabqat-e-Akbar Shah), Ferishta’s account of the Deccan (Gulshan-e-Ibrahimi written around 1609-10) to vie with H.K.Sherwani’s argument that Bhagmati is a mere romantic conjuring and bears no truth (pp12-15). I wish there would be more historical research about this slice of time. Given the short confines of the essay form, the reader is left wanting for more.

In the latter half of the book, Husain remarks: “Mohammad Quli is not as proficient in his description of human nature as he is of the emotions and desires which are aroused in his heart (P.36).” At least, in the few poems that have been quoted in the book, I find it fascinating how Mohammad Quli could reconcile carnal pleasures with his intense devotion and supplication to the Imams. For instance:

“By the grace of the Prophet,
Qutb enjoy yourself drink wine in the company of your beloved.”

Husain quotes (P.23): “Even at the moment of ultimate ecstasy which he calls ‘apar aiysh’ Quli does not forget to thank the Prophet.”

It is said, a book is not a book unless it is an experience. After reading Masud Husain’s work I am inspired to get a collection of Mohammad Quli’s poems in English. If not for the appreciation of his Urdu poetry, to thank him for the munajaat (Whispered Prayer) that perhaps brought me to Hyderabad, centuries later:

“Mora shehr logaan se mamoor kar
Rakhyan jun tun darya main min ya samei”

“Hear my prayer God
Grant that I may always be happy
Make my city full of people
Just as the river is so full of fish.”

Bookless in Baghdad by Shashi Tharoor

Bookless in Baghdad: Reflections on Writing and Writers by Shashi Tharoor

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


There are books, and books about books. Bookless in Baghdad is a collection of Tharoor's previously published articles about his own books and the books that made him. What 'Bookless in Baghdad' does beyond being a collection of articles is, it provides a better view of Tharoor's literary canvas. In a few articles in Part one and Part three Tharoor reviews the reviews about his books.

I can imagine Tharoor knocking the pinhead-reviewer in exasperation and clarifying: "Mahabharata's (Its) relevance to today's India is the relevance that today's Indians want to see in it. After all, the epic has, throughout the ages, been the object of adaptation, interpolation, reinterpretation and expurgation by a number of retellers, each seeking to reflect what he saw as relevant to his time (P.22)."It is not hard to miss the seeds for his latest book 'An Era of Darkness' in his various articles, where he makes a case against colonialism for appropriating the cultural definition of its subject peoples (P.25).

There is a thin line between being self adulatory and clarifying one's work for the audience and Tharoor succeeds in pitching his books to the readers. Tharoor's personal favourites Wodehouse and Rushdie receive a graceful tribute in the pages. I feel both authors have influenced Tharoor's work: Tharoor is a past master of the Wodehousian wit. His book The great Indian novel is reminiscent of Rushdie's Satanic Verses for using tropes about religion/mythology as a literary device.

Tharoor affirms that one can be patriotic and secular at the same time. In these times when patriotism is equated with jingoistic nationalism and majoritarian politics, Tharoor's book is an antidote for these tendencies and should be prescribed as a compulsory read in schools and colleges.

In his words:
"India has survived the Aryans, the Mughals, the British; it has taken from each - language, art, food, learning - and grown with all of them. To be an Indian is to be part of an elusive dream all Indians share, a dream that fills our minds with sounds, words and flavours from many sources that we cannot easily identify (P.106)."

And again:

"The suggestion that only a Hindu, and only a certain kind of Hindu, can be an authentic Indian, is an affront to the very premise of Indian nationalism...The only possible idea of India is that of a nation greater than the sum of its parts (P.106)."

The cynic in me feels this book is more like a requiem to the literary genius sacrificed at the altar of sycophantic politics of the Congress party. Why ever would such a well read, sane person want to tread the murky water of politics? Well, for that Tharoor has to definitely write another book, and I certainly look forward to reading it.



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Princely India by Raja Lala Deen Dayal: Court Photographer (1884-1910) to the Premier Prince of India.

Reading this book is like having an intimate look into a slice of history.

Every time I visit Hyderabad, I visit the Mecca Masjid where the Asaf Jah kings lie in peace: all except the First Nizam and the Seventh Nizam. One can still find the remnants of past splendour in the Paigah tombs and the vast tomb complex of the Qutubshahi kings. Yet, the nondescript marble tombs of the Asaf Jahs draw as many visitors as the rest. My favourite is the tomb of the sixth Nizam Mahbub Ali Khan Pasha in Mecca Masjid where visitors are smeared with ashes on the brow to protect them from snake bites and bad luck. This book offers a rare glimpse of this King, Saint and beloved of the people, the 6th Nizam of Hyderabad.

The Asafjah dynasty rose out of the ruins of war through audacity and political craft.

Twice in history, Asafjahs swam against the current of political change that drowned even bigger dynasties in its deluge: The first time after the invasion of Delhi by Nadir Shah in 1739 and second, after the 1857 Indian war of Independence that ended with the exile of Bahadur Shah Zafar II to Rangoon and the complete dismantling of the Mughal empire.

This book is a collection of photographs taken by Raja Deen Dayal. Financial adversity compelled Deen Dayal’s later generations to sell off somewhere between forty thousand to sixty thousand annotated glass plate negatives for the price of glass scrap. The present book is a compilation of the remaining photographs by the grandson Raja Amichand Deen Dayal. No other photographic or literary record of Nizam Mir Mahbub Ali Khan exists.

Mahbub Ali Khan ascended the throne when he was three following the demise of his father and was tutored by an English teacher, Major Clerk appointed by the British resident, John Cordery. The tutor was later dismissed by the resident for imparting to the young Nizam ‘liberal’ values detrimental to the empire. After the departure of the English tutor, Raja Deen Dayal was one of the very few who had rare access to the reclusive life of the shy and private Nizam. He was appointed the court photographer in 1884 and worked in that capacity until his death in 1910. The demise of the sixth Nizam in 1911 ended the royal patronage to Deen Dayal’s successors.

Clark Worswick discusses in his historical text to the volume, the immense contribution of Raja Deen Dayal in immortalizing the Nizam and Princely Hyderabad through his photographs. While I agree with him, I would also like to add that it was the fore sight and generosity of Mir Mahbub Ali Khan that preserved history and Deen Dayal’s craft for future generations.

The Asaf Jahs were the last gate keepers of Mughal art and high culture. The fall of the Mughal Empire and the dissolution of the Awadh court catalysed an influx of talent into Hyderabad seeking royal patronage and support. The aftermath of the 1857 war of Independence heralded an era of abrupt change. Traditional arts such as paintings, portraits and miniatures gave way to the modern art of photography. Getting a photograph ‘done’ was a symbol of modernity for the Indian aristocracy and Indian bourgeois alike. The absence of patrons and clamour to climb the social ladder hastened the demise of the art of portraiture. Photography became more than art, it became a symbol of social advancement.

Nizam Mahbub Ali Khan’s patronage assumes special significance because this was the first of such an offer to a native Indian professional photographer, privileging him over other reputed and established British Photography firms. Worswick’s words add credence to this sentiment:

“…..the native photographers had to contend with the social snobbery that dictated periodic visits by the princes to British photographic firms based in Calcutta. Perhaps this tradition, more than anything else, doomed the emergent Indian photographer. Yearly the princes would make their almost obligatory trip to Calcutta for the social season, when it was customary for them to be ‘done” by either Bourne & Shepherd or Johnston & Hoffman. These firms were so large, well-equipped, and prestigious that it was impossible for a small Indian firm in a native state to compete (P.18)”


As I leaf through the book I feel, for once Nizam Mahbub Ali Khan’s generosity has not been laid waste. Raja Deen Dayal’s photographs serve both as a record of architecture and social commentary about the times. Deen Dayal captures the mood between the ruler and the ruled with a unique Indian sensibility. For instance, the photograph of the masquerade party demystifies the relations between the imperial ruler and the native (pp. 82-83). The photographs of the tiger hunt in Madanpalle (P.53) and the visit of Grand Duke Alexander of Russia in (P.55) allude to a vanished world. It is hard not to remember the food for work programme of the modern Indian state as one pores over the pictures of the famine relief and public work programs to provide employment to people in 1910(P.64 and P.69)

This book is a window into the past giving us a rare glimpse of the social and political climate in Hyderabad during the reign of Nizam Mahbub Ali Khan. A picture is worth a thousand words, but I would say each photograph is worth ten thousand more because hidden within the static image is the story of a dynamic socio-political milieu.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni: Before We visit the Goddess

Before We Visit the Goddess by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I loved reading this book. It had a Gilmore girl-esque aura around it with the plot centering on three generations of women : Sabitri, Bela and Tara. Divakaruni brings out the complicated dynamic between mothers and daughters in heart touching prose. I couldn't help but think to myself, perhaps the moral of the story is about the futility of revenge that Sabitri tries to convey in a letter addressed to her granddaughter Tara.

Sabitri's marriage to an intelligent and self-made Bijan is an elaborate plan to snub Leelamoyi and her spineless, aristocratic son Rajiv. Sabitri's visit to Leelamoyi years later, fails to exorcise the demon of revenge because of Leelamoyi's fading memory. Ironically, at the very moment Sabitri realizes that she actually loves Bijan, a tragedy of errors follows. Bela blurts out to her dad that a man kissed her mom. While Sabitri triumphs over her lower self, Bijan drowns in feelings of jealousy and anger. Sabitri's story is the story of a single woman fighting the oil corporation for her husband's 'accident' and how she takes over Calcutta's palate with her desserts. Sabitri's story reads like a culinary treat at times and I wished I could taste her signature dessert 'Durga Mohan'.

Bela's teenage rebellion against Sabitri extends to an adult life estranged from her mother. Love propels Bela to travel to another continent. However, love soon sours into revenge, as Bela and Sanjay grow apart in their marriage. Here again, it is the man who drowns in the whirlpool of suspicion, revenge and anger while Bela gathers the bits and pieces of her life and comes out triumphant as a reputed chef-author after her divorce from Sanjay.

Despite seemingly conventional external appearances, and outward helplessness and frailty, Sabitri and Bela are strong women who take control of their life. They refuse to be sucked into self pity and failure. Sabitri's friendship with Bipin Bihari Ghatak and Bela's gay friend Kenneth are examples of life at the intersection of two cultures - a bigoted traditional culture that valorizes a 'daughter's honor and duty' over her own happiness and an open minded, prejudice free thinking that emphasizes audacity and strength.

Tara has a giant shift of perspective about her mother and grandmother after she discovers her grandmother's long lost letter from years ago. In an almost epiphanic moment, she realizes that the power to transform meek women into independent women with flourishing careers in the face of tragedy lies within.

"Good daughters are fortunate lamps, brightening the family's name.
Wicked daughters are firebrands, blackening the family's name (P.205)."

Both Sabitri and Bela throughout their life redefine the idea of a 'good daughter'. Achieving something all by oneself without having to depend on anyone gives the utmost satisfaction. This sense of accomplishment cannot be taken away by any one and this is what it means to be a fortunate lamp (P.208): To be self-sufficient and self-effulgent. It is this wisdom from such a life well-lived that Sabitri and Bela pass on to Tara.

I read this novel as a paean to strong and independent women who rise above tragedies and human frailty to outshine the rest of the world. Thank you Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.



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Isabel Allende: The Japanese Lover

The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


The subject of Allende's latest novel seems to be the supposed beauty of flawed love. Like the rest of her novels, this book too traces the travails of human love against the backdrop of political turmoil. Allende targets the American isolationist stance until Pearl harbor and the constant need for an enemy other in the American psyche. How the Japanese filled this space in the pre-cold war years and the doomed fate of Ichimei and Alma's love forms the main plot. I personally feel Allende succeeds to reduce the charm of love to cold calculation against this political backdrop. Ironically, this is also the undoing of the story's success.

Alma is definitely not my favorite Allende heroine. In Alma's words, about the reasons why she chose a marriage of convenience with Nathanaiel: "Ichimei and I had a chance when we were young, but I didn't have the courage. I was unable to give up on security, and so I was trapped in convention." (P.172). Not just Alma, every character has a tale of flawed love.

Nathaniel makes the best of his (trapped) marriage to his cousin Alma by having a rather asexual marriage based on friendship and chivalry. Ichimei, the Zen master clearly demarcates his tumultuous love for Alma with the calm (read placid) marriage with his Japanese wife. By the time Alma realizes she actually loves Nathaniel, she is compelled to prove her love or repay for Nathaniel's chivalry by giving up his last days to his one true love - Lenny. Flawed love seems to haunt all the characters except Isaac and Seth.

For an Allende novel, this work falls short on a deeper exploration of characters. It dwells little beyond a stereotypical illustration of the the austere, Japanese Zen master and wealthy Jews.



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The Nocturnal Court: The Life of a Prince of Hyderabad

The Nocturnal Court: The Life of a Prince of Hyderabad by Sidq Jaisi

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



This book is a serendipitous offshoot of research for the author’s other book “Memoirs of a City”, or so he claims. Serendipity or not, this is a wonderful book.

Narendra Luther does history aficionados a favour by translating Sidq Jaisi’s memoir of his life and times in Hyderabad written in Urdu into English. Sidq Jaisi’s reminiscences lie at the intersection of history and literature and offer a glimpse of the high-culture of the Nizams during their twilight years.

Luther draws parallels between the decadence of the Lucknow court in Wajid Ali Shah’s era and Prince Muazzam Jah’s revelries in his Hill Fort residence in a delightful introduction to the translated work (Pages. xix - lx). He remarks that there is no other account of the Hyderabad court and therein lies the book’s significance (p. xxii).

Sidq Jaisi’s seemingly personal memoirs throw light on the ideas of work, time and what it meant to be a gentleman in Hyderabad in the 1930s. For instance the ‘mushairas’ or sittings in the Prince’s court were where one had the luxury to “waste” time. Work was not gentlemanly and leisure was the sport to be indulged in. Time was squandered and the ultimate barometer of style and sophistication was to not hurry but to work things out at leisure (P.7).

Half way through the book, I felt absolutely helpless and despondent as I read about the sheltered lifestyle of Prince Muazzam Jah, completely impervious to the forces of change overwriting the destinies of aristocratic and feudal orders in the twenty years before India’s independence in 1947.

In the introductory chapter Narendra Luther discusses the tensions between the son (Prince Muazzam Jah) and the father (Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan). As one reads Sidq’s memoir one can’t help but feel the difference of temperaments between an extravagantly rich Mir Osman Ali Khan indifferent to this wealth, abstemious in his personal life but grandly generous in his public contributions and Prince Muazzam Jah, wallowing in decadence buttressed by his coterie of obsequious sycophants. The differences between the father and son extended to politics too. Apparently, Prince Muazzam Jah wrote to his father insisting on the merger of Hyderabad with India (P. li).

Sidq Jaisi remarks: “The book is a mirror in which the ruler and his ministers, the nobles and the notables are reflected in their true colours. Nobody is unduly praised, but neither is anyone spared” (P. lxi). True to his words, Jaisi portrays the typical courtier at the Prince’s court, through the characters Ummak Jung and Dhimmauk Jung: Obsequious sycophants buttressing the artificial cocoon of the Prince’s existence while the country kept pace with grand historical changes. Despite Jaisi’s praise for the refinement of the Prince (P.13), I could not reconcile this ‘refinement’ with the heights of sycophancy of the courtiers and the Prince’s (deliberate?) ignorance.

Jaisi describes his two initial nights in the Prince’s nocturnal court in the year 1936. He observes: “The principal function of a courtier was to ensure that the Prince never felt bored or become melancholy. It was not an easy job (P.23).” He adds, “Honorary courtiership implied that no financial benefit was expected from the Prince (P.34).” They had the additional responsibility to shadow the Prince in all his waking hours. Jaisi in his essential humorous style remarks: “I prayed to God to save me from such proximity (to the Prince) (P.17).”

Despite the veneer of sophistication and opulence, Hyderabad was hollowing out at its core. The degeneracy was a reflection of the society at that time, rankled by feudalism and illiteracy. Employment at the royal court was a definite means of income. Sidq Jaisi portrays this in touching words:
“The worth of his (Prince Muazzam Jah’s) courtiers was judged by their ability to indulge in obscenities. He used to abuse others and exulted in being abused in turn. The sort of things uttered in his court are too disgraceful to be mentioned. The tragedy of the degenerate nobility of the Deccan was encapsulated in the fact that the goons who shared his company and his cup were spinning around in cars while men of letters like Fani and Yagna Changezi were living in misery (P.32).”

If the Prince’s court was such a den of debauchery and decadency why did men of letters such as Fani and Jaisi want to be admitted into it? Jaisi’s memoir reads like a treatise on human frailities. He remarks, everyone in the Prince’s court were seduced by the richness and the company of the nobility. They wanted to be part of this high society. But they forgot that this “Society requires wealth and ease of circumstances and he (they) did not have them (P.5).”

This book is a must read for all who love Hyderabad. For those who critique the virtues of the present democracy, this book serves as a caveat that behind the splendour of the nostalgic past lie shadows of excess and misery. One has to learn from the past and let it go but cannot revisit it.






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"Aurangzeb: The Man and the Myth" by Audrey Truschke

Aurangzeb: The Man and the Myth by Audrey Truschke

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


In this book Audrey Truschke takes up the challenge of addressing one of the most controversial figures of Indian history. The book should be read in the spirit it was written- as a "preliminary" engagement/exploration of alternative understandings about Aurangzeb. A historian’s task to this extent is doubly challenging: identifying the source material and putting aside one’s predispositions and prejudices in the task of interpreting the sources. Truschke claims she has stepped forward from earlier research (read Jadunath Sarkar’s) on Aurangzeb in this regard.

The author attempts to understand Aurangzeb’s core values and how they informed his rule as an emperor. She claims that Aurangzeb wanted “to be a just king, a good Muslim and a sustainer of Mughal culture.” She condones Aurangzeb’s use of violent tactics to continue his plans of an expansionist state. In her words: “But the question before us is not whether Aurangzeb was a just king. Rather I want to know what Aurangzeb thought it meant to be a just Mughal king, and how that shaped is world views and actions as emperor of Hindustan” (P.13).

However, at a few points in the book, it is hard to reconcile the author’s benign reading of Aurangzeb with her own evidence. The narrative construct seems repetitive and thin. The reader is left unconvinced. For instance, the author claims Aurangzeb extended state security to Hindu and Jain temples more often than he demolished them. Aurangzeb authorized targeted temple destructions and desecrations throughout his rule (PP 100-101). Though, Aurangzeb issued an order in 1672 recalling all endowed land grants given to Hindus and reserved all such land grants for Muslims it was not strictly enforced, hence a second order was issued.

Truschke contends that: “If strictly enforced, this move would have been a significant blow to Hindu and Jain religious communities, but historical evidence suggests otherwise” (P.105). I feel the author widely misses the point that policy stance sets the tone for public culture. Policy initiatives especially in those times cannot be taken lightly. The empire existed to please the emperor. In the absence of appropriate checks and balances in that time and day the emperor’s inclinations would have directed and shaped political culture of the public.

The idea that Aurangzeb’s religious ideas were puritanical and that he was “pious” than his predecessors is contested in the book. I wish the author would have delved deeper into the tenuous relation between religion and politics. That the Mughal emperors and even the kings of the Delhi Sultanate in the earlier centuries strived to win over the religious leaders to legitimize their authority has been explored elsewhere. It is this nuance that might have been explored in the book. For all his ‘piety’ and stance on morality I feel Aurangzeb was not far from his predecessors in craving approval from the Ulema and privileging the role of religion in real politick. Rulers of the Delhi Sultanate and early Mughal emperors were aware that they might have won over the land but the popular will and sympathies lied with the Sufi masters who were the real Kings ruling the hearts of the people.

I would have liked to read more about Aurangzeb’s contentious relation with the Sufis of Delhi and the Deccan. The author does have a good point that Aurangzeb’s piety might have been a performance for himself (to redeem himself from guilt for his past actions) and for others (to gain credibility). The conflicting personalities of Aurangzeb are laid out in Chapters 4 and 5.
I wish the author would have engaged more on Aurangzeb’s lack of an enduring legacy. Had he consolidated his victories and built a bureaucratic apparatus to implement his idea of justice, history would have remembered him as fair and impartial and not as a vindictive, impulsive emperor meting out retributive justice.

We need more scholars like Truschke to challenge received understanding but we also need rigorous scholarship that moves beyond conjecture and thin evidence.







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A Portrait of Agra

In the Shadow of the Taj: A Potrait of Agra by Royina Grewal

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book is a biography of Agra. I read the revised and updated 2014 edition. The chapters are organised in a fashion that is faintly reminiscent of Khushwanth Singh's Delhi. A chapter steeped in fascinating historical excursion followed by a chapter exploring contemporary Agra. As we read the book we understand that the Taj is just one facet to be explored in Agra. Much remains to be explored for the consummate traveler.

Royina Grewal takes us on a tour of Agra to see Kabutar-bazi; leather industry and the market of carpet weavers; the art of Mughal portraiture; needle painting and the mouth watering Agra peetha; Mumtaz's forgotten place of burial before the Taj was built; the cemetery that houses the oldest European grave in India and many more hidden secrets.

The book goes beyond a historical-structural exploration of Agra. Grewal points out the effect of Partition on the ethos of the city. Emigration of the city's Muslim population and the new immigrant population altered the city's character. I agree with Royina Grewal that the soul of a city lies in the collective memory of the residents. The remembered anecdotes assume an almost spiritual significance in people's memories. As we read the book we feel almost helpless as the 'memory of Agra' is lost to the ravages of time and apathy of its citizens.

In the words of the author: " There is a sense almost of suspended animation, a city adrift in time. Agra is a city in transition, still searching for a new identity. It needs citizens who care and a huge awareness campaign to instil pride in the city once more. But pride comes only when the stomach is full. And for many of Agra's people this requirement is still unfulfilled. Until that need is met, Agra will remain a provincial backwater, muddling through in the shadow of the Taj Mahal (P.26)."

The chapter on colonial attitudes towards Indians shows how 'harsh judgment' and 'moral superiority' of the Britishers extended to people as well as architecture. Only thirty of the five hundred palaces of the Agra Fort remain and the fort itself seems to disappear in the shadow of the Taj despite being a UNESCO World Heritage site. One can't but feel nostalgic about Agra's riverfront that was once called the golden mile. One's imagination would fall short in reconstructing the splendor of Agra with its beautiful gardens and havelis alongside the River Yamuna amidst the noise and pollution of today cramped by noisy trucks and freight cars.

For the ones who can hear Agra's voice, it is hard to miss her existential cries. For the ones who can't, this book is a must read.



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Hyderabad: A City of Hope by Malvika Singh

Hyderabad: A City of Hope by Malvika Singh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book by Malvika Singh is a collection of impressions about Hyderabad. The selections fall under two themes broadly: Romantic nostalgia for the Hyderabad that was - the architectural splendor evident in both Qutubshahi and Asafjahi buildings; high culture of the Nizams reflected in the literary works and culinary masterpieces - or calm resignation to the changes wrought in Hyderabad by time.

Even cities fall prey to ravages of time and the reader experiences a feeling of helplessness as some contributors describe how Hyderabad's synergistic Hindu-Muslim culture has been replaced by the garb of cosmpolitanism and ruthless capitalist competition. The result: several high rise buildings encroaching historically valuable sites, loss of vintage buildings such as the Diwan Deodi, Lakkadkot and the Basheerbagh palace.

However, there are also articles by authors who through their optimistic portrayal argue that all is not lost. It is inevitable that tradition gives way to modernity. We see traditional burkha clad women making a niche for themselves in tech-savvy Hyderabad. The old, feudal, princely ways were outdated and had to go. Change, some contributors say, has definitely been for the better as the extractive relation of Hyderabad with its hinterland areas has been replaced by a dynamic, competitive creed.

After reading the book, one can't but wish and hope that the 'mithaas' (sweetness) of Deccani Urdu and the hospitality of Hyderabadis remains untouched with time. This book is an enjoyable read for anyone curious about the soul of Hyderabad.



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Mahlaqa Chanda: An Extraordinary woman for anytime

One of my favourite haunts in Hyderabad is the Darga on top of the Maula Ali hill. This is my place of refuge, and quiet contemplation. One has to climb a few hundred steps leading to the top. The exercise is rewarding: the hill top offers beautiful views of the city sprawling endlessly.

(Photo, Personal Collection: Part of the Trek to Moula Ali Darga, 2016)

The inner courtyard of the Darga with the green pavilion offers shelter to the visiting pilgrims. It was built by Mahlaqa Chanda (1767 - 1824), the adopted daughter of the then Prime Minister of the Nizam, Nawab Ruknuddaula. She was a devout Shia Muslim and in tribute to Moula Ali, she invoked Maula Ali in her takhallus (signature at the end of the poem). Her poems are a combination of spiritual yearning and a commentary on her current times.

Mahlaqa Chanda’s work is accessible at https://rekhta.org/poets/mah-laqa-chanda/ghazals.

Mahlaqa Chanda is an extraordinary woman even by contemporary standards. She chose to never marry and remained single till the end of her life. She was an accomplished poet (and the only woman) who published a Diwan (collection of poems). Mahlaqa Chanda encouraged historical scholarship chronicling the life and times of Nizam-ul-Mulk Asif Jah II, whose reign extended from 1762 to 1803. She was an accomplished dancer and singer, and a favourite of the Nizam.

Chanda rode to war alongside the Nizam in the Battle of Pangal and the Nizam is said to have depended on her wise counsel. In recognition of her bravery and contribution she was awarded the title “Mahlaqa” and the Jagir of Adikmet. She was made a Mansabdar, which entitled her to an income all through her life. She enjoyed extraordinary privileges in the Nizam’s court and was reputed to be a confidant and counsellor to the Nizam. Her charm and erudition broke gender barriers and made her an indispensable presence in the Asafjahi court, a typically male bastion. The present area of the Osmania University, Syedpalli, Hyderguda/old MLA colony, Chandapet, Pallai Pahad and Alibagh are part of the Estate awarded to Chanda by the Nizam.
(Imama, Syeda (Ed). The Untold Charminar: Writings on Hyderabad. Penguin Books India: 2008: pp. 26-34)

I wonder why she chose to live a solitary life. Chanda explains the tenuous nature of being an accomplished and well read woman in a patriarchal society in a letter to her mother.

“No, Ma, I will not marry. I will not be at the mercy of any single man, to be left like you to almost die of hunger and exhaustion. I have my Lord, my God, my Maula, I have your love – I have so much. I will teach and train other girls what i have learnt of the beautiful world of poetry, music and dance of which we have an endless source in this land, they will also acquire the ability and the knowledge to earn if they need to.”

(Latif, Bilkees I. Forgotten. New Delhi: Penguin, 2010: P.113)

I feel this pretty much echoes the sentiments of the modern woman and the need to be independent. Mahlaqa Chanda also built an orphanage for underprivileged girls. The building still stands and houses the Nampally Girls High School. Chanda Bagh, the garden that houses the graves of Mahlaqa Chanda and her mother, is at the foothill of Moula Ali Hill. The following link takes you to a tour of Chanda Bagh and the recent restoration work undertaken by the Nizams trust and other institutions.
https://rekhta.org/poets/mah-laqa-chanda/video


I empathise with Chanda’s sentiments about not being able to reconcile her public life with the sheltered, secluded life marriage entailed in those times. In her words:

“I lack nothing, ya Maula, for God has given me so much in so many ways. My dilemma is that I am desired and wanted in marriage and I have to decide which way of life I should follow. I cannot be a wife, a begum of a great Lord and still indulge in all my interests.....What will happen to my dhrupads and khayals? Never will I be able to whirl around in scintillating dances with my ghungroos alive with sound, and the beat of my feet dancing to the throbbing beat of the music. These are a part of my whole being. Can I live without them?........Dear Lord, confined to a harem; I suppose that I will be cared for....Today I am honoured, respected, loved. Should I surrender all that I am, all that I have? Help me to decide, my Lord. You have cared for me always. Show me the way that I should choose.”

(Latif, Bilkees I. Forgotten. New Delhi: Penguin, 2010: P. 91)

(Painting by Rai Ventkatchallam. Hunting Party of Nizam 'Ali Khan, late 18th century. Opaque watercolor on canvas. Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad.)
The above painting depicts a lone palanquin with a woman in the upper right corner (Mahlaqa Chanda) and her pet cheetahs: confident and at ease in the Royal procession dominated by men.

As a woman able to traverse the worlds of professional work and marriage, I salute Chanda’s spirit. It is the light of many such women that shines our path today.

(Photo, Personal Collection: My men with Chanda Bagh in the background, 2016.)